THE Western Sydney Wanderers fell back to Earth following their Asian Champions League win and it was a former Bathurst '75-Western player that grounded them.
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New Wellington Phoenix recruit Nathan Burns, who grew up in Blayney, scored the only goal in his club's A-League clash with the Wanderers on Friday night.
Burns' clinical finish in the 80th minute secured the win for Wellington and made it four goals for the new season for the striker.
Burns was a constant threat up front, and Nigerian defender Sevi Adeleke had to work hard to keep him in check.
After being locked at nil-all at half-time, the tight battle continued in the second stanza.
Wellington's Louis Fenton slammed a sharp chance into the side netting after Burns sliced through into the box, and substitute Roy Krishna volleyed high from close range soon after he was subbed on at 70 minutes.
It was good work from Wellington midfielder Roly Bonevacia which set up Burns' goal.
It was enough to secure the three points, an 86th penalty miss after Adeleke brought down Burns in the box ultimately proving irrelevant to the result.
Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick was well satisfied with the win, his team's first clean sheet in 17 games a definite bonus as they edge up into fourth on the A-League ladder.
"We just beat the best team in Asia, and we did it in style," Merrick said.
"We made it tough for ourselves, missing a penalty and probably a couple of good chances in the first half. But we persevered, with a clean sheet, a good footballing performance and three points to boot."