The Melbourne Heart has held on for their second win of the season and at home, after dominating the first 25 minutes of the second half. Goals to John Aloisi and Alex Terra sealed the win for the home side. Apart from the above-mentioned 25 minutes, neither side was the aggressor, with chances coming at a minimum.
In the first 15 minutes of the match, both sides played very cautious football like two pirate ships circling each other from a 1,000 nautical miles apart. Neither side really fired the big cannons. Heart looked good through Josip Skoko, with passing like a heat-seeking missile launched from HMAS Parramatta.
The first genuine chance for the match came in the 18th minute, with Leo Bertos crossing the ball into an open box with Chris Greenacre making a good diagonal run, but Brendan Hamill was able to block his run. Hamill came straight off after this good defending, after earlier injuring himself in a tackle.
Alex Terra had a great chance in the 28th minute, bring Danny Vukovic well clear off his goal mouth on the right hand side, but was unable to cross the ball to a free John Aloisi on the far post.
The back end of the first half, Wellington dominated. They had two major chances with Nick Ward being adjudicated offside, after a Heart defender deflected the ball back to him on the goal line.
The second half opened with a bang. John Aloisi scored his first goal in Melbourne Heart colours, in the 50th minute after a great cross from Gerald Sibon. It was not the greatest strike by Aloisi, with the ball dribbling over the line.
After the goal was scored, the match opened up like the Panama Canal on a busy Monday.
Skoko again looked as dangerous as a pirate ship off the Eastern Coast of Africa, making an attacking run through the centre of the pitch passing it to an open Dean Heffernan who again crossed it to the far post to Aloisi, who had his shot saved by Vukovic, close to the post.
Aloisi had another chance minutes later, hitting the cross bar from 5 feet out with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Alex Terra strike in the 66th minute, was the difference maker. Sibon caused the error from Nick Ward; Terra bounced on the ball, running cross field and making a wonderful strike from about 17 yards out.
Wellington got back into the match with a goal from Tim Brown in the 75th minute. Paul Ifill crossed the ball with the outside of his boot on the left hand side, to Brown on the far post. Bad defending from Dean Heffernan, who had every chance to clear the ball, allowed Brown the easiest of touches.
As the seagulls circled the stadium like a ship lost at sea, the game slowly lost its intensity. Both sides lost all the wind out of their sails, and slowly crossed the finish line, Melbourne Heart just in front, like two boats cruising up wind on the Derwent at the end of the Sydney to Hobart.