90+2mins: The corner comes to nothing but Moss is forced to make a dive as Brattan flashes one wide from distance. At least he’ll have some grass stains on his shirt to prove he was involved today. The Wellington defence has been impregnable.

90mins: Every time Roar get close to a shot, a Phoenix limb emerges from somewhere to get in the way. Lia nods one out for a corner.

88mins: The result isn’t in doubt but both sides are still pushing for a goal. Some excellent short passing from Wellington, they’re toying with the defending champions.

84mins: Brockie comes off to huge applause. Fantastic stuff. Hicks on.

83mins: Good save! Young pushes away a Bonevacia belter.

82mins: Solorzano tries to get on the end of a Petratos cross but just can’t get a touch. Still hunting for a consolation.

80mins: The Phoenix fans whip their shirts off in celebration on the 80-minute mark. Lovely day for it. Crowd of 10,267 and they’ll have liked what they’ve seen.

78mins: Wellington have taken the terrier out of Brisbane now. Henrique is still trying to find a way through but there’s a lot of white shirts with their heads down.

76mins: Fenton off for Boxall. Phoenix closing out the game.

72mins: That injury seems to have taken some of the pace out of the game - not a bad thing as far as Brisbane concerned. The phrase “headless chickens” springs to mind.

69mins: Roar on the ropes. An injury to Brown gives them a chance to take a breath. It’s about saving face for Brisbane now.

65mins: The Roar make a couple of changes. They had to do something. Clut and Danning on for Sarota and Lustica.

64mins: Now Solorzano goes close, but his shot from the edge of the box goes too high. More encouraging for Brisbane, although they were half-chances at best.

63mins: Petratos flashes one wide from about 20 yards out. It was a lot closer than Moss seemed to think.

60mins: Ooo close! Bonevacia smashes a right-foot volley just wide after a lovely little chip over the Roar defence. Roar need to calm down.

59mins: Young tries to release Brown down the left but throws it straight out of play. He looks a bit rattled.

55mins: Replays of the penalty suggest Young blocked the ball as he tackled Brockie. No wonder he was frothing at the mouth for a good minute before and after the goal. Still a foul but not a red card. Referee got it right.

54mins: Wellington switch off momentarily and Henrique races into the box before being tackled. Phoenix race up the other end and Bonevacia is crowded out before he can get his shot away. What was I saying about a slow start to the half?

53mins: It’s a long way back for Brisbane now against a side that has only conceded 14 goals this season. They’ve shown nothing to suggest they can do it.

42mins: More of the same. Roar pass it around, probing for an opening. Then Solorzano tries a deep cross that sails harmlessly out of play.

41mins: Wellington giving a masterclass in defending as a unit. No one really standing out, just everyone doing their job. Lustica reduced to booting a hopeful long ball over the top. Pure frustration.

37mins: Ooo! Bonavacia blasts over from just outside the box. Good first touch but the finish was awful. He’s getting closer.

35mins: Wellington just starting to turn the screw. Good work from Sigmund but his cross into the box can’t find a striped shirt.

31mins: McGlinchey in a dangerous position but can’t find the net. He seems to be involved in every Wellington attack.

30mins: The game seems to be falling into a pattern, with the Phoenix happy to let Brisbane have the ball until it gets into the final third. Then the Phoenix defensive machine clicks into gear, like some sort of awesome football-playing Transformer. Another million-dollar idea for Mattel.

27mins: If anything the Roar are being a tad too terrier-like. A few wayward passes put down to overeagerness. They’ll need to be smarter than that to get through this Phoenix defence.

24mins: Credit to Brisbane who’ve been terrier-like in their pursuit of the ball despite the early setback. The Phoenix just seem to have that extra touch of quality though.

22mins: North forced to boot a difficult deep cross over his own bar. Didn’t look pretty but was definitely needed.

19mins: Solorzano forces Moss into a block. Half a chance for the Roar who are still battling.

17mins: McGlinchey floats the ball harmlessly wide for a goal-kick.

16mins: Well they fluffed it but Henrique concedes another foul and they get a second chance from almost the exact same spot. Give it to Muscat!

15mins: Some great short passing football from the hosts and they win a free-kick about 30 yards out. Probably a smidge too far for a strike on goal...

12mins: Brisbane still seeing a lot of the ball but every time they get into a dangerous area they hit the great wall of Wellington. Phoenix looking comfortable.

8mins: Oooo! Muscat should have had another. Great through ball but this time he tries to slot it into the corner and instead rolls it just wide. A let off for Brisbane.

6mins: How will Roar respond to that? Well not too badly actually. They’ve probably had more of the ball but Wellington were ruthless with their first meaningful attack - clear sign of a team in form.

3mins: Decent start from Brisbane. Henrique almost breaks through down the right but is eventually muscled off the ball.

Here’s how the two teams will line up today. No huge surprises.

Wellington Phoenix: Glen Moss, Andrew Durante, Ben Sigmund, Louis Fenton, Manny Muscat, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Riera, Vince Lia, Roly Bonevacia, Jeremy Brockie, Michael McGlinchey. Subs: Lewis Italiano, Tyler Boyd, Kenny Cunningham, Jason Hicks, Michael Boxall

Brisbane Roar: Jamie Young, Daniel Bowles, Corey Brown, Jade North, James Donachie, Luke Brattan, Adam Sarota, Steven Lustica, Jean Carlos Solorzano, Henrique, Dimitri Petratos. Subs: Devante Clut, Kofi Danning, Brandon Borrello, Shane Stefanutto, Matthew Acton

Richard will be here momentarily to take you through today’s proceedings but until he gets here, here’s what Guardian Australia’s Paul Connolly thinks of the upcoming clash.

Momentum is a wonderful thing in sport, the way any given match ebbs and flows and has periods when even an outgunned team enjoys moments of dominance. It’s fascinating, too, when a good result can spark a striving but hitherto struggling team into a run of them, confidence and belief jumping between team members like an electrical charge. Because of that, more so than any tactical changes, results start going your way. Luck joins the party, too, and the sky turns a vivid shade of blue you haven’t seen in a while. What a pity, then, for Wellington (and you can throw Melbourne City into the mix) that the A-league is about to go on ice for the duration of the Asian Cup. Heading into their home match against Brisbane on Sunday Wellington have won five and drawn one of their past six games — a run which includes their stunning 3-1 win over Adelaide on New Year’s Eve; a win picked up away from home without the league’s top scorer Nathan Burns. Prior to those six matches — in which they’ve scored 15 goals to four — they’d lost four of seven. But sparked by their 5-1 thrashing of City in Round 8 they’ve mostly been in sparkling form, and when they’ve haven’t they’ve eked out a result (that 1-1 draw with the Mariners) or found luck on their side (that dubious penalty that gifted them the win against the Wanderers earlier this week). People like Newcastle coach Phil Stubbins can’t wait for the Asian Cup break, but Ernie Merrick must be wishing there was no break at all, lest it puts the brakes on Wellington’s stirring run of form.