The Wanderers Westfield W-League side jumped back into second spot on the table after a hard fought 3-1 win over Perth Glory at Bankwest Stadium.
Goals from Caitlin Cooper, Cortnee Vine and an own goal secured the three competition points as the Red & Black bounced back from the shock loss to Brisbane Roar.
It was a solid effort from the Wanderers, who were missing goalkeeper Abby Smith and captain Erica Halloway through injury and striker Lynn Williams, who is on international duty with the US.
The Wanderers led 1-0 at the break having dominated most of the game but could have gone into the break with a greater margin.
They were stunned shortly after half time when Perth equalised, but they quickly regained their composure to score another couple of goals.
The result was a fitting reward for Wanderers midfielders Ella Mastrantonio and Denise O’Sullivan. Mastrantonio was playing her 100th W-League game while O’Sullivan completed her seven-game guest stint with the club.
The Wanderers could not have asked for a better start as they opened the scoring just three minutes into the game.
Glory failed to fully clear the ball inside their own area and it fell to Vine, who delivered a cross into the box that eluded everyone except Cooper, who did superbly to direct her header into the net from close range.
As expected, Western Sydney dominated possession and constantly pressed forward as they stretched the visitor’s defence at every opportunity.
Mastrantonio and O’Sullivan were getting plenty of touches and bossing the midfield and were looking to release danger players Vine and Kristen Hamilton.
Defensively, the Red & Black were very solid, especially Alex Huynh who was typically strong in the air. So good was the defensive work that Glory did not have their first shot on goal until the 25th minute.
Just a minute earlier, Amy Harrison had almost made it 2-0 after she fired off a left footed effort from outside the box that was superbly tipped away by the goalkeeper.
The Wanderers continued to find plenty of space on both wings, but could not find the killer pass in the final third.
Perth started the second half strongly and found themselves level on 53 minutes after a scramble in the penalty area.
But, it took just three minutes for the Red & Black to regain the lead.
Kristen Hamilton made a lovely run into into the penalty area and fired off a shot that was cleared off the line. However the ball fell to Cortnee Nevin, who coolly slotted her left foot effort into the back of the net.
