Ayres screamer earns Victory first win of the season

A screamer from Melina Ayres helped earn Melbourne Victory their first win of the Westfield W-League 2018/19 Season after they defeated Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Lakeside Stadium on Thursday night.

The 19 year-old’s speculative effort flew into the net after only seven minutes, setting the tone for a largely dominant display from the home side.

A frantic start to the match saw all three goals come in the first 12 minutes, Victory stealing the advantage through Ayres and then Natasha Dowie’s 11th-minute strike, before Newcastle pegged one back through Cortnee Vine just a minute later.

Despite having the bye in Round 1 the Jets were the first to settle and when Ayres opened the scoring it came completely against the run of play.

The goal seemed to click Victory into gear however and four minutes later they had their second with Dowie getting on the end of a defence-splitting ball from Grace Maher and sliding it past Britt Eckerstrom.

Amazingly, moments after the re-start the Jets hit back, Katie Stengel somehow finding space surrounded by three Victory defenders and sliding the ball into the path of Vine, who made no mistake from close range.

The second half began with the Jets starting to gain more of a foothold in the game but again it was the home side dominating the chances.

American midfielder Christine Nairn was at her creative best for Victory, launching a number of dangerous long balls, one of which led to a one-on-one for Dowie but Eckerstrom was equal to the challenge.

The Jets piled forward late on but it was to no avail as the home side claimed their first win of the season.