A week of soul-searching, honest admissions and some good old-fashioned home truths and hard work paid dividends for Wellington Phoenix on 28 September, as they came from behind to down previously unbeaten co-leaders Sydney FC 2-1 at Westpac Stadium. The win, Wellington's first of the campaign, doubles as the Hyundai A-League's biggest surprise of the season thus far, as the home team, prior to this match, hadn't even looked like a competitive outfit, let alone played like one. But Ricki Herbert and his charges, who have copped justified criticism from all sides for their sub-standard efforts so far this season, and reached their nadir at Perth Glory last Sunday night, sorted things out behind the scenes during the week and, for the first time since the 2008-9 edition of the competition commenced, can be proud of and quietly satisfied with the outcome of their collective efforts at the end of this sixth round of action. The desire to right the wrongs wasn't evident early on in the piece, however, with Sydney taking full advantage of their opponents' unease to dominate proceedings, particularly possession-wise, coupling their superiority with a nice line in on- and off-the-ball movement and quality passing. Wellington, sporting five changes - for varying reasons - from the team which Perth pushed over a week ago - proved more competitive than in recent matches, and succeeded in restricting the visitors to three openings in the first twenty minutes. Shannon Cole's eighth minute free-kick was deflected across goal to John Aloisi, who, on the stretch, lifted the ball back across the target. But it was too high for all-comers, unlike Terry McFlynn's low driven cross ten minutes later. The midfielder, having received a pass from Steve Corica, worked a one-two with Aloisi on the edge of the penalty area and burst into it before crossing. No-one was able to turn home a chance which McFlynn might well have been better advised to be selfish about. McFlynn made amends two minutes later, however, setting in motion the move from which Sydney opened the scoring. His slide-rule ball down the right allowed overlapping fullback Cole to get in behind Tony Lochhead and clip a cross towards the near post. Alex Brosque had plenty to do, but his unchallenged looping header arced over Wellington's beanpole goalkeeper, Mark Paston, and in under the crossbar by the far post - 1-0 Sydney, just as the formbook prescribed. Wellington had rarely threatened as a creative force to this point, but a quickly taken Richard Johnson free-kick invited Adam Kwasnik to deliver a cross which had Vaughan Coveny's head as its target. The recalled veteran duly met it, but headed the ball behind his incoming team-mates, allowing Sydney to clear their lines. Too often the home team squandered hard-earned first half possession in this way. When you're feeding off crumbs from the rich man's table (a fitting aphorism, given Sydney's financially fulfilled reputation), you can't afford to pick and choose those you consume. That was certainly the case where the bottom-placed team was concerned, as they held out a few more Sydney raids around the half-hour mark. Two McFlynn piledrivers in five minutes met with differing fates. The first was blocked by a defensive unit in which Ben Sigmund was outstanding. The second, a vicious dipping effort, was seen late by Paston, and the 'keeper produced a super save to tip the ball to safety. The resulting Cole corner careered across the goalmouth, and only the width of a post prevented Aloisi from doubling the visitors' advantage ten minutes before half-time. It was a let-off for Wellington, one from which they took heart - a Sydney goal at that point could well have seen them follow the course plotted in previous fixtures this season. Instead, they counter-attacked, Johnson releasing Leilei Gao down the left. To the byline he raced before slipping a low cross to the near post which invited Coveny to shoot on the turn. Sydney's rearguard denied him that opportunity, but looked far from convincing seconds later when Gao's corner flew into the goalmouth. Coveny and Shane Smeltz were right in the heart of it, and how both failed to capitalise on this wicked delivery only they can explain. Wellington took a great deal from it, however, and proceeded to pound away at Sydney's suddenly suspect stronghold in the hope that more cracks would be exposed. Three minutes before half-time, their probing struck pay-dirt. Smeltz was thwarted on the edge of the area by

Sydney's defence, but fed Tony Lochhead, who was looming large on the left in support, and dashed towards the near post for the return ball. Lochhead's well-flighted delivery was tailor-made for Smeltz, whose unchallenged salmon-like leap culminated in a header which soared over Clint Bolton and into the top far corner of the net - 1-1, to the delight of the faithful. The bulk of the 6,927-strong crowd were still celebrating when Manny Muscat lashed a twenty-five yarder wide of the mark, the final act of a half which saw Sydney heading to the dressing rooms in a somewhat shell-shocked state, given the unexpectedness of Wellington's equaliser, not to mention its timing. The home team proved it wasn't a fluke in the second spell, either. Tactically, they effectively strangled the life out of Sydney as an attacking force - the visitors enjoyed nowhere near the degree of dominance with which the opening half-hour was graced. Indeed, during that same period in the second spell, Sydney were restricted to a penalty claim and a twenty-yarder from Mark Bridge, whose appeals for a spot-kick, upon going down under the challenge of Johnson as both pursued a Cole pass, were turned away by referee Chris Beath. The official had what can most kindly be described as an interesting game, with his interpretations and application of its Laws prompting more than the odd raised eyebrow at times. But he proved he had a sense of humour as well, in a bizarre 47th minute incident following a seemingly innocuous tackle by Coveny. Beath blew his whistle, raced up to the striker and whipped out a card. Coveny saw the colour, like everyone else, and stood there absolutely dumbstruck. You could read his thoughts - "A red card for that? You must be joking, ref!" At this point, the official realised his error - he'd put his cards in the wrong pockets. To a hearty rendition of "You don't know what you're doing!", out came the yellow card, much to Coveny's relief, while an apologetic smile offset the red-faced official's features. Nice one, ref! As in the first spell, Wellington didn't offer too much of an attacking threat in the second half either, save for Smeltz hurrying Bolton into a clearance nineteen minutes from time. Four minutes later, the striker was in the thick of things again, this time with devastating consequences for the visitors. Smeltz shielded the ball on the edge of Sydney's penalty area, holding up play until the troops arrived in support. Leading the charge was Johnson, Wellington's captain in their new-look line-up, whose performance was far more in keeping with that expected of an ex-Premiership player. His drive cannoned off the covering defence to his midfield side-kick, Tim Brown, whose performance was top drawer. Evading a challenge, he let fly from twenty yards, and the ball arrowed past the slow-motion figure of Bolton into the bottom corner of the net - the 'keeper was still diving when Brown was racing away to celebrate. 2-1 Wellington - a real turn-up for the books, this, given the visiting team's unbeaten status, and the home team's winless one. It could have been worse for Wellington - only the offside flag denied Kwasnik a third goal in the 84th minute. By this stage, Sydney were at panic stations. Four minutes prior, they produced their best move of the match, an enterprising raid sparked by Brosque's quick free-kick. Bridge and Robbie Middleby combined on the left, with the latter's cross picking out Aloisi's head. A bullet-like downward header arrowed towards the bottom far corner of the net from ten yards distant, but Paston was down in a flash to smother the ball. He was plucking Sydney crosses from the sky with increasing aplomb in the minutes which remained, too - that is, when Sigmund wasn't heading them to safety. The visitors were fast running out of ideas, and when referee Beath waved away claims for a free-kick outside the penalty area, together with a red card for Muscat who had appeared to impede Brosque, Sydney knew the game was up. Much to Wellington's delight. After a period in which harsh but fair criticisms and the questioning of credibility has been to the fore, they can now look forward to one in which their efforts will be acknowledged for all the right reasons. What a difference a week makes. Wellington:     Paston; Muscat (booked, 67), Sigmund, Dodd (booked, 52), Lochhead; Gao (Christie, 70), Brown, Johnson, Kwasnik (booked, 84); Smeltz, Coveny (booked, 47) (Ferrante, 70) Sydney:     Bolton; Cole, Fyfe, Popovic, Middleby; Brosque, Middleby, Musialik (booked, 79), Bridge (Jurman, 85); Corica (Santalab, 63), Aloisi Referee:     Chris Beath