An injury time goal from Melbourne Victory's Archie Thompson finally killed off the Hyundai A-League play-off hopes of Wellington Phoenix on January 23, as the title-chasers scored a 2-0 victory at the Telstra Dome in both teams' final premiership match of the season. A bumper crowd of 28,905 saw the combatants indulge in an enterprising opening stanza, with the visitors recording five corners in the first ten minutes to underline their desires - nothing else but victory would suffice for Wellington in this encounter, if they wanted to make the play-offs for the first time. But it was Melbourne who enjoyed the only clear-cut chance of this period, a fourth minute opportunity which owed much to the patient approach work of Tom Pondeljak, Sebastian Ryall, Billy Celeski and the home team's most impressive attack-minded outlet, Carlos Hernandez. He it was who ultimately prised open Wellington's defence to reward the darting run of Celeski into the penalty area, but the midfielder's effort was thwarted by the covering figure of Ben Sigmund, who had a massive game for the visitors. The bright beginning soon faded, however, and the first half quickly degenerated into a defence-dominated bore, with creativity very much at a premium as a result. There was the odd moment of menace - a Michael Ferrante volley flew wildly over from Leo Bertos' 21st minute cross, while Shane Smeltz saw Michael Theoklitos smother his twenty-yarder fifteen minutes later - but enterprise was very much subdued. Controversy was never far away, however. Referee Strebre Delovski created some in the 25th minute by only booking Danny Allsopp when he retaliated to a Manny Muscat challenge - one suspects another coloured card would have been wielded by some of the league's more officious officials in the same situation. Two minutes later, the referee was turning down Melbourne penalty claims as Hernandez struggled to keep his feet in the box under pressure. But when Matthew Kemp's run from half-way, which saw him dart between two Wellington players before entering the penalty area where he took on another two, saw him go to ground under another Muscat challenge, referee Delovski didn't hesitate - spot-kick! Five minutes to go before half-time, up stepped Kevin Muscat, who simply doesn't miss when it comes to taking penalties! He didn't on this occasion, either - 1-0 Melbourne, a scoreline which left Wellington needing two goals to stand any chance of joining their opponents in the play-offs. As they reeled from this setback, the visitors came close to conceding a second goal before half-time. Only a brilliant fingertip save at full stretch by Wellington's Melbourne-bound goalkeeper, Glen Moss, kept them in contention, after the quick feet of Hernandez outfoxed three Wellington defenders and set up a shooting chance for Nick Ward. The half-time scoreline meant Wellington had just forty-five minutes to save their season, and they went all out in a brave bid to do just that. Melbourne were a distinct second-best throughout proceedings in the second half, and defended nervously in the face of intense Wellington pressure. But the goals the visitors sought just wouldn't come, the delivery of the final ball too often their downfall in this regard. The old poem line "When it was good, it was very very good, but when it was bad, it was awful" just about sums up the quality of Wellington's crosses throughout proceedings, with the very very good crosses proving to be far too good for anyone in a white shirt to benefit from. They weren't without their chances, such as in the fiftieth minute, when Jon McKain and Ferrante combined with the overlapping Tony Lochhead to carve open the home team's rearguard, the fullback

picking out Costa Barbarouses with his cross. The youngster's tame header was comfortably dealt with by Theoklitos, although three of his defenders found the going somewhat tougher when Barbarouses was bearing down on them in the first half, the youngster wriggling his way to the by-line with some delightful dribbling skills, only to undo his good work with an awful cross. It was an awful back-pass from Karl Dodd which unnerved Wellington in the 54th minute, the stopper driving the ball in Moss' general direction as he attempted to clear with the fast-closing figure of Thompson bearing down on him. Moss had no option but to parry the sphere to safety, which presented Melbourne with the chance to score from an indirect free-kick inside the penalty area. The defensive wall did its job in denying Hernandez, who fired the ball over the crossbar seconds later after Ryall's cross had been headed across goal by Roddy Vargas to Allsopp, who saw Moss block his close-range effort with his legs. Wellington responded via Daniel, who had penalty claims denied him just shy of the hour mark. Soon after, Barbarouses, Sigmund and McKain all looked to fire the ball home after a Bertos free-kick hadn't been cleared, but the combined efforts of the Melbourne defence and the unfortunate Smeltz, who inadvertently blocked two of his team-mates' shots, meant that the score remained 1-0 going into the final quarter hour. Then, only a fine covering run by substitute Grant Brebner prevented Smeltz from capitalising on the combined efforts of Barbarouses and substitute Adam Kwasnik, while after Thompson had volleyed wildly over from a tight angle on receipt of a quickly taken free-kick, Bertos was denied in fine fashion by Theoklitos, who tipped his ferociously struck drive over the crossbar ten minutes from time. With it went Wellington's realistic hopes of scoring the two goals they needed to have a chance of making the play-offs. But they kept trying, and a minute from the end, Dodd saw his header - from a Bertos free-kick - tipped over the bar by Theoklitos. A goal-kick was signalled, and while Wellington were pleading their case with referee Delovski, Theoklitos thumped the ball downfield - we were now in stoppage time. A flick-on by substitute Ney Fabiano sent Thompson scampering after the ball in hot pursuit, and upon latching onto it he steered it home superbly into the far corner, between the advancing figure of Moss and the retreating figure of Lochhead. Melbourne rejoiced, their 2-0 victory over Wellington confirming a top-two finish in the A-League, which could possibly be enough to take out the premiership plate if Adelaide United fail to match that outcome at Central Coast Mariners in forty-eight hours. The last-mentioned combination had their place in the play-offs confirmed by this result, with defeat denying Wellington the chance to overhaul the Mariners and finish fourth. Instead, fifth - or, if Sydney FC down outgoing champions Newcastle Jets, sixth - will be the beaten team's lot, the best-ever finish by a New Zealand-based entry in the A-League something they can be proud of. Having had a sniff of the play-offs, however, they'll spend the close-season wondering what might have been … Melbourne:     Theoklitos; Ryall, K. Muscat, Vargas, Kemp; Pondeljak, Celeski, Hernandez (Ney Fabiano, 69 (booked, 81)), Ward (Brebner, 63); Thompson, Allsopp (booked, 25) (Lopez, 82) Wellington:     Moss (booked, 54); M. Muscat, Sigmund, Dodd, Lochhead; Bertos, McKain (Christie, 78), Ferrante, Daniel (Kwasnik, 67); Barbarouses (Durante, 81), Smeltz Referee:     Strebre Delovski