The A-League's top six looks all-but decided after the Sydney football club and Newcastle failed to put pressure on Wellington in the race for the last finals spot on Sunday.
With both realistically needing a win to keep their slim chances alive, the sides fought out a 1-all draw, officially ending's Sydney's title defence and reducing the Jets' hopes to a faint mathematical possibility.
Wellington's shock 1-nil away win over Adelaide on Saturday looks to have assured them their second successive finals appearance, after the Melbourne Heart dropped out of the running by being held to a 1-all draw with Central Coast on Friday.
The upset win braks the Wellingtonian's horror run of away form will give them a major confidence boost with the Phoenix likely to have to beat Adelaide again if they're to go one better than last season and reach the grand final.
Coach Ricki Herbert was more than happy for the watershed win and says the Phoenix are building momentum at the right time of the year despite a tough run of injuries and suspensions to key players.
However he says they're not getting ahead of themselves and won't be thinking about anything other than Wednesday's away clash with Sydney.
With two games to play against Sydney (Wednesday) and North Queensland (Sunday), the Phoenix (38pts) hold a four-point buffer over the Heart (34), who have only one match to play and cannot bridge the gap.
Eighth-placed Newcastle are six points behind the Phoenix and are the only team that could knock Ricki Herbert's men out of the finals.
But it appears unlikely as the Jets would have to win remaining games against Perth and Central Coast and hope the Phoenix lose both of their last two games, as well as overturning a five-goal points deficit.
