Dadi headed home early in the second half of a match played in awful conditions before Paul Ifill fired home his ninth of the season. A Jon McKain header in the 90th minute sealed the win to extend Phoenix's unbeaten run at Westpac Stadium to 16 matches.

The howling wind and rain ruined any chance of a decent spectacle as the flight and pace of the ball was difficult to judge and players skidded on the turf making for a very scrappy encounter.

But it was Fury, battling into the wind, who had by far the better start to the match.

North Queensland,  with several changes in their starting line-up, including a first start for Jimmy Downey following his move from Perth during the week, could have been 2-0 up inside the opening 10 minutes had Robbie Fowler and Dyron Daal finished better.

Fowler's chance came in the third minute after an error by McKain but from the left of goal the former Liverpool man could only find the side netting.

Four minutes later Daal beat the offside trap and from an almost identical position to Fowler saw Liam Reddy get a hand to his goal-bound shot before Tony Lochhead cleared it behind.

Reddy was the busier of the two goalkeepers for much of the first half as Fury pushed hard for the crucial opening goal.

Jeremy Brockie, looking to impress New Zealand boss Ricki Herbert, was industrious down the left, while Daal was a constant menace whether firing in crosses or looking to take on the defence himself.

In the 16th minute Fowler rose to get on the end of a Daal cross but could only head it straight at the keeper.

Then, having soaked up the pressure, Phoenix finally broke into Fury's half and Leo Bertos forced a couple of saves from Justin Pasfield.

Tempers were getting a little frayed in the tough conditions and Manny Muscat, for a challenge on Brockie, and Fowler, for dissent, both found themselves booked by referee Peter Green.

The final 15 minutes of the half produced only a couple of chances with desperate defence by McKain and Lochhead denying Daal and Rostyn Griffiths, playing at the back in the absence of the ill Robbie Middleby, doing enough to force Ifill to scuff his shot wide.

Phoenix came out firing after the break and there were barely two minutes on the clock when Dadi finally broke the deadlock.

Having won a corner, Bertos fired the ball into the box, the big striker rose above the defence and headed into the top left-hand corner.

Real chances were few and far between in the period immediately after the goal, although Bertos and Fowler both had shots on target, which were comfortably dealt with by Pasfield and Reddy.

Tim Brown was also booked for a challenge on the returning Ufuk Talay, who was substituted for Fred Agius a few minutes later.

Dadi was forced from the pitch with just under half an hour to go after an accidental clash of heads with Matthew Smith, who required treatment on the sidelines for a cut before continuing.

In the 75th minute only a furious goalmouth scramble by Phoenix prevented a Fury equaliser and then three minutes later Ifill was rifling a shot low into the bottom left-hand corner to make it 2-0 to the home side.

The vital three points were made certain when a well-judged cross into the box from Troy Hearfield found a leaping McKain, who glanced the ball home for his first of the season.