A crowd of 6110 rain-soaked football fans braved the conditions to witness a six-goal thriller.

The wet conditions were not conducive to flowing football, and the opening minutes saw both sides trying to find some consistency on the slick surface. Phoenix gained the early ascendency in the match, as they adapted to the conditions quickly and strung together some decent phases of passing.

Both sides had set-piece opportunities through the opening third of the match, but it wasn't until the 13th minute that either side threatened goal. Michael Ferrante and Daniel combined well to give Troy Hearfield time and space at the top of the box. The young Australian's goal-bound effort was deflected clear by Rodrigo Vargas to deny an otherwise certain goal for the home side.

However, despite the early Phoenix pressure it was the visiting side which broke the deadline just a few minutes later. The impressive Danny Allsopp turned Emmanuel Muscat inside out on the left hand side of the box following a Melbourne counterattack, and struck a low drive that squeezed under Glenn Moss' body on 15 minutes to take the score to 1-0.

It took just two minutes for Allsopp to threaten the goals again. Another Melbourne counterattack saw it open the Phoenix up, finding acres of space down the right flank. The stretched Phoenix defence had to shift wide to cover, leaving Allsopp unmarked at the top of the box after the ball was squared to him.

He managed to beat Moss for a second time with a deft chip, with only a frantic but acrobatic header from Michael Ferrante from four yards out preventing the ball from ending up in the net.

Victory continued to dominate proceedings, and their constant pressure almost led to another goal in the 23rd minute. A deep corner to the back post was missed by Moss, allowing Michael Thwaite to head the ball back across the Phoenix goal mouth. Billy Celeski steamed in for the visitors and disappointingly headed the ball over from six yards out, with only a Phoenix defender between him and the goal.

Melbourne were left ruing their missed chances on 29 minutes though, after some neat play from the home side enabled them to level the scores. A raking ball from the back from Jon McKain opened up Lochhead in space down the left. His beautifully weighted cross from the byline found Shane Smeltz, whose powerful headed thundered past a helpless Mitchell Langerak to level the scores at 1-1.

The goal spurred Victory back into action, and five minutes later they regained their lead. A loose pass by Smeltz inside his own half was gratefully accepted by Matthew Kemp, who slid an excellent through-ball past the Phoenix defence to give Allsopp his third one-on-one of the match with Moss. He made no mistake as he clipped the ball over the rushing keeper to restore their one-goal buffer and make the score 2-1.

Melbourne started the second period as they finished the first, and extended their lead just one minute into the half. Allsopp was again the catalyst after he was picked out by a clever ball from Celeski down the right hand side. His cross found the Phoenix defence all at sea, and was met with an acrobatic effort from Fabiano who managed to swivel and fire the ball home in one slick movement to make the score 3-1 in favour of the visitors.

In the 51st minute the visitors again came close, and were causing huge amounts of trouble for the home defence. Celeski found space inside the Phoenix goal-box after a teasing ball in from Fabiano. The ensuing loose ball fell to Jose Luis Lopez on the top of the box, whose rasping drive was only inches over the bar. His compatriot Hernandez also came close with a fizzing strike three minutes later, with his attempt cannoning into the back stanchion.

The home side managed a good period of play on 61 minutes, that showed signs of danger on goal, especially off set pieces. Substitute Vaughan Coveny's first touch almost led to a goal, with his header flashing past the far post from the Hearfield free kick. Just a minute later the home side produced something akin to a blooper reel when Smeltz's shot was blocked by Kevin Muscat on the edge of the box. The deflection looped over the remaining defenders and hit the crossbar, which saw the subsequent deflection hit the flapping Langerak and dribble out for a corner.

The next play led to another goal, with the first of two controversial penalties. McKain was fouled inside the Melbourne area by Matthew Kemp, and Smeltz made no mistake from the spot, despite missing a penalty against the same opposition from the same spot two weeks ago.

The Phoenix must have felt they had a chance after bringing the score back to 3-2, but Melbourne were on the receiving end of a penalty decision just three minutes later as McKain turned from hero to villain. His badly timed challenge on Hernandez gave Victory skipper Kevin Muscat the chance to take the score to 4-2, which he duly converted in the 66th minute.

The remainder of the half saw both sides have chances as the conditions took their toll and opened the match up.