The mid-season Hyundai A-League renaissance of Wellington Phoenix continued unabated at Bluetongue Stadium on October 19, as they downed Central Coast Mariners 1-0 to move to within a point of a play-offs berth. After a quite abysmal start to the campaign, Ricki Herbert's charges have bounced back well, this result their second win from the last three games, the other of which was drawn. And this win was deserved, even though the match itself rarely got out of second gear - the oppressive conditions, which prompted drinks breaks half-way through each half, saw to that. The Mariners made the early running, with Matt Simon and Sasho Petrovski combining to set up Adrian Caceres for a shot which he pulled wide of Mark Paston's left-hand post in the fourth minute. Three minutes later, Mile Jedinak and Caceres combined to release the overlapping Pedi Bojic, whose low cross invited Simon to shoot from eight yards. Karl Dodd blocked his effort, while Jedinak sent the rebound spiralling over the crossbar. Wellington struck back shortly afterwards, and inevitably it was their talisman, Shane Smeltz, who was involved. His initial surge came to nought, but seconds later, he latched onto the ball once more and delivered a measured pass into the stride of his front-running partner in crime, Vaughan Coveny. The veteran campaigner, the league's oldest, took the ball on before unleashing an angled drive which fit-again goalkeeper Danny Vukovic battered away to safety. Mariners midfield general, John Hutchinson, rattled the hoardings with a rasping eighteen-yarder on the quarter hour, while Wellington responded through maverick wide-man Leilei Gao, whose thirty-five yard free-kick stung Vukovic's gloves four minutes later, seconds prior to the 'keeper grabbing a header from Smeltz. Just shy of the half-hour mark, Coveny, who had supplied the cross for Smeltz's effort, delivered another one into the danger zone from the left. Tim Brown's unchallenged flying header brought the best out of Vukovic, who smothered well. A turgid spell of play ensued, with both teams doing their best to conserve their energy in the sultry conditions, which 9011 spectators savoured in sun-baked Gosford. But on the stroke of half-time, the Mariners came within inches of breaking the deadlock. Bojic and Caceres worked a one-two which saw the fullback scythe inside before unleashing a twenty-yarder which scraped the paint off the base of Paston's right-hand upright. A lively start to the second half saw both goals come under threat within three minutes of referee Ben Williams resuming play. An Andrew Durante blunder was pounced on by Petrovski within seconds of the start, and he strode on before unleashing a twenty yard drive which Paston smothered well, low to his right.

Back came Wellington through Gao, his deft footwork allowing him to weave between two opponents before racing towards the penalty area. When he got to the edge of it, however, what was supposed to be a stinging drive trickled through to the untroubled Vukovic. Wellington's Chinese star was guilty of another blemish soon afterwards. Dribbling out of defence, he meekly conceded possession to Jedinak, half-way inside his own half. The Mariners' marauder quickly picked out Simon in the penalty area, only for the vigilant figure of Dodd to deny him once more. What should have been a corner was instead a goal-kick, and Paston duly hoisted the ball downfield. It reached Jon McKain, an impressive performer in the visitors' midfield combination, and from his pass, Smeltz set sail for goal. Past one defender then another he galloped, before stepping inside a third and letting fly from the edge of the penalty area. Vukovic's fine diving save to his right brought to a conclusion the game's brightest moment so far in fitting fashion. There was an aftermath, of course, in the form of a 53rd minute corner, and its outcome saw the deadlock broken. Gao's delivery to the near post found Dodd racing across goal to meet it, and the defender's deft angled glancing header arrowed across the face of the target and into the net by the unmanned far post - 1-0 Wellington, Dodd's first A-League goal, and the 800th scored in the competition's brief history. It was a blow from which Central Coast never really recovered. Try as they might, Wellington matched them at every turn, although there were three instances when fortune favoured the visitors. The first of these came in the 63rd minute, a pulverising thirty yard free-kick from Jedinak which slammed against the crossbar, the flailing figure of Paston beaten all ends up by an effort which came desperately close to restoring parity. Ten minutes later, Bojic's run down the left culminated in an angled cross to the far post, substitute Dylan Macallister its intended target. Tony Lochhead had other ideas, however, and cleared the danger. The fullback was unable to do anything about Hutchinson's free-kick nine minutes from time, however, the ball picking out the head of another Mariners' substitute, Paul O'Grady. His header powered over the crossbar, and with it went any hopes the home team harboured of an equaliser, as Wellington stood their ground well in the time which remained to score a deserved win, their first on the road this season. Central Coast:     Vukovic; Clark (Porter, 68), Boogaard (O'Grady, 23), Wilkinson, Bojic; Osman, Hutchinson, Caceres (Macallister, 61), Jedinak (booked, 18); Petrovski, Simon (booked, 60) Wellington:     Paston; Sigmund, Dodd, Durante, Lochhead; Gao (booked, 83), Brown, McKain (booked, 62), Kwasnik (Bertos, 80); Smeltz, Coveny (Ferrante, 64) Referee:     Ben Williams