It marked the end of a tough run with setbacks, having been denied the chance to represent Australia earlier this year.

The 16-year-old had her passport ready to play at the Dallas International Girls Cup in April, but the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold.

And just as the NPLW pre-season began, she was struck down with illness which kept her out for another month.

Gungahlin's 3-1 win over the Wagga City Wanderers on Sunday saw her play a full match for the first time this season. Her 34^th minute goal signalled the striker's return to form.

"She's starting to find her fitness and when she does, she'll start to turn back into the old Jade, which is working hard off the ball," Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias said.

"She's a young kid who isn't scared, she shoots when no one thinks it's time to. That's when you know Jade is well, she puts a shot in when you least expect it. I know she wanted to score."

The hard-fought victory came at a crucial time for Gungahlin, having dropped a match to Woden-Weston last week.

Iglesias was pleased with his side's bounce back but says there's still work to do with a tough finals run. They'll meet ladder-leading Canberra Croatia to round out the regular season next week.

"It was a tough game to rebound on. We spoke at half-time about resilience and similar emotions to the Woden-Weston game, where we thought we had the better of the game but the scoreboard wasn't on our side," Iglesias said.

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"They just need to build on that, trust themselves, each other and the football. That's what they did and it started to open up - one goal goes in, then another goes in. It's an example of why they need to keep playing with each other and keep things positive.

"I was really happy because they really started to lift the intensity and worked hard off the ball, that's when you create your own chances. It was a good lead into a big game next week."

An early chance went begging for Wagga City when Tess Vaccari cut through Gungahlin's defence, sending a pass across the face of goal for Piper Lockley-Hinschen.

But the cross ball found the goal line first, denying the visitors an opportunity to set the tone in the opening three minutes.

Ella-Rose Brown broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute when she flew down the right-wing and put Gungahlin ahead with a left-footed strike into the far corner.

It took Jade Brown only two minutes to double Gungahlin's lead, beating goalkeeper Samantha Emms in a one-on-one fastbreak.

That was the difference at halftime, although Wagga City were left to rue another near chance when Madeline Harris' strike from a Vaccari free-kick hit the crossbar.

Gungahlin put the result beyond doubt when Tianah Miro found the net with 30 minutes remaining. She chased a chip to the front of goal, but it took her two attempts to beat Emms who deflected her first strike.

But the celebrations were cut short when Megan Castle converted a penalty, against Stefanie Lejins, denying Gungahlin a clean sheet.

Across town, Canberra United Academy thrashed Monaro Panthers 9-0 while Croatia beat Tuggeranong United 4-0.

AT A GLANCE

NPLW Canberra round eight: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 3 (E Brown 32' J Brown 34' Miro 61') bt WAGGA CITY WANDERERS 1 (Castle 66'), CANBERRA CROATA 4 bt TUGGERANONG UNITED 0, CANBERRA UNITED ACADEMY 9 bt MONARO PANTHERS 0, BELCONNEN UNITED 2 bt CANBERRA OLYMPIC 1