Melbourne Victory star Natasha Dowie set a new club record with her goal in Sunday’s Melbourne Derby win in the Westfield W-League.
The forward needed just 25 seconds to open the scoring in Victory’s 2-0 win over City at Epping Stadium.
Dowie’s ninth strike of the campaign set a new mark for most goals in a season for Victory, beating the eight by Jodie Taylor (2011/12) and Racheal Quigley (2014).
While he focused on his team’s performance as a whole, Victory head coach Jeff Hopkins praised Dowie.
“She’s been great for us week in, week out,” he said after the Derby.
“To give her credit, she’s a typical striker. All she wants to do is shooting exercises and to score goals.
“She worked really hard today for the team. That’s one thing maybe people don’t see in her – she works really hard within the team structure.
“She was prepared to do the hard work and the leg work, and obviously she got that really important goal for us early on.
“In general, it’s a great team performance rather than picking out one or two individuals.”
Dowie has scored in six games this season, including netting a hat-trick in a win against Brisbane Roar on New Year’s Day.
With nine goals in 11 games, Dowie sits third in the race for the league’s Golden Boot.
She has also moved into a tie for third for most goals overall for Victory with 11, behind Caitlin Friend (14) and Taylor (12), and level with Lisa De Vanna and Amy Jackson (11).
