Jamie Douglas at Westpac Stadium
It was delight for the Newcastle Jets and despair for home side Wellington Phoenix following their Hyundai A-League encounter on Sunday afternoon.
Jets coach Gary Van Egmond was full of praise for goalkeeper Ante Covic who put on a tremendous show in Newcastle's 1-0 win in front of 11,478 fans at Westpac Stadium.
The result was the kick-start the Jets needed after successive draws to open their season, while for the Phoenix it was more like a kick in the stomach after dominating for much of the match but coming away without any competition points.
Phoenix remains winless this season, its best result an opening round 2-2 draw against Melbourne Victory.
Van Egmond conceded his side had played second fiddle for the first half and early into the second spell before a change of tactics led to increased pressure on the Phoenix goal and ultimately the late winner from Matt Thompson.
"We played three up front which provided a bit more impetus for us to keep the ball in the middle of the park where we flooded the area a little bit as well … I thought that really helped us a lot," Van Egmond said of the tactical shift.
While there was an element of luck with Thompson's strike deflecting off team-mate Adam Griffiths to beat Phoenix goalkeeper Glen Moss, Van Egmond said the result was reward for the effort his players put in, especially Covic.
"I don't think there's a better keeper at the moment in the league, in fact I know there isn't. Not only myself but any of the boys, you ask them; they wouldn't want to swap him with anyone.
"I definitely think you need to have a bit of luck when you're on the road. The old adage if you win your games at home and draw away you're going to be definitely in the mix, but if you get a win away from home it's a real added bonus."
Covic echoed his coach's thoughts.
"These are the kind of games we need to grind out and hopefully get a result. We got a fortunate goal but that's what you need sometimes throughout the season and we walked away with three points and we're more than happy with that."
Phoenix captain Ross Aloisi could barely contain his disappointment after his 50th A-League appearance.
"Today, for me, was about getting three points and I'm gutted. I'm more disappointed this week than I was last week. I know every time you lose you're upset, but I'm more upset this week simply because of the fact that we should have won the game. Honestly, we should have won the game."
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert said the result was "one that really got away" and his side "should have won it three or four times over."
Converting goal scoring chances was high on his priority list.
"At the end of the day you've got to put the ball in the back of the net and if we had of done that a couple of times in the first half no doubt it would have been a different outcome.
"Finishing is going to be critical for us and we'll hopefully tidy that up going into Friday. I've lost count on how many (chances) we've created this year, but there's only two nestled in the back so far and that percentage has got to be higher."