Wellington Phoenix created history on Tuesday night advancing to the quarterfinals of the FFA Cup for the first time.
The A-League club hammered National Premier League's Avondale 4-1 in Melbourne with the second-tier side losing a man to a red card in a fiery clash.
With star import Gary Hooper back in the UK until January, Australian attacker Joshua Sotorio scored two goals inside 25 minutes before Ben Waine added a third 10 minutes later as the Phoenix bounced back from a horror loss to Newcastle at the weekend.
Avondale were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half when Ben Carpenter was marched for a horror tackle on Nix defender Louis Fenton.
Coach Ufuk Talay was relieved post-match after initial fears Fenton could be sidelined for months.
"I thought it was a very bad challenge," said Talay.
"We thought when Louis called for us to go over that it was pretty bad.
"He's got some good scrapes down his whole shin.
"Hopefully he'll pull through with a bit of ice on his leg and he'll be available for the weekend."
Avondale pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to play in the match but Luka Prso scored his first goal for the club minutes later to end hopes of an unlikely comeback from the semi-professional outfit.
"For me the biggest thing was a reaction, and I think we got it tonight from the players. It was a good response," Talay said after two-straight losses in league action.
"Our plan was to press them and to press them high, and I think it worked. We got the ball in good areas, and we capitalised."
The Phoenix meet Melbourne City in the FFA Cup quarterfinals next Wednesday, but are back in league action on Sunday against Sydney FC.
