Sydney FC, with the aid of a "Hand of God" goal at a crucial point in the first half, overcame Wellington Phoenix 4-2 at the Sydney Football Stadium on March 13 to reach the 2009-10 Hyundai A-League Grand Final. Played on an atrocious pitch in front of a dismal attendance - just 13,196 fans watched the semi-final, 5% of whom headed across the Tasman for the occasion - it was a match which never rose to great heights, but will always be remembered for the goal which effectively cheated Wellington out of a maiden Grand Final appearance. The premiership winners settled the quicker of the teams, putting themselves about a bit early on, though not always legally. They made regular in-roads down Wellington's right flank throughout the first half, the first such raid coming about in the eighth minute. Mark Bridge and Terry McFlynn - he had a great game! - combined to send Alex Brosque scurrying into the penalty area, with his shot deflecting off the lunging figure of Andrew Durante. Liam Reddy blocked this effort with his legs, but before saving at the feet of Brosque in the seventeenth minute was afforded a let-off in the tenth minute as the Sydney striker burrowed through the inside-left channel again, after working a one-two with Bridge. Sadly for Sydney, Brosque pulled the ball back behind Karol Kisel and John Aloisi, who was to succumb to a hamstring injury ten minutes later. His replacement, Chris Payne, opened the scoring with his first touch of the ball. Kisel burst over the half-way line into Wellington's half, and immediately spotted Brosque coming short for a pass, which duly arrived at his feet. The striker instantly directed the ball towards the right wing, off which Payne powered into the Wellington penalty area, holding off Tony Lochhead en route before beating Reddy all ends up with a well-taken 21st minute shot. Wellington could have few complaints. They had been a distinct second-best to this point in the match, and hadn't even looked like creating a chance, let alone scoring. All that was to change in the next five minutes, however, Chris Greenacre's glancing header of Vince Lia's teasing cross creeping narrowly wide of Clint Bolton's left-hand post in the 24th minute. Two minutes later, Sydney's fans were stunned into silence by a superb set-piece routine. Leo Bertos curled a free-kick in from the left which Lia, coming forward to meet the near post delivery, flicked on towards the far post. In raced Durante to head emphatically into the roof of Sydney's net - what a time to score your maiden A-League goal! Now it was the Wellington fans' turn to rejoice, but their delight turned to despair on the half-hour mark, with the goal which ultimately proved decisive in this semi-final restoring Sydney's advantage. Never has the "Same Old Aussies, Always Cheating" chant of Wellington's Yellow Fever fans been so apt! Sung Hwan Byun curled in a free-kick from the right, which was missed completely by Wellington's defence. Their efforts were poor, but what followed was even more so. Stealing in to meet the ball on the far post was Payne. He missed it with his head, but with his outstretched arm, directed the ball into the roof of the net and promptly wheeled away in triumph. Referee Peter Green and his officiating team all missed it, but that which grated most was the shameful dishonesty of the goalscorer. Payne couldn't have been in any doubt whatsoever what part of his anatomy he used to direct the ball into the net, so his reaction rendered this a blatant piece of - there's no other word for it! - cheating to hand the initiative back to Sydney. It was a blow from which Wellington, who had their tails up having equalised so swiftly and unexpectedly, never really recovered. They mustered a couple of openings late in the first half - Paul Ifill's delightful curling effort missed the far post by not a lot, while Simon Colosimo's timely headed clearance prevented Greenacre from meeting Ifill's

cross with a diving header on the stroke of half-time - but all too often enterprising approach play was undone by a poorly executed final ball. This pattern continued into the second spell, and after Kisel had swooped on a wayward pass from the ineffective Troy Hearfield - one of many Wellington players whose display can best be described as below par - and lashed a twenty-five yarder at Reddy, the home team sensed the game was theirs for the taking. On the hour, McFlynn sent Bridge bustling through the inside left channel, from where he fired in a low cross. Lochhead lunged in to prevent Payne from netting his hat-trick goal, but Bridge was in again seconds later, this time pulling his cross back to the edge of the penalty area. Kisel's instant lay-off put Brosque in on goal, but Reddy was equal to the task, tipping the striker's fifteen yard effort away, before recovering to prevent McFlynn from firing home the rebound. Wellington were undone in the 62nd minute, Bridge leading the charge with a surging run over half-way which took him past Manny Muscat. On he surged, with Brosque providing an outlet via a diagonal run which would took him behind and around Bridge. His superbly timed pass, made as McKain lunged in at the striker, was met in his stride by Brosque, who outmuscled Durante before steering the ball across the dive of Reddy and in by the far post. 3-1 Sydney, with Wellington now faced with the proverbial mountain to climb. They attempted to do so in the 67th minute, Ifill's intricacy seeing him get the better of two defenders before he was outnumbered. The Barbados striker chased back and regathered possession though, instantly clipping it into substitute Eugene Dadi, whose deft lay-off invited Greenacre to unleash a first-time drive. It was wayward. Unlike the precisely timed pass of Stuart Musialik twenty minutes from time, which split the visitors' defence and allowed Brosque and Bridge to scurry clear. The former lured Reddy out of goal before unselfishly slipping the ball inside for the latter to tuck into an empty net - 4-1. Only a fine save by Reddy denied Payne what would have been his hat-trick strike after Bridge and Kisel had crafted the opening against opponents who knew their season was all but over. They gave their fans a parting shot to remember them by, however, Dadi ghosting in to guide a header beyond Bolton into the far corner of the net nine minutes from time, after fellow substitute Daniel had evaded a challenge and angled a cross into the danger zone. 4-2, and Wellington had a brief sniff of the seemingly impossible. Two minutes later, Bertos' buccaneering run saw him work a one-two with Daniel before allowing himself to be crowded out on the edge of Sydney's penalty area, despite the presence of substitute Diego Walsh to his left. A goal then could have made things extremely interesting, but Sydney snuffed out the renewed threat and, after Bolton had smothered a stoppage time effort from Bertos, rejoiced at the sound of the final whistle, which confirmed yet another clash with reigning champions Melbourne Victory in next Saturday's season finale. The campaign's real star turns, however, were heading home, their hopes dashed by a 4-2 scoreline. But one will always be left to wonder how Wellington would have faired had Payne's controversial second goal been dealt with correctly by the match officials. The semi-final, and the A-League as a whole, deserved far better than for its penultimate fixture of the season to be decided in such ungentlemanly fashion. Sydney:     Bolton; Ryall, Keller, Colosimo, Byun; Bridge (Foxe, 87), Kisel, Musialik, McFlynn (booked, 66); Brosque (Gan, 84), Aloisi (Payne, 19 (booked, 78)) Wellington:     Reddy; Hearfield (Daniel, 58), McKain, Durante, Lochhead; Brown (Dadi, 65), Muscat, Lia; Bertos, Greenacre, Ifill (Walsh, 79) Referee:     Peter Green