Were all those draws worth it? Hell yeah, a 3-2 win over the Melbourne Victory in Melbourne was the product of those tough games leading up to this weekend and the Wellington Phoenix must be chuffed with the way the fought in all aspects of the game.

It was far from the dominating performances of the past few weeks, but it was also far from the rather comical performances of the same past few weeks. Comical in the sense that the Nix couldn't get the ball anywhere near the back of the net and weren't able to turn their bountiful possession in to a win.

You felt as though the Nix were pretty lucky to be 1-1 at half time as the Victory enjoyed the majority of the chances and looked to have more impact going forward. A team with Kosta Barbarouses, Fahid Ben Kalfallah and Besart Berisha is always going to offer plenty in attack and they created 6 more total shots as well as 5 more shots from inside the box than the Nix but seeing Berisha miss a few that someone like him would usually slot, gave us hope.

There's something about seeing an opponent's best goal scorer miss chances like those, you feel like this could possibly be your day. Seeing Roly Bonevacia curl another free kick, that's two in two weeks for the Nix, was also one of those moments.

Roly scored the first, Michael Boxall nodded home from a set piece for the second and then Boxall set up Nathan Burns for the third, for the bloody winner. Yet for me the most impressive display came from the lads in defence and this was clearly evident for the winning goal. Andrew Durante made a huge tackle on Berisha, despite Berisha doing his best stumble dribble impersonation, but it was still a key tackle inside his on box for Durante which luckily fell at the feet of Alex Gorrin who sent a long ball up to Boxall and the rest is history.

Durante was awesome at the back while Albert Riera, this guy is the key for the Wellington Phoenix. Whenever there is shit to be cleaned up, Riera is there but he's so much more than a player who is there to break up the play in rugged fashion. Riera reads the game like a master and is able to step up and intercept passes and then deliver a crisp pass to someone going forward. He also provides great cover for those out wide - Boxall and Manny Muscat as they can be aggressive with their defence on their winger as they know the Riera will be there to tuck in behind them and provide cover.

Boxall has looked good in his time starting as Louis Fenton's been out injured. He's a bigger lad, but moves well which ensures that he can bully wingers and play them physically while being quick enough to match them for pace. His assist to Burns is a bit of a one off though as Boxall was chilling up near half way as Gorrin had the ball in the right back position, however he showed plenty of strength, pace and composure to ensure that the winner was scored.

Not sure what Ernie Merrick's going to do here as Fenton could return this week which will provide a headache. I like both Boxall and Fenton so I've got no idea.

I also wouldn't sleep on Michael McGlinchey who is quietly going about his business in the middle of the field. Nearly all of the slick passing moves that the Nix throw at their opponents include him and while he's not offering much in the way of highlights, his ability to be the focal point and allow those with more pace or a bit of razzle dazzle to do their thing around him is huge.

As we've yearned for goals in recent weeks, to see the Nix slot 3 past the Victory in an intense game was awesome. I think we saw the value of having many experienced campaigners out on the field as they were able to absorb what the Victory threw at them and they were mentally strong enough to hang in there. That shit pays off and when you've got players who are either in hot form or simply know how to score goals, those small opportunities are translated in to goals.

Who are ya!? It has to be Boxall this week for his goal and assist to give the Nix the win.

Nek Week the Nix take on Adelaide United who sit ahead of us in third, but with the Victory and Adelaide both joining the Nix on 33 points, this is another big one. Adelaide had a 3-1 loss to Melbourne City so you'd imagine that we should be able to continue their misery especially at home.

That stretch against the bottom teams won't mean anything if we can get some results against the teams at the top of the ladder. A win against the Victory and a repeat dose against Adelaide will be just what the doctor prescribed but an impressive showing against Adelaide will also go down nicely. We've got ourselves a bit of a buffer by not loosing those games in the last few weeks so hopefully we can make the most of it.