At just 15 years of age, Cooney-Cross oozed class. Her pace and strength was on show while her powerful striking ability and ball control stood out.

Ballarat Eureka Strikers coach Laura Brady, who saw Cooney-Cross come through the Ballarat system as an 11-year-old, said it was no surprise she was excelling at the level.

“It was phenomenal to watch,” Brady said.

“It’s not surprising, it’s perhaps surprising how quick, but it’s not surprising at all that’s she’s made it – you could tell that she was special.

“The minute she walked in the door she was a prodigy.

“She works really hard and she’s got an awful lot of talent.”

Brady said Cooney-Cross was never one to get caught up in her own performances.

“It’s really easy for young players to come in and say ‘look, I’m really good’ – they don’t have that drive to really push themselves – Kyra never suffered from that.”

The stellar performance was made even better by Victory producing an upset 2-1 win over powerhouse Canberra United in the opening round of the W-League season.