Andrew Durante, an Aussie-kiwi like Richard Villasanti

It's funny how things work huh? A month ago I was slipping deeper and deeper into the abyss via a Wellington Phoenix slump and here we are, two wins from the last three games and more importantly, celebrating a win over Melbourne City in which the Nix just had to hang on.

With Blake Powell out injured, Louis Fenton and Matt Ridenton snatched early goals for the Nix. These goals came in true striker fashion, expertly knocking in crosses from either side of the field and the Nix were up 2-0, before Aaron Mooy scored a deflected free-kick. 2-1 with a lot of the game left, leaving plenty of time for City to settle into their work.

Which is exactly what they did and to win in such fashion given their current circumstance shows great signs for the Nix moving forward. City dominated possession (57.3%), whipped in far more crosses (27 vs 5) and corners (9 vs ) to go with almost 100 more passes than the Nix, perhaps this was a bit of a role-reversal for the Nix as they are usually the team enjoying more ball and less goals.

With no Powell up front, the Nix effectively played without a striker. Ridenton floated around getting touches on the left, in the middle and on the right with Ridenton flanked by Fenton on the right and Michael McGlincey on the left. Alex Rodriquez and Albert Riera held the fort in the middle of the field, freeing Roly Bonevacia to chime in where he saw fit. This organisation and structure, especially with how the Nix stacked the middle of the field with Rodriquez and Riera perhaps suited the game situation perfectly as the Nix didn't have to chase the game.

Without Powell and no other certified A-League striker in their starting side, the Nix would have been in a tricky spot had they been scored on early. That's what made Fenton and Ridenton's goals so funky as not only were they the sort of goals we have seen far too rarely this season, but they came in a game in which the Nix didn't have a recognised striker.

Two goals from crosses means the Nix went around City's defence and got in behind their defensive line. Cast your mind back to earlier in the season when the Nix would keep pushing through the middle (very crowded middle) or go wide and then swing it back to the middle. In the last few weeks we have seen the Nix look more threatening with through balls and nicely weighted balls behind defeners from wide areas, it's good and better late than never right?

Manny Muscat was immense and while we've seen the veteran defenders for the Nix at their worst this season, more often than not they have done the job. Muscat had 12 interceptions while Mr 200/Andrew Durante had 6, which in conjunction with solid work from Rodriquez and Riera, helped keep City's chief play-maker Aaron Mooy quiet. Riera had 5 interceptions and Rodriquez had 2, coinciding with a rather poor 71.9% passing accuracy from Mooy.

Good news has flowed the way of the Nix as of late. There's a certain future, Kosta Barbarouses will arrive next season and the Nix have announced contract extensions for skipper Durante and Fijian flyer Roy Krishna. Good news is always nice and some would find those pieces of news more exciting than a gritty 2-1 win on a busy Friday night. Victory in such fashion over Melbourne City however shows that there is still plenty of fight in this Nix squad as they were able to counter a bit of adversity with a classic 'good enough' sort of win.

There's two ways that this pursuit of a finals berth plays out: the Nix either catch fire and are untouchable, or they play well, beat teams they should and win games they probably shouldn't.

It's hard to see the Nix catching fire, not without a player like Nathan Burns or Krishna so we've gotta see the Nix simply find ways to win. How they win, well who cares?
And we've gotta find another win against another A-League top dawg this weekend. Adelaide currently sit 2nd on the ladder, they will be coming to Wellington though so there's no reason not to be optimistic.