Wellington Phoenix moved up to eighth place - their highest position so far this season - on the A-League table on March 24 after mauling bottom-placed Melbourne Victory 4-1 in front of 1184 fans at WIN Stadium. Melbourne enjoyed the better of a nondescript opening ten minutes, only for Wellington to hit them with an eleventh minute sucker punch which will be a Goal of the Season contender. Steven Taylor - back with the club after a spell in India - hoisted a clearance downfield which Reno Piscopo controlled superbly with one touch as it dropped over his shoulder. The Olyroo contender then evaded a challenge before sweeping a cross-field pass into the stride of David Ball, who took the ball on before inviting Ulises Davila to take over. He promptly played it to the unmarked Tomer Hemed, who fair hammered the ball into the roof of the net from ten yards to open the scoring. Melbourne looked to hit back almost instantly, Ben Folami curling his first effort past the far post before shooting straight at Oliver Sail, on both occasions having been set up by Robbie Kruse, whose freedom wasn't being too well policed by a Wellington side which would be dominated by the visitors throughout the opening half-hour of play. Crucially, however, Melbourne were doing very little of note with the ball when in possession. Those Folami efforts aside, they created just two more opportunities in the entire first half, one of which came to pass in the 33rd minute. Jacob Butterfield released Elvis Kamsoba through the middle of the park, allowing the speedster to run at the Wellington defence. Taylor and Tim Payne combined to close him down, forcing Kamsoba to check his run and bring Butterfield into play again. His low drive was pawed out well by Sail. Wellington doubled their lead three minutes later. A deep cross from Clayton Lewis found Taylor soaring above all-comers on the far post, and he headed the ball into the goalmouth. There, a defender's attempted clearance struck the fallen figure of Alex Rufer on the side then his arm - a clear case of ball to hand - prompting Melbourne to appeal for a free-kick, shouts which fell on deaf ears where referee Shaun Evans was concerned. Wellington, meanwhile, played to the whistle, which could easily have been blown for a penalty when Piscopo was felled, had Ball not swivelled on the loose ball and battered it beyond Matt Acton from six yards to double his team's lead. And it could well have been 3-0 four minutes before half-time. Louis Fenton's cross targeted Hamed, but Aaron Anderson's intervention saw the ball cleared beyond the edge of the penalty area, straight into the stride of Clayton Lewis. He absolutely hammered it goalwards, his rising drive crashing against the underside of the crossbar, off which it ricocheted downwards and back into play. Melbourne failed to deal with the danger, allowing Ball to drive the ball back into the goalmouth, where Hemed contrived to miss an absolute sitter from three yards out! Right on half-time, Sail thwarted the visitors in fabulous fashion. Kruse and Kamsoba worked a neat one-two on the right-hand side of the penalty area before the latter fizzed in a low cross. Folami was the beneficiary, and from six yards, let fly, only to see Sail pull off a stunning block save then swoop on the rebound. A goal then would have given Melbourne renewed hope, but the cellar-dwellers were on their way to yet another defeat in what is becoming a nightmare season for the former champions - they are a long way from recapturing former glories at present, of that be in no doubt! Cameron Devlin came on for the injured Piscopo at half-time, and instantly made an impact on proceedings, dispossessing Kruse in the 48th minute. Lewis took over and stormed downfield before feeding Hemed, who invited the overlapping

figure of James McGarry - his best game to date for Wellington - to let rip without breaking stride. Acton tipped the ball onto the post and to safety in fine fashion. Four minutes later, Devlin picked out Ball with a measured pass, only for Adama Traore to come across and avert the danger, a feat the fullback repeated five minutes later as Ball again threatened to score, following a move featuring the skills of Rufer, Davila and Lewis. Two goals in six minutes just after the hour mark condemned Melbourne to defeat. In the 62nd minute, McGarry - who had enjoyed a running battle with Callum McManaman throughout proceedings - turned his nemesis and scooted forward before inviting Davila to curl a twenty-yarder into the far corner of the net, a task the Mexican accomplished with aplomb. Six minutes later, Lewis surged forth once more before feeding McGarry on his left. The fullback played the ball inside to Ball, who was foiled by Nick Ansell's challenge. The ball broke kindly for Lewis, however, and without breaking stride he fair smashed the ball across Acton and into the far corner of the net - 4-0. In between these strikes, referee Evans had to deal with a flashpoint after Jake Brimmer had accidentally trampled on the fallen figure of Davila, seconds after fouling him with an ill-timed challenge. Wellington's captain was not a happy chappy, understandably, and went after the Melbourne midfielder in response. It took all of Taylor's tact and diplomacy to calm his captain, by which time another flashpoint had ignited with Devlin leading the peacemaking corp. Order was eventually restored and Traore was booked - quite what for no one knows, because he wasn't party to either incident which prompted this gathering of the clans. Kruse was next to lose his rag as Melbourne threatened to implode in spectacularly inglorious fashion, something which a fifth Wellington goal would surely have ensured. McGarry and substitute Charles Lokoli-Ngoy looked to engineer the chance in the 72nd minute, but neither Ball nor Davila could capitalise on their industry. Melbourne reduced the deficit in unlikely fashion four minutes later. Storm Roux pinged the ball downfield towards Kamsoba. Tim Payne was unable to prevent the ball from reaching the speedster, who deftly lobbed the advancing figure of Sail but, just as he raced away to celebrate, collapsed in a heap clutching his calf muscle, a victim of cramp, seemingly. A tad miffed at conceding, Wellington looked to restore their four-goal margin on three occasions of note prior to the final whistle. A delightful move, which featured Davila, Rufer and Fenton at its climax, didn't get the reward it deserved when the fullback's attempt to find the top far corner of the net failed to curl in that direction. Nine minutes from time, Lokoli-Ngoy raced clear through the inside left channel before seeing Acton block his near post shot, while Ball was foiled in the penalty area seven minutes later by Anderson's timely challenge - the defender's display was one of very few positive points for Melbourne on another night best forgotten by the cellar-dwellers. Brimmer attempted to buck their spirits up late on with a long-range free-kick which Sail saved comfortably, the last act of a contest which saw Wellington record their biggest win to date under coach Ufuk Talay as they scored four goals in a game for the first time in almost two years. Wellington:     Sail; Fenton (booked, 74), Payne, Taylor, McGarry; Davila (Waine, 90), Rufer, Lewis (Sutton, 90), Piscopo (Devlin, 46); Hemed (Lokoli-Ngoy, 71), Ball (Sotirio, 81) Melbourne:     Acton; Roux (Bello, 77), Anderson, Ansell, Traore (booked, 65); Brimmer, Kruse (booked, 70), Butterfield (booked, 90); McManaman (Barnett, 86), Kamsoba (Lawrie-Lattanzio, 77), Folami (Kirdar, 56) Referee:     Shaun Evans