Wellington Phoenix have brought up their second victory of the A-League season, handling Adelaide United 3-1 at home, while their fans protested the decision to stage the competition final at Sydney.
Twenty minutes into the game, 'Yellow Fever' supporters moved from their traditional seating in Bay 23 to sit with visiting Adelaide fans in a gesture designed to demonstrate their disgust with the league mandate.
On the field, their team consolidated their playoff hopes with a comprehensive win against the team just above them on the ladder.
Polish forward Oskar Zawada wasted little time putting the homeside ahead, breaking over halfway and slotting past Adelaide keeper Joe Gauci in the second minute. Ben Halloran levelled the score soon after, but Bulgarian Bozhidar Kraev restored the Phoenix lead before halftime and Brazilian Yan Sasse sealed victory midway through the second half.
Wellington held a numerical advantage, when Halloran drew his second yellow card of the match and was sent off in the 51st minute, and had a chance to stretch their margin further, when Lachlan Barr was deemed to have handled the ball in the penalty area.
Kraev took the spot-kick, but Gauci guessed correctly, diving right to deflect the ball wide of goal.
"Pretty chuffed with our efforts," said Phoenix captain and keeper Oli Sail. "We deserve it - we haven't really rewarded ourselves so far this year with a complete performance and it could have been a lot more.
"My opposite number in goal had a fantastic afternoon and got a little bit hard done by on a few occasions.
"Where we are on the table probably doesn't reflect how confident we are and the way we're playing, and we just haven't stuck together results. It was nice to finish that one off and score some goals in front the fans that came out, despite the rain."
The result leaves Wellington with two wins and four draws from eight outings, sitting fourth on a bunched table.
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Zawada, Kraev & Sasse) Adelaide United 1 (Goodwin)
