Leo Bertos tapped home the opener before Paul Ifill finished off the Mariners with a fine strike.
 
"Wellington are a very good side and they don't have a record at home like they've got for no reason, 21 unbeaten and you expect them to be one of the top teams throughout the season," said Arnold.

"Overall I thought in the first half, except for the one lapse of concentration when they did score I thought we did well, and in the second half they caught us on the break, so overall there were just two incidents that won them the game."

Ifill had three chances to put the game beyond doubt as the clock wound down but was off target on all occasions, and despite a late free kick on the edge of the areas to Bojic which was deflected for a corner, the Mariners were unable to find the back of the net, and ultimately left Wellington empty handed.
 
"Wellington and New Zealand are riding an emotional rollercoaster after the World Cup. You have 5 or 6 players out there that played out there that played at the World Cup and are extremely confident, and when you add in there Ifill, Dylan Macallister did well against us and Andrew Durante at the back there, plus you add in a few other players, they've got a very good side," said Arnold.
 
"Jess (Vanstrattan) didn't have a save to make but it was just two crucial moments in the game.
 
"It's not only the lack of finishing, it's a lack of good service. Our crossing was poor today, there was only one time where we got as good cross in, Matty Simon got on the end of it and nearly scored, but other than that our crossing wasn't very good. We're not too happy but we'll go away, it's a long season, and we'll start again."
 
Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson was equally disappointed with the loss.
 
"The goals they scored were soft. The first one not tracking runners and the second one trying to play offside, and that's cost us. I think we had them on the back foot a lot of the time, especially in the second half, but to be fair we didn't create too many clear-cut chances either," he said.
 
"As Arnie said it's a tough place to come and we were confident we could get a result today but a couple of soft goals has cost us a draw and one point. We have a big game against Sydney next week and we'll start planning for that now."