Credit: Goal Weekly Credit: Goal Weekly

With a draw and a loss in the first two games Adelaide United have made it third time lucky, taking all three points in their Round 3 fixture with Newcastle Jets.

A brace to Striker Tiarn Powell and a goal to Alex Gummer resulted in the Lady Reds well and truly finding their feet.

The opening 20 minutes was a fairly even encounter with the ball being shared by both teams.  Neither of the midfields of the young sides were truly able to settle resulting in the an end to end action early.

However on 20 minutes the home side finally took control of the proceedings.  Led by the experienced trio of Kristy Moore, Laura Stockdale and arguably the Player of the Match Lisa Marie Woods, the Lady Reds entered  a period of dominance that result in three quick goals.

At the 20th minute mark captain Moore began the onslaught when her shot sailed over the crossbar high.

This attack was halted by a quick drinks break and then Adelaide came out of the blocks with three quick goals in 7 minutes.

Firstly Tiarn Powell scored her first W-League goal running past the Jets defence and curling the ball past Campbell.

One of the Reds promising young brigade Powell is a tall, strong but deceptively quick striker with, like many of Ross Aloisi's finds this season, good ball skills and a powerful strike. She impressed in the opening rounds but on the weekend finally found herself on the scoreboard.

Victorian attacking midfielder tuned Reds defender Alex Gummer scored five minutes later  once again from a corner ball with a nice left foot shot. Since arriving at Adelaide, Gummer has provided the Reds with real attacking drive, and two goals.

Two minutes later, Moore took advantage of Powell's pace playing a through ball into the path of Powell with her  strike proving too hard and fast for Campbell to stop.

Jets Captain, Gema Simon once again tried to put one in the net but Barbieri plucked it out of the air and stopped it before it could do any damage.  Adelaide entered the break on top with the 3-0 lead their biggest margin ever lead  and the crowd buzzing in anticipation of a win at Burton Park.

In warm conditions, the almost frantic pace of the first half was unable to be sustained with both teams starting the second half without the gusto from the first 45.

In her 50th W-League match, Racheal Quigley came on for the hard working but tiring Jayah Brown.  An astute substitution in light of the conditions, the striker almost immediately made an impact on the game taking a few shots on goal but was only denied by the heroics of Campbell.

The second half was a match where both defences reigned supreme with neither allowing anything to get past them.  Snez Veljanovska, also a new signing for the Lady Reds, made an impact when she entered the back line for Jessie Wharepouri, with a demanding runs up the wing and linking well with the Reds midfield.

Also dominant for her side was new Jets international signing Ciara McCormack who stopped many a ball before it could reach the 18 yard box. Traditionally a midfielder, McCormack slotted in nicely into the backline with Stacey Day and the two worked well in the back line and should in time become part of a good defensive pairing.

Sophie Nenadovic was unfortunately helped from the field after a clash of bodies in the 89th minute with what looked to be a knee injury.  Hopefully its not to serious and she will have a quick recovery.

With the game almost over and The lady reds looking quite comfortable for the win, there was a mix up in the goal area which Gummer tried to clear but a quick footed Jasmine Courtenay jumped on the ball and received a consolation goal for the Jets in the 93rd min.

After showing much promising signs in the first two games the Lady Reds can hold their heads high this week and look forward to the next match against Perth Glory over in Perth.  The defence largely did their job, the midfield was in control with Woods adding much stability and the young attack finally looks like its gelling.  

For the Newcastle Jets there are still some good signs for them.  Most notably that their good players are firing.  Once the less experience players get some game time behind them, they will be a better side for it.  For the moment they are still looking for that first win and will go head to head with Melbourne for that.