A Tim Brown screamer just 41 seconds into their clash with Perth Glory at NIB Stadium earned Wellington Phoenix a rare away win in the Hyundai A-League on November 7, the only goal of the game providing the visitors with the best possible response following their midweek capitulation on home turf at the hands of Brisbane Roar.
At the same time, it inflicted an eighth defeat in nine games on the home team, who found themselves behind on the scoreboard after failing to clear a long clearance from Mark Paston. The ball fell to Chris Greenacre, who set up Brown for a twenty yard left-foot volley which simply flew past the flailing arms of Tando Velaphi.
Perth squandered a glorious opportunity to level the scores in just the fourth minute, when Howard Fondyke played Michael Baird through Wellington's feeble rearguard to leave him one-on-one with Paston. The 'keeper stood his ground well and blocked the striker's attempt to chip the ball over him.
That was the catalyst for the visitors to gain the upper hand in the contest over the course of the next twenty minutes. Leo Bertos directed a twenty-five yard free-kick narrowly over the bar during this period, while a Simon Elliott set-piece was nearly steered into his own net by Scott Neville, who departed the fray just after the half-hour mark after injuring himself in the process of fouling Vince Lia.
Paul Ifill was guilty of an awful miss in the 22nd minute, as he swooped on a wayward Brent Griffiths back-pass which Velaphi hadn't a prayer of getting. Instead, the striker stormed onto the ball, only to knock it past the stranded Velaphi and beyond the dead-ball line with the untended goal yawning invitingly in front of him.
Only the timely intervention of Neville prevented Brown from doubling Wellington's lead seconds later, as the midfielder was picked out by Elliott's precise cross, after which the niggly fouls started to creep in, the ultimate outcome of which saw nine players being shown the yellow card by referee Kris Griffiths-Jones, one of them twice.
It's a wonder Jacob Burns managed to last till ten minutes from time before he finally committed his second bookable offence - there were four fouls he committed after his initial booking which, on another day, would have earned him another yellow card.
Before he was shown the red card, however, he did his best to inspire Perth to restore parity. Two free-kicks from the home team's captain, delivered in the 37th and 42nd minutes, were punched out by the increasingly influential figure of Paston, who was beaten by Fondyke's angled cross in the 43rd minute, only for Baird to head over the bar.
A determined defensive display saw Wellington reach half-time without conceding a goal, and they maintained that approach throughout a second half in which Perth pounded away in a vain search for an equaliser.
Not before Wellington twice went close in the opening two minutes of the half to increasing their lead. As hesitant defenders Jamie Coyne and Andy Todd failed to deal with a probing through ball from Elliott, Ifill swooped and shot, only for Velaphi to keep his team in the game with a fine save.
The 'keeper was scrambling seconds later, as Elliott's deft volleyed lob - Perth again failed to clear their lines adequately - arced narrowly over the crossbar, after which there was only one team in the contest.
Try as they might, however, it just wasn't happening for Perth, much to the frustration of the 6,676 fans present. Ben Sigmund stepped in to thwart Baird after he had been released to the by-line by Coyne on the hour, while soon after, Burns sent Mile Sterjovski through with a well-weighted pass from half-way. But Paston flew off his goal-line to pluck the ball off the striker's toes near the edge of the penalty area.
Paston's anticipation was again to the fore in the 67th minute, after Sterjovski and Burns combined to slip overlapping fullback Coyne in behind Wellington's rearguard. The ‘keeper thwarted the defender, but was found wanting eight minutes later by a Robbie Fowler corner.
No-one in a purple shirt was able to capitalise on this opening, and when Burns saw red ten minutes from time and headed down the tunnel, with him went the home team's hopes of securing at least a point from a match between two sides who have struggled for form in recent weeks, something which showed to an extent in their respective displays in this match.