Goals from Ross Aloisi, Shane Smeltz, Vaughan Coveny and Tony Lochhead gave Phoenix a thumping win after Billy Celeski sneaked Glory an early lead, but had to fight on with ten men after a dubious dismissal.

Phoenix thrashed bottom of the ladder Glory with a dominant display that moved into top gear after Dino Djulbic was red carded in controversy before the hour mark.

Wellington had already come from behind to lead 2-1 when Djubic picked up two yellows in quick succession...and the second appeared to be issued in error by referee Peter Green.

Djulbic was sent off after Daniel was brought down by an accidental collision with team mate Felipe but Djulbic was nearby and had tugged on Daniel’s shirt seconds beforehand.

With Glory down to 10, Phoenix punished Perth with another brace of goals to secure a comfortable victory to the delight of the local crowd.

Wellington had greeted Glory looking for their first home win of the season and attacked the game with gusto.

Perth however were desperate to end their appalling scoring record with just one goal to their credit so far, and 12 games without a win.

An early corner for Phoenix was easily cleared up by Perth’s defence but a freekick from Felipe caused a heart flutter when Glory ‘keeper Tommi Tomich had to take two attempts to deal with it.

Perth looked to be struggling under the Wellington onslaught but Jordan Simpson carved the home side’s defence wide open with a stunning pass into the box for Billy Celeski.

He found himself completely unmarked and unchallenged with only the ‘keeper to beat and made the finish look easy as he slid it between the ‘keeper's legs for the opening goal in the ninth minute.

Another Felipe freekick once again came close to finding the back of the net, this time just going slightly high to hit the stanchion at the rear of the goal.

The Brazilian looked the most likely to find a goal for Phoenix as he closed in on target, but it was an exquisite corner from fellow South American Daniel that was to level the scores five minutes later.

He sent in an awkward inswinging ball from the right that came down at the foot of the near post and Ross Aloisi just managed to get a toe on it to push it over the line past the flailing Tomich.

Leo Bertos tried to push his team ahead once more with a long-range effort but it was to go just over the bar. He tried again moments later from a freekick a long way out but the cross/shot went beyond the far post.

Both sides kept up the pressure but it was Daniel once again who was to create Phoenix’s second with another run down the right hand side and in towards the box.

He beat his man to make a nice pass into the box for Vaughan Coveny who did some lovely juggling ball control to turn his man and put it into the six yard box for Shane Smeltz to knock home three minutes from half-time.

He almost got another two minutes later as he waltzed through the box and past the defence to try a shot from a difficult angle but this time found the side-netting instead.

Perth went into the sheds looking like they were the equal of Wellington but Phoenix had showed ruthless vigilance in front of goal to earn their deserved lead.

Phoenix came back out after the break and went straight into attack with Vaughan Coveny almost earning a penalty as he was brought down on the edge of the box, but a freekick was awarded instead.

Simon Colosimo earned a yellow for trying to charge down the freekick before the whistle had blown but Felipe's retake was swallowed up by the wall.

A talentless tackle from Djulbic gave Phoenix yet another freekick down near the left corner flag and it was fired in, forcing an excellent save from Tomich, but he couldn’t hold it. Luckily there was no-one coming in for the follow up and Glory escaped going further behind.

Djulbic had been lucky to escape a red card for that tackle after having picked up a booking at the start of the second stanza, but he bizarrely earned his second yellow just seconds later and Glory were down to ten with 35 minutes left on the clock.

He was sent for an early bath after Daniel went down heavily – but the Brazilian had collided with teammate Felipe, not the nearby Djulbic. Djulbic had admittedly tugged on Daniel’s shirt, but the ref immediately hauled out a red card and Djulbic was off.

A matter of seconds later, Phoenix claimed their third goal as Glory were still reeling from the apparently unjust dismissal.

Daniel and Tony Lochhead combined well down the left flank with a neat one-two that gave Lochhead space to send in a beautiful cross into the six yard box to meet the incoming Coveny.

He stuck out a long leg and got enough on it to push it into the back of the net against the shell-shocked Perth Glory squad.

Glory pulled off ineffectual striker Mate Dragicevic to be replaced by defender Tyler Simpson as Perth tried to bolster its backline after Djulbic's dismissal, and a few minutes later swapped James Robinson for youngster Nikita Rukavytsya as they searched for goals.

But Phoenix were now in total control of the game and it was all going wrong for Glory. Even a simple clearance by ‘keeper Tomich rebounded behind him and Glory were lucky to escape without conceding another.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the home side though. Daniel picked up a yellow after colliding with Celeski – his fourth of the season and ruling him out of next week’s match against Queensland Roar with an automatic suspension

Phoenix looked to cash in on Glory’s weakened side to improve their goal difference and catapault them up the ladder. Far from resting on their laurels, Wellington pushed hard to add to their tally.

But Glory were determined to go down fighting and bravely resisted the Phoenix pressure with forays into the Wellington half. However they rarely put the Phoenix goal in serious danger with Perth’s lack of strikeforce showing up once again.

Felipe was exchanged for Michael Ferrante after 70 minutes and the new face almost set up Phoenix’s fourth when he got through the defence to chip it into the box for Smeltz. The striker’s first touch let him down though and allowed Jamie Coyne to clean up with a clearance.

Moments later, Ferrante again found himself clear on the right after being cleverly fed the ball from the left by Smeltz and Coveny but his resulting shot just went wide of the post.

Shortly after, Coveny made way for Tim Brown to debut for Phoenix in the final 15 minutes while Phoenix took off goal hero Billy Celeski for Mitchell Prentice.

Phoenix finally got their fourth with another cross in from the left via Daniel.

With Coveny off the field though, it fell to Lochhead to repeat the striker’s finishing almost exactly with another long leg stretched out to poke it home and rub salt into the wounds for Perth.

Bertos had a half-chance as the final whistle approached but it just wouldn’t fall for him in front of goal...and it summed up Glory’s day. Perth were outshone, outgunned and out of luck.

FourFourTwo Says:
The crowd of 10,127 were thrilled by the devastating display by the home side as they cruised to their first Wellington victory in impressive style. The dubious dismissal of Djulbic may have made it easier for Phoenix, but they would have been good for the win even against a full-strength Perth side. Wellington lived up to all their pre-season potential and are a genuine new force in the A-League. But it’s going to be long, depressing season for Perth...