A very late goal from 63rd minute substitute, Kofi Danning, sent Wellington Phoenix home across the Tasman pointless after a game they needed to win and should have had no cause not to, given the lack of experience on offer in the Sydney FC ranks at Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday evening where the hosts ran out 1-0 winners.
Reduced to ten men shortly after Danning came on for Adam Biddle, Phoenix had other woes such as a pre-game injury to skipper Andrew Durante that meant he could not remain on the field for the second half and another mishap involving striker Adam Kwasnik during the same warm up that left coach Ricki Herbert with limited options.
But the senseless sending off of Troy Hearfield who squared up to Alex Brosque after winning a free kick against the Sydney man and going nudge for nudge and eyeball to eyeball in a confrontation that indicated the lack of discipline in the team.
While Hearfield barely touched Brosque the gesture was unnecessary and drew an immediate red card from referee Ben Williams under whose gaze the whole sorry saga took place.
Already lacklustre and getting little change out of a youthful Sydney defence which had Zach Cairncross making his starting debut and excelling in the centre, Wellington lost all direction after being cut to ten men.
Leo Bertos was one of their few shining lights as Shane Smeltz cut a subdued figure leading the line.
The only amusement for a patient crowd came when Terry McFlynn, wearing the captain's armband on this occasion challenged Phoenix keeper Glen Moss for a high ball and used his hand to find the net. Williams was on the spot to see this earlier incident for himself but he elected to punish the player with only a caution.
The game was generally a drab affair with neither side showing much urgency, especially the visitors who could have been expected to do more.
Perhaps the knowledge that Durante was carrying a hamstring strain and that Kwasnik was out of commission dampened their enthusiasm?
McFlynn's indiscretion came in the 24th minute and this apart Moss had only one good save to make, getting up high to tip away Shannon Cole's 33rd minute free kick that looked headed for the top left corner.
Mark Bridge had a shot that went harmlessly across the face of the Wellington goal in the 40th and a 20 yard shot that went narrowly over the bar.
It was left to Danning to start and end the move that won his side the match in the 85th minute.
He was on the left, darting into the penalty area out wide and showed nimble footwork as he played the ball to fellow substitute, Steve Corica, who then passed to Alex Brosque in the middle of the area.
Brosque returned the ball through to Danning, who had continued with his run, and as Moss made to move off his line the Ghana-born 17 year old tucked the ball under the keeper, as if he did it every day with his eyes closed.
The game needed something special to lift the loyal supporters after what had been a mediocre match.
Phoenix coach, Ricki Herbert, said he was disappointed with the lack of discipline by the player sent off and also felt his side was untroubled by Sydney at that stage and could have gone on to win the match.
John Kosmina was asked if he regretted not turning to players like Cairncross, Danning and Grant earlier in the season.
"They weren't available for various reasons any sooner than this as they have not all been able to train with the senior side and now we lose Danning and Grant who will be playing in the Youth Olympics representing Australia, That's just our luck, but Cairncross will probably play again next week", said the coach. John Kosmina explained his reasons for leaving captain Steve Corica out of the starting line-up and why he selected so many untried youngsters. "We needed some legs in midfield, and it's no disrespect to 'Bimbi' [Corica], but the way the Kiwis set up, they're a running side and they caught us out on that last time," Kosmina said. "[Brendan] Gan and 'Tezza' [McFlynn] were ready to come back, and they covered a lot of ground. The game opened up and it was perfect for 'Bimbi' to come on." Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert clearly saw how important it was to keep eleven fit men on the pitch, given the youth of the Sydney side and bearing in mind what Kosmina had said about his team's opponents being a 'running team'. "It was tough. It's disappointing that Troy was sent off because I felt we were getting on top and in the ascendancy. We weren't under too much pressure at any point and we were starting to build some decent attacks and starting to get the ball wider. "But when you're down to 10 men a lot of your plans go out the window. We'd dominated possession up till that point and while I'm not one to read too much into those sorts of statistics they can tell a bit of a story. "At the end of the day it came down to 10 versus 11 and that was always going to be difficult for us, but I think we deserved to get something from it." "The game against Adelaide was always going to be a big one for us and this result doesn't change that," Herbert said. "We're still there, we're still well in with a shot and we'll fight on. We need back-to-back wins (against Adelaide and Melbourne Victory) and that'll be our motivation. It's not over till it's over and we'll be looking to take things right down to the wire."