When Victor Sikora rifled the ball past Mark Paston after dispossessing Michael Ferrante in the fourth minute, Phoenix looked like they might pay the price for some sloppy defending for the second week in a row.

But a well-taken header by Paul Ifill 20 minutes later got them back on level terms before Leo Bertos' stunning free-kick with five minutes to go handed the New Zealand outfit a valuable home victory.

"We spoke about getting off to a good start and we could have fallen into a real heap and thought 'oh we've given an early goal away'," said Durante.

"But we responded well and got ourselves back in the game. They had a couple of chances off the crossbar but, aside from that, I think we dominated most of the play."

With away matches against Brisbane and Sydney to follow, the win at Westpac Stadium was a vital one for Phoenix after slipping up against the Newcastle Jets in the opening round.

"It was a very important game, especially at home. Losing last week the boys were gutted and if we didn't get the three points here more pressure builds and the more pressure builds then our game changes and we don't want to change our game," said Durante.

The captain now wants the team to use the victory as a platform to build on as they look to follow up this triumph.

He added: "We want to keep playing with the ball and we want to play through the midfield and sometimes we do cough it up a little bit. It just shows the quality of the team and the confidence and this win is just going to hopefully kick-start our season."