Soccer: Phoenix looking at playoff road trip

Manny Muscat (left) and Gold Coast's Kristian Rees square off. Photo / Getty Images

Queensland's Gold Coast might be a favourite spot for holiday-making New Zealanders, but Ricki Herbert and his Wellington Phoenix players could not get out of the place quick enough after another loss at Skilled Park on Saturday.

And it was not only on the scoreboard they were hurting.

The 2-0 loss, coupled with Melbourne Victory's earlier win over the Heart in that local derby, tipped the Phoenix out of the top six and left them with a massive task to get back into play-off contention.

They start what promises to be a long haul at home against the Newcastle Jets on Saturday night but will have to do it without two key players. Goalkeeper Mark Paston faces a lengthy time on the sideline after being stretchered off just before halftime when he copped an errant Bruce Djite boot to the knee.

Then, just minutes into the second half, inspirational captain Andrew Durante was yellow-carded by referee Alan Milliner - who booked seven players in the rain-swept affair. With his fifth card of the season, Durante now has a mandatory one-match suspension which will end an amazing 50-match run in which he has played every minute,

In his last appearance in the 2008-09 season - a 2-0 loss to Melbourne Victory in front of 28,905 fans at the Telstra Dome - Durante played the last eight minutes as a substitute (replacing Costa Barbarouses). From the start of the 2009-10 season until Saturday's game, in front of a crowd of 1716, Durante played 4610 minutes of Hyundai A-League football without missing a beat.

Set play - at both ends of the pitch - continues to be the bane of Herbert's life.

A week earlier Ben Sigmund was in the right spot at the right time to head home a Marcos Rojas corner kick to seal a much-needed 2-1 win over Adelaide United. It was only the second set piece goal of the season for the Phoenix.

On Saturday it was inability to defend set plays that cost them.

After Chris Greenacre had failed to get his head to a well-angled Daniel early cross with the gaping goal at his mercy, the home side had a golden chance when Dino Djulbic was given a free header but his effort, from a Jason Culina corner kick, lacked power.

Five minutes later the Coasters did have something to celebrate when, from another Culina corner, Bas van den Brink headed the ball onto the right-hand post and into the goal.

Spurred into action, the Phoenix mounted some attacks of their own but Paul Ifill was over the top and Manny Muscat denied by Glen Moss, who marked his return from injury with another clean sheet.

Paston departed just before the break, replaced by Danny Vukovic.

The match-clinching goal came in the 66th minute when a freekick was not cleared and from the ensuing scramble James Brown had the final say after Vukovic had parried.

The Phoenix had their chances - they won seven corners to their opponents' five - but rarely threatened.

Their away record continues to make sorry reading.

From 10 games across the Tasman this season, they have won one, drawn another and lost eight. They have scored just five goals - and never more than one a game - and given up 17.

Should they make the play-offs, and that is a huge ask, they would not make the top four, which would mean all games at the business end of the season would be "over there". That does not bear thinking about.