KEY POINTS:
When it comes time to pass out the end-of-year gongs, Shane Smeltz will presumably pick up the award for Wellington Phoenix Player of the Year.
The 26-year-old striker has been the standout performer for the new side and also has a legitimate chance of capturing the golden boot for the league's leading scorer.
At the other end of the park, however, Glen Moss has been equally impressive.
It might not seem obviously apparent, considering Wellington have leaked the most goals of any side in the league and Moss has kept only two clean sheets all season.
But the 24-year-old goalkeeper has been every bit as important as Smeltz in ensuring the Phoenix were not only competitive but also remained in the mix for the playoffs in their first season for as long as they did.
Statistics show he has been busy, second only to Sydney keeper Clint Bolton in total number of saves. He was powerless to stop Sydney's goals in their 2-0 win on Friday night, but he capped off another good shift in goal with a second-half penalty save.
Goalkeepers can often be a bit eccentric, crazy even.
Just think of the likes of Bruce Grobbelaar and his spaghetti legs, Colombian Rene Higuita and his scorpion save and clown prince Fabien Barthez, who once looked like he was hailing a taxi cab as Paolo Di Canio was about to score.
Moss comes across as quite sound but the ordeals he went through in the two years before joining the Phoenix would have been enough to cause anyone to be a little unhinged.
Two years ago, he was No 2 behind Danny Milosevic at the downright dreadful New Zealand Knights. To make matters worse, he was then cut from the squad at the end of that first season after having been told he would be re-signed. He was left wondering where he might next pull on the gloves, even though he was the All Whites' No 1.
An impressive performance for the All Whites against Brazil in June 2006 earned him a few nibbles from European clubs and before he could say buna ziua he was signed to glamour Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest.
"Romania was great at the start," Moss says. "Dinamo Bucharest are the most successful club in Romania, play Uefa Cup as well, so I thought it would be a good place to start and hopefully move onwards and upwards in Europe."
That was the plan. The reality was quite different.
"Things didn't work out. I wasn't getting much game time and I didn't really like life outside football.
"They had five keepers, I was No 2. They have a massive first-team squad.
"There were only four foreigners allowed to play at one time. There was a Ghanaian guy who spoke a little English and the other two were Serbians, so I didn't really have much of a friendship base there. Not a lot [of the other players] spoke English and if they did, they didn't want to.
"It was a bit lonely and depressing at times. That's why I wasn't happy off the field. I thought there was more to life than just being at a good club.
"You have to be happy off the field as well and that's what I've found coming back to Wellington. I've never been happier and I think it's shown in my performances."
He was careful to check the Phoenix out before signing, however. There was no way, he says, he was going to put himself through another Knights experience and he needed assurances that it was worth fighting so vigorously to get out of his Bucharest contract.
"It was a bit of a nightmare trying to get out of my Romanian contract," he says.
"They were asking for a big transfer fee but, in the end, I wore them down and got a release. When I finally got that, I was over the moon."
Coach Ricki Herbert was also delighted to capture Moss and the goalkeeper has repaid the faith his coach showed to get him out of his contract and bring him to Wellington for at least two seasons.
"I think he's had an outstanding season and made some critical saves as crucial times," Herbert says. "Playing consistently has been the best thing for him because for a couple of seasons prior to this one he had very limited football.
"He's burst onto the scene now and it's hard to believe he's not one of the top three keepers in the A-League."
That's not a bad consolation prize for Moss after the last two years.
