Michelle Heyman bagged a match-winning brace as Canberra United got off the mark with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Sydney FC at McKellar Park on Sunday.
Trailing 2-1 in the 70th minute to a pair of Kylie Ledbrook penalties, the home side rallied late and found an equaliser through Toni Pressley.
And Heyman – who had opened the scoring in the first half – then fired in an 85th minute winner to complete a stunning fightback in Ashleigh Sykes’ 100th Westfield W-League appearance.
Canberra appeared on course for a more comfortable celebration of Sykes’ milestone when Australia team-mate Heyman made it 1-0 in the 12th minute.
Sydney responded by forcing a string of saves from Haley Kopmeyer and their persistence was rewarded on the stroke of half-time as a foul on Lisa De Vanna enabled Ledbrook to level scores from the spot.
And the experienced midfielder repeated the dose with 20 minutes remaining, holding her nerve on a re-take after Amy Harrison was bundled over in the box.
But the home side recovered with purpose and Pressley quickly restored parity, before Heyman sent the home fans into raptures with her winner.
