BILLED AS… The game where Sydney FC was expected to get its first win of the season, ‘cos the league’s new boys were on the menu. Oh, and Juninho was ‘rumoured’ to make a shock comeback after suffering a serious shoulder injury

IN REALITY… The new boys turned up with their ‘A’ game, and their Brazilian Felipe was determined to make his mark in the match. For Sydney FC, they’d banked on their returning stars – who’d been away on international duty – to come back and get their season on track. Sadly for Branko Culina though... the likes of Mark Milligan, Ruben Zadkovich and Alex Brosque just weren’t enough to get the sky blues home. And for the record, Juninho WAS there – but he watched the match in the comfort of a corporate box.

THE GOOD… Felipe. This bloke is showing he’s got the goods to be a star not only for Wellington, but for the A-League as a whole. His eighth minute goal was a stunner. Dare we say it: he could just turn out to be the new Fred....

THE BAD… Okay, so Sydney FC lost but we’re not going to start writing off their season at this early stage. What we will point out though, is that the club really isn’t hitting the right nails when it comes to some of the stuff off the field. This was a woeful crowd figure so early in the season and for the country’s biggest city. It’s not just Sydney fans that are wondering either... many of the league’s fans have the right to be concerned about Sydney’s poor crowds. Can someone please explain?

THE UGLY… Sydney FC’s shooting. Apart from Adam Casey’s composed finish to open scoring Sydney’s shots flew everywhere, except IN.

THEY SAID WHAT… “It’s disappointing. A lot of people come to watch us week in, week out and at the moment we’re not getting the points for them. Being close isn’t good enough. I think we’ve got good enough players to turn it around so hopefully in the next away rounds we can grind out some results.” Alex Brosque hopes playing away will work in Sydney’s favour.

THE FALLOUT… Wellington is looking good, but much of their form relies on Felipe – who copped a knee injury in the match. The loss took Sydney FC to the bottom of the ladder too, which is a position that the club is not accustomed to and simply something that Sydneysiders just won’t tolerate.

SYDNEY: Clint Bolton (gk), Iain Fyfe, Mark Rudan (David Zdrilic 76'), Tony Popovic (c), Ruben Zadkovich, Steve Corica, Patrick (Brendon Santalab 59'), Alex Brosque, Mark Milligan, Adam Casey (Robbie Middleby 59'), Ufuk Talay.

BOOKINGS Mark Rudan 57', Brendon Santalab 63', Ruben Zadkovich 86', David Zdrilic 89'

SCORERS: Adam Casey 6'

PHOENIX: Glen Moss (gk), Jeremy Christie, Tony Lichhead (Steven OLD 82'), Karl Dodd, Ross Aloisi (cptn), Shane Smeltz, Michael Ferrante, Daniel, Richard Johnson, Steven O'Dor, Felipe (Vaughan Coveney 62').

BOOKINGS Daniel 30', Ross Aloisi 85', Glen Moss 86'.

SCORERS: Felipe 8', Daniel 28' (pen)

MATCH RATING 3/5