Wellington Phoenix only have themselves to blame after Melbourne Victory punished their opponents' profligate finishing by executing a smash-and-grab raid at Westpac Stadium on 30 October to win this Hyundai A-League encounter 2-1, much to the despair of the 9,369 fans present. The local faithful were particularly keen to let former Wellington player Marco Rojas know how they felt about his decision to head west during the close season, although given the turmoil at the club which continued until mere days before the season began, you could hardly blame the lad for being ambitious - cries of "Judas" were a small price to pay by comparison. Melbourne coach Mehmet Durakovic did his best to protect the talented youngster from these understandable if childish cat-calls by naming Rojas as a substitute, thus somewhat snuffing the wind from the sails of Wellington's faithful. But they were soon in full voice for all the right reasons, as those charged with wearing yellow-and-black in this match began to dominate proceedings against opponents who were still looking for their first goal of the campaign going into this encounter. They certainly didn't look like breaking their duck throughout the bulk of the first half, during which Wellington had enough chances to win three matches. Their first opening, in the tenth minute, saw Dani Sanchez strip Carlos Hernandez of possession half-way inside Melbourne's half and race on before curling a shot narrowly past Ante Covic's left-hand post. Three minutes later, Melbourne's 'keeper smothered a Leo Bertos drive at his near post after the winger had benefited from Tony Warner's distribution and Sanchez's splendid pass. Bertos then came within inches of opening the scoring seconds later, Sanchez and Daniel Cortes combining on the left for the latter to whip in a gorgeous cross which was crying out for a touch to do it justice. Sadly for Wellington, Bertos arrived a stride too late on this occasion. The home team spurned a glorious chance to break the deadlock in the sixteenth minute. Tony Lochhead - solid game - broke from deep within his own half before playing the ball up to Chris Greenacre and carrying on his run. The striker fed Daniel, who timed his pass into the stride of the galloping figure of Lochhead, the supplier of a gorgeous cross to the far post which found Sanchez arriving on cue. Sadly for the Spaniard, he headed narrowly wide when scoring appeared the easier option. Wellington's dominance continued. After Sanchez's deflected free-kick had been gathered by Covic, Tim Brown blazed a volley over the bar from eight yards on receipt of another inch-perfect cross from Lochhead in the 25th minute. Two minutes later, Brown's cheeky curling effort crept narrowly past Covic's left-hand post as the home side continued to press, while just after the half-hour mark, the visiting 'keeper produced a vital save at the foot of the same upright to deny Brown's powerful angled header, one he executed on receipt of another inch-perfect cross from Lochhead. Melbourne were enjoying their fair share of possession, but despite boasting a strike force which is prolific on paper, they were nowhere near as penetrative as Wellington were proving to be almost every time they launched an attack. But when you've got someone on your team who has played in the greatest European Cup Final of them all, and has the winner's medal to prove it, you know that you'll always stand a chance of winning no matter what the circumstances. Harry Kewell's contribution on that famous night in Istanbul in 2005 was marred by injury, of course - he's certainly had his fair share of such setbacks over the years. But in this match, he showed flashes of the form which earned him the opportunity to grace Liverpool's colours between 2003 and 2008, the first of which came ten minutes before half-time. A sumptuously weighted slide-rule pass sent Archie Thompson dashing into Wellington's penalty area, the first time Melbourne had breached this seemingly impenetrable barrier. Ben Sigmund - an impressive display, despite later events - thwarted his progress with a superbly timed tackle on this occasion, but Wellington had been warned; take your chances, 'cause we have players who will! The message went unheeded. Greenacre guided a cushioned volley of Daniel's cross into Covic's

hands six minutes before half-time, while sixty seconds later, Sanchez's deft angled chip narrowly cleared the crossbar, Brown the supplier of the pass. Two minutes before the interval, the deadlock was broken, and it was Melbourne who were celebrating. Matthew Foschini's cross-field ball picked out Hernandez on the left, and he slipped a pass inside to Thompson, who was already moving through the gears as he approached Wellington's penalty area. As before, Sigmund loomed as a formidable obstacle in his path. But the defender was undone by a delightful piece of instinctive play by Thompson, the striker nutmegging his opponent before swerving round the stranded defender and, without breaking stride, curling a gem of a shot around the diving figure of Warner into the far corner of the net. Wellington coach Ricki Herbert couldn't believe it, such had been the dominance his side had enjoyed, so his half-time message was simple - just go out and carry on doing what you're doing, and the goals will come. The first part of the equation was certainly adhered to. Within two minutes of play resuming, Covic had smothered a Sanchez shot, while sixty seconds later, the 'keeper denied Greenacre's near post effort as he met a Bertos cross. Daniel, following in, put the ball in the net, but Covic had his hand on it when the winger struck the sphere, which was suffice to satisfy the Laws of the Game re control of the ball. Melbourne weathered the storm, and after Hernandez's dangerous curling free-kick had been diverted to safety by Alex Smith, Hernandez and Kewell worked a one-two which culminated in Jean Carlos Solorzano getting to the byline and playing the ball back for Kewell, whose cross flashed across the bows of Hernandez. Kewell then unleashed a volley which brought the best out of another former LFC player in Warner, before the game's most decisive moment came to pass in the 66th minute - a penalty. Thompson worked a one-two with Hernandez which allowed the game's lone scorer to dash into the penalty area. He was too quick for Sigmund, who hauled down the striker and immediately knew that his day was done - a penalty, and Wellington's fourth red card of the season. Operating, as Wellington are, with a threadbare squad, disciplinary issues do their cause no favours. In this case, referee Jarred Gillett, who had a very good game generally, had little option but to brandish the red card to Sigmund, who had thwarted a goalscoring opportunity by foul means rather than fair. Hernandez stepped up and potted the spot-kick just beyond the diving figure of Warner to make it 2-0, but that advantage was halved nineteen minutes from time by Sanchez, who smashed home a goal his performance fully merited after Melbourne had failed to adequately clear Daniel's corner. That set things up nicely for the rest of the match, although a rogue offside flag denied Melbourne a perfectly good third goal in the 73rd minute. Kewell's gorgeous pass put Thompson in on the right, and his finish was exemplary, unlike the flag-bearer's interpretation of the offside law on this occasion! Try as they might, Wellington's ten men enjoyed little luck in the remainder of the match, as they sought an equaliser in a match which they should have had wrapped up before half-time. Six minutes from time, Brown's penalty appeals were rightly waved away by referee Gillett - the "offence" (it wasn't even a foul) occurred outside the area - while in stoppage time, Lochhead's free-kick to substitute Nick Ward allowed him to play the ball wide to Nick Tsattalios, who stood in for the suspended Manny Muscat. Greenacre met his cross with an overhead kick attempt which flashed wide of Covic's right-hand post, a miss which consigned Wellington to a rare defeat on home turf, one which Melbourne delighted in, this being their first victory of a campaign which, even at this early stage, is shaping up to be a race to see who'll finish second to the outstanding Brisbane Roar side. Wellington:     Warner; Tsattalios, Sigmund (booked, 54, sent off, 66), Durante, Lochhead; Bertos, Brown, Sanchez (booked, 60), Daniel (Ward, 78); Smith (Griffiths, 67), Greenacre Melbourne:     Covic; Foschini, Leijer, Vargas, Fabio (booked, 83); Pondeljak (booked, 54) (Rojas, 63), Hernandez, Broxham; Thompson, Solórzano (Allsopp, 72), Kewell (Celeski, 88) Referee:     Jarred Gillett