R21 vs Brisbane Roar | Sat 25th Feb | 7:35pm

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/89817215/wellington-phoenix-fans-booted-from-suncorp-stadium-after-taking-shirts-off-in-traditional-celebration

#shambles

didn't watch the game. First time I've missed one in ages. Smeltz and Parkhouse- simple, space, great bending, dipping ball and a header back across the keeper where it came from. Like he's never been away. 

Great to see A-Rod showing some tricks going forward. Sign him up! Surely he's only going to get better and can seemingly play anywhere in the midfield for us. We saw his attacking prowess against West Ham, but nothing since then

A Rod had an excellent all round game too.

Personally I thought Ridenton was only average... his passing initially was off and he made poor choices. Improved as the game went on.

A Rod had a great game along with Lia, it was nice seeing A Rod take on players and show his technical ability. Seemed to be having fun!

As happy as I am, Roar were poor and we were lucky to get them on the day.

Best image from the gallery - why is Matt Mckay smiling? Hamish Watson looks like he has just taken a kick to the nuts and the other guy could have seen an alien spacecraft by the expression on his face.

Yes it's true that Roar were tired from short turnaround so this win was a bit like our win against Victory. I would argue this one was a 'better win' though (away, with a depleted squad). As Bozza said, let's see if we can be consistent. 

Even factoring in Brisbane's tiredness we still played a hell of a lot better than we did last week though

True. I thought our midfield looked better than last week, at least when Matt McKay was distracted elsewhere.

Yep definitely; but it's still not up to the level of any of the top 4. Baby steps, though.

If we play like we did against Brisbane, Perth will likely smash us just as much as City did. Lets hope that provided a bit of confidence for the likes of Kosta and Smeltz.

I thought it was heartening to see the level of desperation we showed to defend the lead in the last 15 minutes, although the panicky nature of our clearances was hair raising and probably showed how lacking in confidence the team is. Given the disaster of last week's result I know it sounds bizarre but I honestly believe that if Kosta had put that penalty away we might well have gone on to win that game, as MC have shown plenty of their own mental fragility this season. This time after an uninspiring start we got the goal, found some intestinal fortitude and fought hard for a deserved win.

I wonder which Nix will turn up next weekend!?

If only outpost. When they play well, they play really well but this is not as often as it should be. That is what is frustrating so many.

As Mike Cockerill pointed out, MC have not scored in the last 15 minutes of the game this season, until our game.

I keep studying Krishna's goal and wonder why our guys just do not do that far more often.

If we lose and say it's because we're missing players to AW duty, or playing in 39 degree heat then we're making excuses. If we win then it must be because the other team is tired.

Either no excuses or excuses allowed for any team when merited!

That 39 degree heat was literally a killer for the players on both sides, it should never have been allowed to start.

Who died?

Except that both teams had a short turnaround for our win against Victory (although the Aussie commentators only focussed on the one team - and yes, it wasn't us).