Wellington Phoenix 2
Central Coast Mariners 1
The Wellington Phoenix have produced a smash-and-grab to notch their first win of the new A-League season, beating the league-leading Central Coast Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
Substitute Jaushua Sotirio was the man of the hour, latching onto a long pass from Alex Rufer in the dying moments and finishing with aplomb to secure his side three points that for large parts of the second half looked highly unlikely.
As it happened: Phoenix clinch late victory
In a classic of the "game-of-two-halves" genre, the Phoenix were the better team for the majority of the first half, while their hosts completely dominated the second. Coach Ufuk Talay made two changes to the Wellington side that started last weekend's loss to Newcastle with Alex Rufer returning from suspension and Clayton Lewis also restored to the starting eleven.