Here’s what we learned from the weekend’s three fixtures …

1. Wellington: Masters In Momentum
When young Sydney star Joel Chianese slid home his second goal in the space of three minutes to hand the visitors a stunning equaliser on Friday night, it’s fair to say the Sky Blues had wrestled back a fair slice of the first Elimination Final’s momentum. But then, you see, Wellington Phoenix came to a realisation … they are Wellington Phoenix. Not a revolutionary thought – certainly a rung or two below what we’ll now expect from scholarly gent Tim Brown – but a revolutionary moment, because no-one out momentums Wellington. Assuming Brown is headed to the London School of Sports Physics – which he isn’t, for the record, as it’s as fabricated as Platform 9 and 3/4 – he will soon learn of the great powers of momentum possessed by this team. Indeed, when Paul Ifill slammed his 85th minute penalty into the roof of Ivan Necevski’s net to swing an unthinkable four-goal, seven-minute period of pure football drama back in the Nix’s favour, they could well have won the World Cup based on adrenaline alone. It’s not an uncommon occurrence in Wellington, either. When finals football comes to the Cake Tin and goals flow and the fans – club owners included – celebrate half naked, a spark is lit at the Kiwi club. They may be the ugliest side in the league to watch according to football intellectual Craig Foster, but they’re certainly best at fostering impetus. It’ll come in handy in the matches to follow.

2. The Broich Is Back
If you weren’t already convinced by his central part in Brisbane’s best half of football for many a match, then Thomas Broich’s masterful assist of Erik Paartalu’s goal in Brisbane’s Saturday evening win over Central Coast Mariners should have been enough to confirm his return to Broich-like form. Having collected possession inside his own half, the German playmaker worked a neat one-two with Paartalu before setting off down Brisbane’s left wing. Having dribbled unopposed to the edge of the Mariners’ penalty area, he then shifted inside, drew no fewer than four defenders, and laid an inch-perfect pass for the recent Socceroos call-up to drill Roar’s second into Mat Ryan’s bottom corner. The lead-up play was a textbook lesson in how to play like Thomas Broich – a potentially best-selling DVD – as the attacker weaved defenders in and out and left two diving to block thin air. While the odd touch and pass was still a slight departure from his impeccable best, Broich’s performance – which should have read two assists on the stats sheet had Besart Berisha earlier escaped Ryan’s scrambling – was still an undoubtedly positive sign that his brief form hiatus has come to an end at the perfect time for his club.

3. Full-Throttle Time Upon The Mariners
A departure from their usual 4-4-2 midfield diamond formation to a 4-3-2-1 ‘Christmas Tree’ setup – fielded only once this season, during a midweek Asian Champions League match – was not the Mariners’ undoing in Brisbane on Saturday night and will not be their undoing in Gosford this coming Sunday. No, their 2-0 loss in the first leg of the Major Semi-Final was confined to an incorrect mindset. Home or away, teams must press high on the defence of Brisbane Roar if they are to earn results. Only in a couple of early-season matches was an ultra-defensive mindset successful in wholly blunting Roar’s attacking instincts which, to be fair, was not Central Coast’s plan, but nor were they attacking enough to trouble the home side. A two-goal deficit heading into the return leg of the two-match tie at Bluetongue Stadium will be greatly difficult to overcome for the Premiers, but to the advantage of their hopes of troubling Brisbane, it will mean a willingness to attack, forward-thinking energy and unrelenting pressure will be ingredients surely added to the Mariners mix. An attacking midfield pairing of Mustafa Amini and Tom Rogic are capable of formulating the recipe, but they will need to lift their work-rates if it is all to come together.

4. In Smeltz We Trust
Seven goals in two matches – a lazy effort by Shane Smeltz’s standards, sure, but having only emerged from his form slump just last week against Melbourne Victory, the Perth Glory striker can be forgiven for not hitting the back of the net at a more acceptably Smeltz rate. We can forgive so easily because it was he who rescued this lesson from a negative to a positive as ‘One Out Of Three IS Bad’ – wittily dispelling an old adage – became the words you’re reluctantly reading now. The first draft lesson was fortunately consigned to … well, here, when the Kiwi international rescued a previously dire match in the 65th minute by sending Glory into the advantage with a well-taken poacher’s goal. His and Perth’s second of their Elimination Final meeting with Melbourne Heart was infinitely more outrageous as he looped a header from the back post, off the inside of the far upright and beyond Clint Bolton’s goal-line by the barest of margins. Smeltz, predictably, wasn’t done there as he sealed Perth a second Finals match at nib Stadium, his second hat-trick in as many matches, and Glory’s third goal of a memorable 25 minutes. We, Heart fans possibly excluded, should all give thanks to Shane Smeltz for providing us with such splendid concluding memories of a potentially lifeless match. Especially thankful will be the home fans, because …

5. The Shed Is Bouncing Once More
While all on-pitch entertainment was provided by Perth’s number 9, the Glory fans in the stands, and The Shed in particular, perhaps even bettered the Shane Smeltz Show (quick, say that a hat-trick of times). Yes, while Smeltz’s goals helped them along, the Glory Boys’ party was a Sunday soirée that all would have accepted an invitation to attend, bar perhaps the unimpressed Heart fans in the corner of the room and Perth’s fierce rivals and opponents for next weekend’s Minor Semi-Final, Wellington Phoenix. Just this once, though, it was all about the men in purple as the terraces were packed, the cowbell reverberated around the stadium like rarely before in the A-League and the locals began to dream.