Wellington had gone ahead in the first-half through Tim Brown, but Melbourne got on top soon after with Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse both scoring to grab the lead before the break.

Victory looked in control but elected to sit back, inviting their opponents on them and Ifill levelled late on.

"The feeling in the dressing room is like it was a loss to us," Merrick said. "We're very disappointed.

"It's a tough place to come and play but after they scored the goal we had a problem in midfield that we fixed up and I thought we took over the game in the first half after that.

"Towards the end of the game they threw caution to the wind and we defended reasonably well but we couldn't catch them on the break to score our third and they got an equaliser.

"Credit to them but we're extremely disappointed."

Sixth-placed Melbourne's next match is at home to leaders Brisbane Roar on Friday night.

Wellington coach Ricki Herbert said he was happy with his side's performance, after letting a good start slip before fighting back to score the late second-half goal.

"We started brightly and we had some good opportunities to be in control," Herbert said. "We scored a good goal.

"I liked what I saw in the second half. I thought we were tough, tight, tidy and never let go of it."

Seventh-placed Wellington next travel to Sydney FC in midweek.