KEY POINTS:
Just a couple of hours after the Wellington Phoenix had fought back to snare a richly deserved and pulsating 2-2 draw with A-League hotshots Melbourne Victory on Sunday, the posters adverting their second home game, on Sunday week, went up.
Buoyed by that first-up success - on and
off the field - the Phoenix backroom were quickly planning the next chapter in what they hope will be a storybook season.
Given what the fans saw in the opener at the Westpac Stadium, the second-up clash with Newcastle Jets should deliver more of the same.
The 14,451 who turned up to watch the newcomers square-off with the defending champions - who boasted three of the top four players in last season's vote for the Johnny Warren Medal as the player of the year (Danny Allsopp, Archie Thompson and Kevin Muscat) - was better than the average crowd for all clubs in season two (14,051).
Another similar crowd for the game against Newcastle would take the Phoenix to around 30,000 - not far short of the 33,156 who attended the New Zealand Knights' home games for the whole of last season.
The Knights claimed a season-high of 7304 for their first-round game against Newcastle. Four home games later they hit their season-low of 1632.
There were some shortcomings in Wellington on Sunday. Many fans were stranded outside the gates and missed the kick-off and there were too few scarves, replica shirts and caps to the fans.
However, the mood overall was of unbridled enthusiasm.
Encouraged by what his players achieved against the odds, Ricki Herbert took a day off yesterday to take in some schoolboy soccer in Napier but was back in Wellington last night, his sights firmly set on what is billed as the top-of-the-table clash with early leaders Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Friday night.
The team will leave on Wednesday. "Given the travel involved, we feel it is worth going a day earlier. I will also be taking a 16th player even though we can only name 15," Herbert said.
It appears there will be no changes to the team who opened the campaign, although Herbert said young centre-back Steve O'Dor, back from his stint with the Olyroos, and vice-captain Tim Brown, recovered from his long-term injury, will be considered.
Mark Paston, who missed the opening game after initially being named in the starting XI only to be concussed in the last minute of training on Saturday morning, will have the mandatory two-week stand-down.
New Zealand under-20 goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley will again provide cover for Glen Moss.
