Wellington Phoenix scored a stunning 5-2 win over Brisbane Roar in their Isuzu Ute A-League encounter on November 4, coming from behind to claim the points to the delight of the 7003 present at Sky Stadium. Late arrivals were still making their way to their seats when Brisbane opened the scoring straight from the kick-off. Just 31 seconds had elapsed when Florin Berenguer sent a fifteen-yarder arrowing into the far corner after Nikola Mileusnic had scooted down the right before linking up with Joe Caletti, who invited the playmaker to let fly. That set the tone for the opening stages of the contest, during which the visitors were all over their hosts like a rash. They went close to doubling their lead in the eighth minute, Caletti and Mileusnic combining once again, this time for the benefit of Henry Hore. He was crowded out by Wellington's defence, so looked for an escape route. It materialised in the form of Jay O'Shea, who drilled a twenty-yarder straight at Alex Paulsen, who was relieved to see Caletti's low twenty yard drive fizz narrowly past his left-hand post halfway through the first half. Just prior to this, Wellington had finally mustered an attack of note. Tim Payne's angled delivery was headed down by Oskar Zawada for Nick Pennington, whose acrobatic ten yard volley was turned round the post by Macklin Freke. When the home team next threatened, they drew level in the 24th minute via a most unlikely source. Costa Barbarouses, playing against one of his old clubs, spread play wide to Payne, who cut inside an opponent before blasting a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the far corner of the net - a touch of champagne from Payne, for whom this was his first goal for Wellington. It couldn't have been better timed, too, even though it prompted a swift response from the travelling team, Kai Trewin teaming up with Berenguer to set up a chance for Hore two minutes later. His first-time shot from the edge of the area was smothered by Paulsen. Just after the half-hour mark, Wellington took the lead. Payne's ball down the line sought out Barbarouses. Brisbane captain Tom Aldred read the situation well, however, and stepped in to mop up the danger via a pass-back to Freke. The look of horror on Aldred's face said everything, as Zawada had anticipated his plan and gleefully pounced on the sphere before despatching it beyond the stranded goalkeeper - 2-1 Wellington, to the delight of the local faithful. Brisbane were rocked by that goal, and nearly conceded a third ten minutes before half-time, Freke pulling off a vital save to prevent Zawada from turning home Payne's cross to the far post, as the goalscorers looked to exploit their opponent's frustrations to the full. Zawada was beginning to give Brisbane headaches. Mohamed Al Taay slipped him through the offside trap just before the interval, and the striker duly rounded Freke before rolling his shot towards the untended net. Louis Zabala was racing back more in hope than expectation, but was rewarded for his pursuit of a seemingly lost cause when Zawada's shot hit the inside of the far post and rebounded into the goalmouth, allowing the Brisbane fullback to clear the danger. Before the interval, there was a set-to in the Wellington goalmouth between Paulsen and Scott Wootton. The pair were nose-to-nose, with the defender not hiding his anger in the sort of exchange you expect to take place on the training ground, away from prying eyes, certainly not in the heat of battle in the middle of a contest which

you're leading! That issue was resolved during the interval. The understanding between Aldred and Freke was not, based on the evidence presented just thirty seconds after play resumed in the second spell. The defender passed the ball back to his goalkeeper, past whom it carried on rolling - Aldred and Freke were both mightily relieved to see it continue doing so, just past the left-hand post. Brisbane cleared the resulting corner, and Mileusnic and Berenguer combined on the right on the counter-attack. The latter's low cross picked out Thomas Waddingham, who steered his first-time effort inches past the far post. Back came Wellington in the 52nd minute, in quite some style. A superb passing move which started in their own penalty area and featured seven passes in their defensive third ultimately saw them break down the left through Barbarouses, who combined with Kraev to play in Zawada. Freke dashed off his line to save at the striker's feet. The scoreboard operator was kept decidedly busy in the next ten minutes, during which time three goals were scored, the first of them Brisbane's 53rd minute equaliser. O'Shea's cross wasn't cleared, and Mileusnic wasted little time in belting home a deflected volley into the top far corner - cracking finish! Parity was maintained for just five minutes, at which point Wellington regained the advantage. Alex Rufer played the ball across to Payne, who sent Kraev hurtling through Brisbane's rearguard. Past two defenders he powered before curling a shot around Aldred and the unsighted Freke into the far corner of the net. 3-2 became 4-2 four minutes later, Rufer sparking the move which gave Wellington some breathing space by releasing Lukas Kelly-Heald down the left. He stood up Scott Neville before delivering a cross to the far post which arced over Freke, and had enough height on it to allow Zawada to soar over Aldred and head home his second goal of the game from close range. Twenty minutes from time, Barbarouses buccaneered down the left, beating a couple before looking to set up Zawada for his hat-trick. Aldred intervened on this occasion, with Brisbane responding five minutes later via substitute Carlo Armiento, who was stopped in his tracks by Pennington's superb tackle in the area. That sparked another decent spell from the visitors, with Paulsen saving at the feet of Mileusnic as he looked to latch onto O'Shea's slide rule pass nine minutes from time. Wild finishes from Armiento and Neville soon followed as Wellington's resolute defensive effort restricted their opponents to long-range attempts, the last of which was fired by Armiento in the 88th minute, Paulsen tipping this one over the bar. Wellington wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time. Pennington's persistence on the right paid dividends as he pounced on another under-hit back-pass, this time by Armiento. The midfielder's low cross fizzed beyond Freke, and found Zawada arriving on cue to bundle the ball over the line and complete his hat-trick, as well as ensure a nap hand for the home team, 5-2 winners over a Brisbane side which, on this showing, requires plenty of work of a cohesive nature, particularly in defence. Wellington:     Paulsen; Payne, Surman, Wootton, Kelly-Heald; Al-Taay (booked, 33 (Old, 56)), Rufer, Pennington; Barbarouses (Hughes, 86), Zawada (booked, 80), Kraev (Sutton, 79) Brisbane:     Freke; Zabala, Neville, Aldred, Trewin (Reardon, 46); O'Shea, Berenguer (Markovski, 78), Caletti (Gomulka, 78); Mileusnic, Waddingham (Brownlie, 72), Hore (Armiento, 63) Referee:     Jack Morgan