KEY POINTS:
An away win over Adelaide United on Friday night would take the Wellington Phoenix into uncharted territory.
Not only would it mark a fourth straight win in the Hyundai A-League, but it could take the Wellington franchise into the top three for the first time other than when they shared second place after the opening round last season when they drew 2-2 with Melbourne Victory.
After that encouraging start in August last year, the Phoenix were back to what sadly became more familiar territory a week later at the bottom of the table, a slot they held for five of the remaining weeks including the season end.
But now, playing their best soccer of the season and with a renewed confidence, Ricki Herbert will be looking to build on their upset 2-1 Friday night win over table-topping Melbourne.
The Phoenix, who came back from a goal down to win, were the only team to take maximum points in the 13th round as the other three games ended in draws.
In attracting a crowd of 7953, the Phoenix were headed by only the modest 8502 who turned out in Sydney.
But when Danny Allsopp slotted his seventh goal of the season to give the Victory their 22nd minute lead, the Phoenix were forced to dig deep. Within a minute Tim Brown found the equaliser with a half-volley which bounced its way into the Melbourne goal.
The issue was settled in the 59th minute with a Shane Smeltz cracker.
With his ninth goal of the season - as many as he managed in finishing second last season - Smeltz has shot one clear at the top of the golden boot and six off Archie Thompson's goal-scoring record set in 2006-07.
In winning for the fifth time, the Phoenix have equalled their total wins for last season. With eight games still to play, they have accumulated 18 points, just two shy of last season's tally.
The win at Westpac Stadium took the Phoenix past the warmly favoured Sydney FC and level with last season's league winners Central Coast Mariners.
Sydney, a goal down to visiting Queensland Roar when Matt McKay scored after 12 minutes, needed a 65th minute reply from Steve Corica to salvage a point.
The other draws came in more dramatic circumstances with goals scored in the fourth minute of added time.
Sasa Ognenovski snatched the late goal at Newcastle to earn Adelaide their point in a 1-1 draw after Matt Thompson had netted the 57th minute opener.
Central Coast scored first and last at Members Equity Stadium in salvaging at 2-2 draw with Perth Glory in a game controlled by New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary who booked seven players and sent off Mariners' Nigel Boogard in the 91st minute.
Mile Jedinak gave the visitors the lead after 31 minutes and Sasho Petrovski finished the job for 2-2 with virtually the last kick of the game. In between Nikita Rukavytsya scored in the 55th and 63rd minutes to give the Glory some hope of their fourth win of the season.
