Wellington Phoenix are out of the running for a spot in the A-League playoffs, missing out on the top six after Thursday's 2-2 draw between Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers.
The seventh-placed Phoenix are four points back of sixth-placed Adelaide, with only one game to play in the A-League's regular season.
Needing results to go their way, Thursday's match was playing into the Phoenix's hands, as eighth-placed Western Sydney Wanderers took a 2-1 lead over Adelaide away from home.
As Adelaide took a 1-0 lead through a Ziggy Gordon own goal, Western Sydney hit the front before halftime thanks to a Ryan Strain own goal, before Graham Dorrans became the first player of the night to find the back of the correct net.
Up 2-1 at halftime, and on course to do the Phoenix a huge favour, Western Sydney conceded an equaliser to Adelaide's Craig Goodwin, who found the back of the net in the 56th minute.
Despite searching for a winner, neither side could emerge victorious, settling for a share of the points.
The Phoenix play Macarthur FC on Friday night, with a win to take them to 38 points - one short of Adelaide on 39.
"Gutted we won't be in the #ALeague finals this year but a season we can be extremely proud of," the club tweeted.
The news comes as a blow for the Phoenix, who will miss out on the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, despite being on an unbeaten run of 10 matches. But that run consists of five draws, meaning 10 dropped points.
The Phoenix finish their season away to Macarthur on Friday night.
