Two goals in the last six minutes from substitute James Meyer fired Brisbane Roar to a record-equalling 22nd Australian National League match without defeat on January 26, as they edged a resolute Wellington Phoenix combination 2-0 at Skilled Park to extend their advantage at the top of the Hyundai A-League. It was a game from which the visitors deserved something, however, because for 84 minutes they contained the title-chasers in superb fashion. But Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou had turned to his bench, and the youngster he entrusted with winning the game for his side duly delivered. The frankly awful pitch made it extremely difficult for both teams to play football of the calibre and quality they would doubtless have preferred to produce, but with Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium home rendered unplayable by the recent floods, a ground which has endured 130cm of rain on it since September was the only readily available alternative. 3,522 fans gathered for this rearranged fixture on Australia Day, but saw few scoring opportunities in a first half in which Brisbane's passing game was in the ascendancy until the attacking third of the pitch, which was where Wellington were in their element, picking off passes and intercepting moves with aplomb. Theirs was a fine defensive effort, and coach Ricki Herbert can be well pleased with the way his charges employed the tactical plan he devised to limit Brisbane to just two shots at goal throughout the entire first half. The first came five minutes before the interval. Jean Carlos Solorzano and Ivan Franjic linked on the right to send Costa Barbarouses through to the by-line, from where his low near post cross was steered into the path of the incoming Franjic by Mitch Nichols. The fullback's chested effort was parried to safety by Danny Vukovic, whose only other touch of the ball of consequence in the first spell saw him race sharply off his line to grab the ball before the oncoming Solorzano could capitalise on a one-two with Thomas Broich. The latter was responsible for Brisbane's other shot on goal in the first forty-five minutes, a rasping drive which flew past the target to cap off a neat move involving Barbarouses, Nichols, Solorzano and Franjic. Wellington could - perhaps should - have gone to the dressing rooms a goal to the good. Daniel was the first player from either team to force a save when Michael Theoklitos was called upon to keep out his twenty-five yarder after 76 seconds, while after Dylan MacAllister had botched a training ground free-kick routine with a poorly executed shot, he almost made amends in fine fashion on the quarter-hour. A Manny Muscat interception saw the midfielder release the striker through the inside left channel, and MacAllister duly powered into the penalty area before checking his run, which completely flummoxed both Matt Smith and Luke DeVere as they retreated towards him. The striker then let fly, only to see Theoklitos produce a fine parried save to his left. Within three minutes of the start of the second half, Brisbane had twice gone close to breaking the deadlock, and on both occasions, Barbarouses was the thorn in his former club's side. Ninety seconds after the resumption, Stefanutto sent a ball down the line which Solorzano latched onto before linking with Broich and the man who had instigated the move, Stefanutto having raced up in support. He played in Nichols, who steered the ball into Barbarouses' stride, only for the young striker to opt to pass inaccurately when shooting at goal was the better option. Ninety seconds later, he did let fly, having received an Erik Paartalu pass some twenty-five yards from goal, upon which he turned and set sail for goal, surging between two defenders. The ball thundered across the face of Vukovic's goal, and across the bows of the incoming Solorzano as well. Muscat led Wellington's response, linking with Daniel in the 53rd minute to provide Chris

Greenacre with the chance to shoot on the turn. Theoklitos saved this one comfortably, but was caught off his line when Muscat intercepted a pass seconds later and let fly from twenty-five yards. The back-pedalling 'keeper tipped the ball over the bar. After Tim Brown had headed a wicked Broich near post corner over his own crossbar - Smith was mere millimetres away from meeting it - Wellington gave Brisbane cause for concern when a Vince Lia cross from the right invited Greenacre to hurtle in towards the target for a heading opportunity. Theoklitos read the situation well and got to the ball first, but the striker couldn't stop his momentum, and the goalkeeper was left a little the worse for wear, although a dose of smelling salts had him up and about again soon after. Whether or not the incident impaired his judgement is another matter, for in the 69th minute, Theoklitos was guilty of a howler, and was lucky to get away with it. Andrew Durante flighted a free-kick from half-way to the edge of the Brisbane penalty area, and out hurtled the home team's 'keeper. He had no chance of getting it, and Greenacre made sure of the fact, beating Theoklitos with a well-timed jump and guiding his header towards the unguarded net. Much to Brisbane's relief, the ball bounced a foot wide of the gaping target - a real let-off for the record-chasing side. After Vukovic had saved a Paartalu free-kick, Wellington substitute Mirjan Pavlovich spurned the chance to break the deadlock when selfishly firing into the side-netting on receipt of a 76th minute pass from Greenacre. Nick Ward, another substitute, had raced forward in support of his team-mate, and was perfectly placed to turn home a cross. Wellington's stout resistance was broken six minutes from time by Brisbane substitute James Meyer. The youngster had come on twelve minutes earlier and already got himself booked when Massimo Murdocca and Barbarouses linked with Franjic to provide the newcomer with the ball. He wriggled out of the clutches of Ward before hitting a shot which was going wide until it struck the leg of Durante and completely wrong-footed Vukovic, the ball changing direction and careering into the opposite corner of the net to leave the visiting team in despair - they didn't deserve to go behind to a goal like that, make no mistake! Wellington instantly went all out for an equaliser - a point from this game would have done their play-off prospects no harm whatsoever! Their best chance fell to the unmarked Brown, who directed a header skywards as he raced in to meet a gorgeous cross from Troy Hearfield three minutes from time. Two minutes later, Brisbane delivered the coup de grace. Murdocca sent Broich careering down the left, and he charged deep into the penalty area before hitting a vicious drive which beat Vukovic all ends up, only to crash off the angle of post and bar and ricochet across the goal … straight into the stride of Meyer, who thumped home the rebound to break Wellington's hearts. Twice before the final whistle, the record-equalling Brisbane side could have had a third goal. Substitute Henrique squandered two good chances, firing a twenty-yarder past the post after being set up by Broich, then lobbing over both Vukovic and the crossbar from eight yards when played in by Meyer. The damage was done, however, and as Brisbane celebrated equalling the Australian National League's unbeaten record on Australia Day, and bid farewell to the DeVere as he made his final appearance for the team, Wellington were left to wonder what might have been, had a cruel deflection not determined their fate in this match. Brisbane:     Theoklitos; Franjic, Smith, DeVere (Mundy, 85), Stefanutto; Paartalu, Nichols (Henrique, 72), Murdocca; Barbarouses, Solorzano (Meyer, 72 (booked, 75)), Broich Wellington:     Vukovic; Hearfield, Sigmund, Durante, Lochhead; Lia (booked, 37), Brown (booked, 20), Muscat (booked, 80), Daniel (Ward, 63); MacAllister (Pavlovic, 55), Greenacre (Rojas, 77) Referee:     Ryan Shepheard