Perth Glory recorded their first clean sheet in eighteen attempts on September 21, as they notched a first-ever Hyundai A-League victory over Wellington Phoenix at Members Equity Stadium. A meagre 4,433 fans turned up to witness a frankly awful display between the teams propping up the league table, and it was somehow appropriate that an encounter between two sides sorely lacking in confidence should be decided by a penalty, with Eugene Dadi netting from the spot twelve minutes from time to secure Perth's 1-0 win. The Western Australian team's victory lifts them to seventh place on the table, above Wellington, a team which is sorely lacking as a creative force, and, with the exception of goalkeeper Glen Moss, is little better in other areas of the park. (Why does the feeling persist that similar words have been penned in past columns about the Football Kingz and the NZ Knights, Wellington's predecessors in Australia's elite footballing competitions?) Wellington's loyal Yellow Fever following - indeed, the New Zealand footballing fraternity as a whole - deserves far better than what is being served up at present, as this team's performances are doing far more harm than good to the reputation of the game the world plays in the Shaky Isles. Because they are the only local football team which enjoys regular televised coverage, Wellington's displays are regarded by the casual Kiwi sports fan as being reflective of the state of football in New Zealand as a whole, something which is far from the case. It speaks volumes that, save for a Troy Hearfield snapshot eleven minutes before the interval, the visitors failed to threaten Jason Petkovic's goal throughout the entire first half. That said, Perth weren't much better. But at least they were attempting to create openings of consequence. Occasionally, their efforts paid off, such as in the tenth minute, when a wayward Moss clearance allowed Adriano Pellegrino to slip the ball to Nikita Rukavytsya, whose curling effort arced past the far post. Seven minutes later, the most eye-catching move of the half so far was generated by Perth, with Jamie Harnwell playing the ball forward to Dadi. His lay-off allowed Rukavytsya to steer a slide-rule pass into the path of the overlapping Scott Bullock, galloping into space down the left. From the edge of the penalty area, he pulled his shot across the face of goal. Ten minutes later, Perth were presented with a great chance to open the scoring after Andrew Durante played a back-pass to Moss from the edge of the goal area, as he attempted to deal with a hanging cross from Bullock intended for Dadi. Wellington's wall stood its ground on this occasion, but on the half-hour, Moss had to be on his toes to clear the danger posed by the fast-closing Rukavytsya, who caught Durante by surprise as he chased after Dadi's flick-on of a Harnwell clearance. On the stroke of half-time, the visitors survived a massive scare. Bullock overhit a free-kick, but James Robinson retrieved a lost cause and headed the ball back towards the goalmouth. Dadi's deft flick towards the far corner of the net looked in for all money, until Jon McKain swooped to clear the ball off the line. The second half was five minutes old when Michael Ferrante set off on a surging run from deep which invited the hitherto anonymous Shane Smeltz to unleash a shot on the run … the ball is still being sought behind "The Shed" end of the ground! Perth responded with some increasingly enterprising play. Dadi and Rukavytsya worked a one-two before the dreadlocked target man - the game's star turn - played in overlapping fullback Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who galloped past the invisible David

Mulligan and whipped in a cross intended for Dadi. Tony Lochhead headed clear. Just before the hour mark, Dadi spurned a glorious chance to break the deadlock when left completely unmarked at a corner. Pellegrino's delivery picked him out, and the striker's header required two attempts by Moss to save, given Robinson was hovering at very close quarters indeed. Wellington's goalkeeper was once again the difference between defeat and debacle for this side, and in the 58th minute raced off his line to save at the feet of Rukavytsya and the retreating figure of McKain, as Wayne Srhoj's slide-rule pass presented the speedy striker with an opportunity to stretch his legs in the vicinity of the penalty area. After Richard Johnson had crowned a rare Wellington attack by thundering a twenty-yarder through a crowded goalmouth into the advertising hoardings, normal service at the other end of the park resumed. Moss made a vital save to deny Dadi's header from a Pellegrino cross, while after Rukavytsya had blazed a shot on the run over the bar, Wellington's goalkeeper was at his athletic best to foil a splendid curling effort from recently introduced substitute Naum Sekulovski, a change which was instrumental in finally turning the game Perth's way. For after Pellegrino had fired a twenty-five yarder into Moss' midriff in the 76th minute, the incident on which the game hinged materialised. Dadi steered the ball wide to Sekulovski, who bided his time before flighting a cross into the penalty area, the man who supplied him the ball his target. McKain's clumsy attempted clearance rebounded off Dadi, and as the striker looked to get past the defender, McKain brought him down virtually on the penalty spot. Referee Strebre Delovski will never have an easier decision to make in his life, and Dadi, after picking himself up and dusting himself down, sent Moss the wrong way from the spot to the delight of Perth's faithful, twelve minutes from time. The customary siege for an equaliser one expects from a team in this position late in the game never materialised, because Wellington, despite an out-and-out goalscorer in Smeltz, is a side bereft of attacking initiative, one which cannot maximise the ability of such an asset if those responsible for supplying him with the ammunition lack the flair and imagination necessary to do so. Instead, it was Moss' goal which was the more threatened, particularly four minutes from time, when Sekulovski whipped in a wicked corner which found the goalkeeper - and others in white shirts - wanting. Wellington survived this scare, and mounted a token stoppage time raid which prompted Petkovic into action for the first time in the match. Lochhead and Leilei Gao linked on the left, with the latter cutting inside before firing in a cross-shot. 'Twas easy for the 'keeper, who was celebrating with his Perth team-mates and coach Dave Mitchell seconds later as the final whistle brought them their first three-point haul of the campaign. One wonders if coach Ricki Herbert will ever savour that winning feeling in the employment of Wellington Phoenix again. Five wins in twenty-six A-League games does not make for pretty reading, and coupled with the lack of imagination and flair in their play, not to mention the plethora of mediocre performers among those the coach has recruited … Perth:          Petkovic; Coyne, Harnwell (booked, 13), Tarka, Topor-Stanley (booked, 63); Pellegrino, Robinson, Srhoj (Sekulovski, 63), Bulloch; Rukavytsya (Trinidad, 73), Dadi Wellington:     Moss; Mulligan (Sigmund, 86), McKain (booked, 78), Durante, Lochhead (booked, 44); Gao, Ferrante, Johnson (booked, 28) (Brown, 84), Daniel; Hear field (Kwasnik, 71), Smeltz Referee:     Strebre Delovski