Wellington Phoenix have responded to their 5-0 thrashing by Melbourne Heart by beating Central Coast Mariners 4-1 after coming from behind.
Central Coast began the contest on the front foot, but it was Wellington who created the first chance of the game in the early stages.
Carlos Hernandez managed to pick the ball up just a yard from goal, but while his sliding effort towards the far post beat the goalkeeper, a Central Coast player was able to scoop the ball out of play to clear the danger.
Minutes later, Kenny Cunningham opted to go for goal himself, despite Stein Huysegems being free out wide, but Cunningham's shot from a yard outside of the box headed straight into a defender.
It became a battle in the middle of the pitch as both sides settled into the fixture, but neither side could perfect their end product until the home side struck at the 20-minute mark.
Bernie Ibini-Isei weaved into the box and looked as though he was going to lay off to Mitchell Duke, but instead he glided the ball into the far corner of the net to give his side the lead.
After the break, Wellington equalised almost instantly when the ball fell to Cunningham after some frantic movement in the box. He was able to set up a strike and clinch the goal to draw level.
Mile Sterjovski had a great chance to give Central Coast the lead when he was awarded a penalty after getting brought down in the box, but his poor effort was saved.
Not long after, Wellington blasted the home side's hopes of grabbing maximum points by snatching two goals in as many minutes when Carlos Hernandez slammed the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the six-yard area.
Huysegems swiftly followed up by poking the ball past the keeper to give the visitors a two-goal cushion in the match, but they weren't done yet as Jeremy Brockie managed to find the back of the net to give the visitors their fourth.
Wellington maintained their dominance to see out the match and take maximum points.
Danielle Joynson
