Victory secure Plate despite Sydney win
Melbourne Victory guaranteed themselves the A-League Premiers' Plate with a 3-1 home triumph over Central Coast Mariners on the final day of the regular season. Daniel Georgievski and Archie Thompson fired the hosts into a two-goal lead with strikes just two minutes apart shortly after the half-hour mark.
Eddy Bosnar halved the deficit with a deflected free-kick on the stroke of half-time, but any hopes the visitors harboured of a comeback were quashed two minutes after the restart when Besart Berisha grabbed a third goal for the Victory.
Sydney FC had earlier given themselves a shout of winning the Premiers' Plate by moving level on 50 points with the Victory courtesy of a 2-1 success at Wellington Phoenix.
Bernie Ibini-Isei set Sydney on their way with a 14th-minute opener and Shane Smeltz doubled their advantage from the penalty spot just shy of the half-hour mark. Michael Boxall pulled a goal back in the opening moments of the second half, but that was as good as it got for the fifth-placed Phoenix.