A 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix provided the Newcastle Jets with more than just three valuable competition points in their pursuit of finals.
It also reinforced two things to coach Ryan Campbell: his squad depth is sound and his players interchangeable.
Depth was always going to be key as the A-League Women broke new ground this season with the expansion to a full home-and-away format for the first time bringing four more games.
The Jets' faced their biggest depth test against Phoenix on Sunday with the squad hard hit by COVID and concussion ahead of the round-15 match.
Campbell was forced to make four changes to his starting side, leaving out sharpshooter Melina Ayres due to concussion symptoms plus Lara Gooch, Claudia Cicco and Tash Prior because of COVID.
Ayres and Cicco were left out of the squad altogether while Prior and Gooch were on the bench.
Cicco and Prior have been solid at the back for Newcastle all season with the former starting every game in the first 14 rounds and the latter only missing one other match.
Josie Wilson and Zoe Karipidis, both defenders, plus attacking players Emma Dundas and Sophie Hoban were promoted to the starting side.
"It took a little bit of time for some of those girls who haven't been playing to get into the speed of actually feeling like being a starter," Campbell said.
"But once they settled into the game they did a really good job.
"The advantage for us, because we have so much depth in the squad, is they're all really fighting for a spot every training session.
"So all of those girls who came into the team really want to earn the chance to stay in the team."
Depth could be tested again as the Jets target back-to-back wins for the first time this campaign.
While Campbell expects to have more players back in the mix for starting selection, Newcastle face a five-day turnaround to battle Western Sydney in Bathurst on Friday night.
The two sides are level-pegged on 20 points, one outside the top six with seven rounds remaining. Wanderers have played one less game than Newcastle.
"Obviously, with the five-day turnaround we may have to make more changes," Campbell said.
"It just depends how people back up. But the good thing for me is I'm not worried about who's going to come into the team. Everybody is in a position where they're ready to start a game."
The win against Phoenix was Newcastle's first under Campbell and came after back-to-back losses to Sydney (2-1) then Central Coast (2-0).
"We didn't create any more chances [against Phoenix] than we did last week but we were just a bit better with our finishing," Campbell said.
"What was most positive was we were able to hold out the game. Against Sydney, we were in a position where we were winning and we didn't have the ability to do it whereas the girls showed a real ability to close out the game.
"We spoke this week about becoming winners and the girls really did that, and all the players that stepped in made my decisions for Friday more difficult."
