West Canberra Wanderers are entering "unknown territory" heading into the second leg of the NPLW season.
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A 2-1 win over last season's premiership contenders Belconnen United on Sunday was the icing on the cake to one of the best starts in the club's history.
It began early at Melrose Synthetic, some four minutes in.
Tara Cannon chased a bouncing goal kick deep into the Wanderers' defensive half, before turning and playing a 20-metre ball to her teammate.
Belconnen's defence was caught flat-footed and could not stop Wanderers striker Hattie Cram from chipping it into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
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The home side extended its lead to 2-0 about 10 minutes later through Ginger Oliver.
United had not learned from the first goal to respect Cram's speed. Wanderers skipper Sarah Whitfield threaded the ball through to the striker, as a defender misjudged the bounce.
This time Cram touched it around Belconnen goalkeeper Jayla Murphy, before crossing it to a waiting Oliver to hit home.
Wanderers coach Rey Castro was pleased with his side's performance, following only two losses in the opening half of the competition.
The win proved timely for the side, following 5-0 and 6-1 losses to top teams Canberra Croatia and Canberra Olympic.
"The girls were very committed and tried to enjoy the ball a bit more," he said.
"In previous games, we've perhaps looked a bit nervy on the ball. We were not protecting our passes, our playing forward was a bit dodgy, so in reality I think they just needed a little bit of that confidence to play a bit more.
"Our focus in training this week was about how we can actually try to stay connected to the forward lines."
The visitors clawed one back 25 minutes in off of a Leah Carnegie free kick near the edge of the box.
The ball swung in from the right and crossed just under the crossbar, giving Wanderers goalkeeper Samantha Briggs little chance to stop it.
The 2-1 scoreline remained for the rest of the game, pushing the Wanderers into second position on the live ladder with 15 points.
Croatia still leads the NPLW competition, with six wins and one draw (19 points) heading into round eight.
The only side to take points away from the Deakin side this season, Olympic, sat in third heading into their late Sunday battle against Canberra United Academy.
A win or draw for Olympic would push them ahead of Wanderers and into second on the ladder.
The Wanderers coach said, either way, he was proud of his side heading into their second meetings with each team.
"The win was very important because this for us is unknown territory," Castro said.
"We always maintain ourselves on the borderline - fourth, fifth - but it's the first time that we have actually finished with that amount of games won in the first round.
"We put the five games down in the first round. So that's unknown territory for the club.
"So it's a credit to the girls. There are 28 players in our squad and now all of them have played first grade in the first round.
"We know what we can do. I think the girls have set a standard for themselves and we always need to tap into that to be in touch with the top teams in the competition.
"On paper, we're a very young setup. We've got 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds in the squad but we have showed what we can do."
NPL Round 7
NPLW results:
- West Canberra Wanderers bt Belconnen United 2-1
- Tuggeranong United bt Wagga City Wanderers 5-0
- Canberra Croatia bt Gungahlin United 2-1
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