IN approximately 96 years time, when someone sits down to write the 100 year history of Melbourne Victory and they come to the section on goals that mattered most, Archie Thompson's goal against Wellington Phoenix will surely be up there as one of them.

Just when it looked like Muscat's first half penalty would be our only goal for the match and thus hand Adelaide the advantage going into the last match of the regular, Thompson popped up in the 90th minute to score that vital second goal that ultimately handed Melbourne the Premiership Plate.

My girlfriend, with whom I was watching the game, described it as the "slowest goal ever". It seem to take an eternity for that ball to cross the goal line, with a seemingly mesmerised Tony Lochhead forgetting that he should actually try to clear the ball.

For the most part, Friday night's game was a scrappy affair with Melbourne lacking the fluidity of recent home performances. Going into the game, you had the feeling that the game situation would suit Melbourne's counter attacking game as Wellington pushed for goals.

However, it wasn't to be as Melbourne defended too deep and on most occasions Wellington closed down most attacking moves fairly easily. Although to be honest, they were helped to a certain extent by a referee who allowed some rugged Wellington defending to go unpunished and a slightly overzealous linesman. Surely Archie Thompson can't be offside all the time!

It was pleasing to see Ernie Merrick decided to ditch the three striker policy of the week before and return Carlos Hernandez back to the starting line-up. It gave our midfield a much more balanced feel to it.

My only midfield concern is that I would much rather see Celeski move out from that defensive midfield position and further up the pitch, with either Brebner or Lopez taking that position. Sometimes on Friday under pressure, Celeski gave the ball up to easily or made some bad decisions that allowed Wellington to maintain attacking pressure.

While it wasn't the most convincing of wins, it was enough in the end to secure a top two finish and the possibility of a home grand final. And as they say in the classics, sometimes you just have to win ugly.

With our second Premiership Plate in the bag, Melbourne have certainly fulfilled one part of the promise that many fans believed they would deliver in their fourth season.

It surely has been a roller coaster ride, one that has provided many highs, but also some lows as well. Now it's time for three quality performances (hopefully) from our boys as they look to do the double again.

Neil would like to thank the Central Coast Mariners, especially Danny Vukovic and the woodwork of their goals for helping Melbourne take out the Premiership Plate.