Melbourne won the elimination circle. After several efforts, Melbourne eventually eliminated arch-rivals Melbourne from the same city with a 12-yard mutual field goal. The top four will host the Wellington Phoenix in round one.
To me, the Melbourne win proves that Melbourne under Pupovic is winning and has the ability to get to the league championship. I saw their desire to win. Even though they didn't put on their best performance, they could still win. That's definitely an element that championship teams need.
His keeper, Paul Eisel, was brilliant, helping to beat Murray City in the first world war, and made a couple of incredible saves, but I think Konaroly could be the key man today.
Konarolygui is the team's leading scorer. With 18 goals this year, there will be some pressure on him. However, I believe the 36-year-old striker is not only capable of handling that pressure, but often excels in this battle.
Although the Wellington Phoenix lost the regular season title in the final round of the conference tournament which was a 0:3 loss to FC MacArthur, they vowed to win the first title in the club's history and finish the season on a high note.
They only conceded 26 goals all season and won the Australian post title in terms of defensive performances, with head coach Ithellianu being the best as he got the best out of young defenders such as Finn Sewan and Senserton.
Due to a long term injury, Oscar Shawada is finally back and will strengthen the Wellington Phoenix. Like Konaroly, he is the centerpiece of the team and has the ability to improve the performance of the whole team. After the last game, he prepared for a few minutes and scored immediately. You can see it has an immediate effect.
However, I believe a Melbourne win will ultimately win Round 1 in favor of the home side.
