The return of strike weapon Jemma House and an important win over third-placed Maitland were not the only things that had Newcastle Olympic coach Paul DeVitis smiling last weekend.
The continued improvement of midfielder Paige Kingston-Hogg was also encouraging.
The setback came after Kingston-Hogg had a breakout 2019-20 W-League season with the Newcastle Jets. She has played in all eight of Olympic's NPLW Northern NSW outings, including a 5-2 win over the Magpies at Cooks Square Park last Saturday.
Kingston-Hogg proved pivotal with a strong performance in the middle of the park and goals in both halves. The first was a skilful half-volley from in front and the second was a runaway effort on the counter attack.
"That was her best game," DeVitis said. "She was all over the place - defending, attacking, scored two great goals.
"She had a long time off and in the pre-season we were just working on a certain part of the game and then once she nailed that we started to expand her game to include being a bit more proactive going forward.
"Her fitness is improving with every game we play so I think in the second half of the year we could see the best of Paige."
Olympic are sixth on nine points as they eye league leaders Warners Bay (19) at John Street Oval on Saturday night.
