After two pieces of magic in as many outings, Jets teenager Renee Pountney is eager for more of the same.
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The 19-year-old made five short appearances off the bench as a first-year W-League player last season and was "hungry for more game time" after a strong winter campaign for the Emerging Jets in the National Premier League NSW Women's competition in Sydney.
But a foot complaint ruled her out of the first half of the Jets' season then Pountney had to bide her time and wait for an opportunity to arise.
When that finally came in round 11, the effervescent Pountney took it. Off the bench she provided a clever pass for the assist to Lauren Allan's late goal in a 4-2 loss to Perth.
Pountney found her own first W-League goal as the Jets beat Adelaide 2-0 on February 2. In that game she was thrust into the action after 33 minutes for injured midfielder Clare Wheeler.
"It feels so good to be back," Pountney told the Newcastle Herald. "It has given me a lot of confidence, especially to get on so early in the game.
"Usually coming back from injury you're on the bench and you're only getting five or ten minutes towards the end of the game. So to have that pretty much beginning of the match allowed me to get into the flow of the game and it was just so much fun.
"It was tough to get back in here but I'm glad I've gotten the opportunity and I think I've proven that I can do alright. Hopefully I can keep coming on and keep doing things like that."
Pountney's goal came in the 78th minute and sealed the important win over the Reds, which lifted Newcastle off the bottom of the league ladder and into seventh position.
The Jets utility was unmarked in the box when Teigan Collister's textbook cross found her and, with only Reds' goalkeeper Sarah Willacy to beat, Pountney slotted into the net with plenty of composure.
"I knew there was going to be something in the box and I thought, 'Tara [Andrews] is going to get it, but i'll just hang around out here'," Pountney said. "Then it popped out the back and I just hit it as hard as I could.
"I've never been so excited; I just screamed."
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Jets caretaker coach Ash Wilson praised the efforts of the young gun and said the future of the club looks strong with the likes of home-grown Pountney coming through the Jets Academy.
"That's why the club invests in the Academy because the goal is to develop our own and have them want to stay and have them come through," Wilson said.
"So for the likes of say Renee coming through, Paige [Kingston-Hogg] coming through, Tessa [Tamplin] coming through, they're all going to be in my under 20 [Emerging Jets] team [playing in NPL NSW Women's] when the W-League season is done here.
"Two of them last year were scholarship players and now they've found their way into some quality game time, so it's pleasing and I hope that the younger girls in the Academy are looking at that and seeing what's possible."
The Jets can finish as high as sixth with two games remaining. The first is when they host Melbourne Victory at No.2 Sportsground on February 23. Newcastle round out their season away to Adelaide.
The W-League is in hiatus due to the international window.
