Wellington Phoenix fans have been treated in the past to some classic matches against Melbourne Victory. The 2-2 draw in Phoenix's opening A-League game. The 2-1 win a season later with Shane Smeltz scoring the club's most memorable goal. And now arguably the best team performance in the franchise's existence.
After the 2-0 win in Wellington, it's hard to identify a player who didn't significantly contribute to an absolutely crucial win. The hunger with which Phoenix - to a man - approached the game was that of a team who knew the cliché "must-win-match" absolutely applied to this one.
As much as the three points were utterly critical for Phoenix's playoff aspirations, it was the performance which was even more encouraging. Phoenix are hitting form at the right time, and chose the occasion of Ricki Herbert's 100th A-League match to show what is possible from this group of players.
Marco Rojas will hog the headlines and rightly so. His was the standout individual display by a Phoenix player this season as again and again he terrorised an out-of-position Tom Pondeljak up and down the left. His cross for Dylan Macallister's opener was pinpoint; his own finish for the second goal clinical.
Rojas is quickly becoming the next big thing at Phoenix HQ and probably added another zero or two to the value of his signature beyond this season. That piece of business must become "Priority A" to ensure the young starlet remains at the club in the face of inevitable interest from other clubs here and further afield.
Tony Lochhead's return can't be underestimated, both for the balance he provides as a natural left-footer in a flat back-four and the subsequent release of Manny Muscat into the defensive midfield role he performs better than anyone in the competition. In our radio commentary, expert comments man David Chote nicknamed Muscat "The Cleaner" and the description is apt. If potential trouble arises in the middle third, Muscat's the man you call to quell it.
In the leadup to this game, a few moaned about a return to one striker in preference to the two upfront employed for large parts of the last two matches. But a lone striker only becomes ineffective when a team is reduced to bombing long balls towards that player in the faint hope of getting some sort of change out of him.
In this match, the long ball towards Macallister was completely abandoned as instead Rojas and Nick Ward were constantly sought out in wide positions and Tim Brown and Vince Lia - with the security blanket of Muscat behind them - were able to get themselves further and further advanced to lend weight to the attack.
So now Phoenix hit the road again, a place they've not been comfortable all season. Just one win from 11 away games isn't the form of playoff contenders, so if they're to again feature beyond the regular season, Phoenix will need to squeeze points from tough trips to Gosford, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney in the next six weeks.
But while they don't have stats on their side, what they do have is momentum. Seven points from the last nine and a cracking performance against Victory mean optimism can now cautiously replace hope.
Last season's playoff run was based largely on the individual excellence of players like Paul Ifill and Andrew Durante.
The most encouraging aspect of the latest outing was the sum of the parts added up to a far greater whole.
The team's the thing and this team is starting to fire.
