The A-League soccer dream lives on for Wellington Phoenix after striker Paul Ifill inspired a 3-1 defeat of the Newcastle Jets in their minor semifinal.
Brilliant Englishman Ifill buried a decisive goal midway through extra time to carry his team into next Saturday's preliminary final away to minor premiers Sydney FC.
Sydney tonight drew 2-2 with Melbourne Victory in the second leg of their major semi-final, meaning Melbourne win 4-3 on aggregate and will host the grand final in two weeks.
Success for the Phoenix will have to come away from their beloved Westpac Stadium, which they tonight farewelled for the season in front of a delirious club record crowd of 32,792, where they have not been beaten in 19 matches since October 2008.
They defied a heavily disrupted buildup to pull off a memorable win, dominating large chunks of the match and appropriately sealing the result through Ifill after Jets captain Matthew Thompson and inspirational Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown had struck in the first half of regular time.
Substitute striker Eugene Dadi ensured the match wouldn't go to a penalty shootout with a third goal five minutes from the end of extra time, tapping home as the Jets went in search of an equaliser
At times the match resembled the Paul Ifill show, his teasing skills on the edge of the box at the heart of the hosts' many attacks, either creating chances for himself or others.
Ifill's goal came via a neat Brown pass and was his 13th of the season, rifled past goalkeeper Ben Kennedy after he deceived yet another defender.
The hosts had a mortgage on possession and created seven shots at goal to two by halftime, a statistic that had more than doubled after 90 minutes, while they also won nine corners to one.
The visitors were most dangerous on the counter and that was borne out in the 20th minute when Thompson blasted his team ahead with a left-footed bullet that left under-employed Phoenix goalkeeper Liam Reddy with no hope.
Brown's eighth goal of the season was his most important, taking advantage of typically elusive Ifill buildup with a first-time left-footed strike from 10m out in the 33rd minute.
The Phoenix had a far from ideal buildup for the match, with their four starting All Whites - Brown, Ben Sigmund, Leo Bertos and Tony Lochhead - all heavily involved in the international against Mexico in Los Angeles last Thursday (NZT).
All but Bertos played out 120 minutes despite they and coach Ricki Herbert arriving home only yesterday morning, having left assistant coaches Jonathan Gould and Luciano Trani to prepare a depleted squad.
Brown popped up all over the park in a mammoth display, while Bertos joined Ifill in posing countless problems down the flanks.
The back four were largely sound while Vince Lia anchored a midfield that comfortably won the battle for possession.
Defender Sigmund could easily have registered a goal after just 75 seconds but his low, diving header was cleared off the line by Ali Abbas.
Another clear chance came when midfielder Manny Muscat was clear on goal but his strike was blocked by a sprawling Kennedy.


(Wellington Phoenix fans)


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