So this is what it feels like to be in playoff contention.
Phoenix's third straight win on Friday night (against a Fury side who incidentally weren't three goals worse than Wellington) has propelled them firmly into playoff territory. TAB Sportsbet in NSW now have Phoenix at $1.03 to make the top six, a far cry from pre-season wooden spoon predictions from practically every betting agency on both sides of the Tasman.
A few fans are getting a bit carried away and talking about an assault on the top three. They forget the current seven-point gap to third place and the fact that Phoenix still need to visit Gold Coast and Melbourne, both of who will be pulling out all stops to ensure themselves a top two finish and two lives in the finals.
It seems to me Phoenix are now in a head-to-head battle with Newcastle for the fourth playoff spot and home advantage against the other in week one of the finals series. Hosting that game is particularly valuable for both sides with Phoenix unbeaten at home for what seems like forever and the Jets having won five of the last six on their patch. Ironically, the one loss in that time was to Phoenix.
If Phoenix can sneak into fourth, no team - be it Newcastle or whoever finishes fifth - will fancy a trip to Wellington for a winner-takes-all playoff encounter. The Ring of Fire has become the fortress of the A-League and no team would come here as favourites.
But nothing is a foregone conclusion. As has been the case all season, every team is still in contention for a playoff spot. No team is in the situation where they've lost any mathematical chance of making the top six and might become less formidable opposition by blooding new players or dropping their heads. Even Adelaide United are only a couple of good performances away from sixth.
And Phoenix are off now on an uncomfortable, yet exciting road trip which sees them take on Perth and Melbourne inside five days before a jaunt to Christchurch for a "home" game because Aussie rockers AC/DC have Wellington Stadium booked for a concert next weekend.
It's quite possible Phoenix could get nothing from the first two matches - most fans would be delighted with four, or even three points from those two games - but if Phoenix are serious contenders, they simply must capture the one scalp that has eluded them when Adelaide pay a visit.
Having said all of this, the top six at the moment feels to me like "the top six". Barring an absolute catastrophe, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney are assured post-season football and the Jets, Phoenix and Perth seem likely to fill the other spots, although Perth are hardly setting the world on fire at the moment.
But the finishing order is anyone's guess. In this most fascinating of A-League campaigns, the final lie of the land won't be known until deep into the final weekend of regular season action. But here's what I reckon...
Gold Coast
Melbourne
Sydney
Wellington
Newcastle
Perth
How sweet it would be if the table looks like that on the evening of February 14.
