Wellington Phoenix men and women have both suffered defeats at the hands of Sydney FC on Sunday night.
The Phoenix men fought back late but fell 2-1 to record their third consecutive loss of the season.
Earlier, the Phoenix women were handily dispatched 3-0 to extend their own losing streak to two games.
After falling behind 2-0 courtesy of 19th and 57th minute goals, Ben Waine pulled one back for the Phoenix men in the 83rd minute, scrambling a shot past Sydney goalkeeper off a set piece delivery.
But despite throwing everything they could at Sydney’s goal in search of an equaliser they were unable to beat Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne a second time.
The Phoenix finished the match with six of the club’s academy graduates on the pitch, with goalkeeper Alex Paulsen and forward Oskar van Hattum making their A-League debuts.
Head coach Ufuk Talay said he was disappointed with his side conceding two soft opening goals, which put them on the back foot early, but praised the impact of his younger substitutes.
"I think we gave Sydney two goals tonight," Talay said post-match. "I think we could have dealt with the first one a lot better and even the transition one in the second-half I think we could have dealt with that a lot better as well.
"It becomes an uphill climb against Sydney when you're 2-0 down.
"I think our first-half performance was not up to standard, but second-half was a lot better. Second-half is the team that I know that can play. We need to do that for the full 90 minutes, not for 45 and I think the results will start to come.
"The substitutions made an influence on the game. The young boys coming on gave us some energy and we created a few opportunities to get in behind them but didn’t capitalise on it."
Meanwhile, Gemma Lewis' side - despite the scoreline - were credited with a much more competitive showing against the defending champions than the previous week against Newcastle Jets.
"I definitely think there were better moments in the game," Lewis said post-match. "We were more organised. There were moments in the game where I think we had a little bit of momentum, a little bit more territory and we were trying to stick to the way we wanted to play.
"I'm really proud of them for still pushing, still playing through the 90 and still trying to look for a goal, even at the end.
"A 3-0 result sucks, but at the same time there were moments in that performance we can be happy with."
The Phoenix men will be back in action on Wednesday night, when they play Melbourne City in the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup.
They'll move on to play Central Coast Mariners - alongside the Phoenix women - in round six of the A-League on December 27.
