NEU » story of the two wild-card era.

Melbourne Victory have produced their finest performance of the young A-League season, cutting 10-man Wellington Phoenix down to size in a 6-1 thrashing at Etihad Stadium.Besart Berisha finished with a hat-trick and Marco Rojas earned a double as Dylan Foxs dismissal after the break opened the floodgates for the home side.Berisha twice delivered his punishment from the penalty spot after sloppy Wellington defending, while Rojas surged onto loose balls to finish past Glen Moss.The pair combined for an 82nd minute effort that secured Berishas hat-trick, and Mitch Austin cemented Wellingtons embarrassment in injury time in front of 20,113 at Etihad Stadium.The all-action affair delivered on Victory coach Kevin Muscats promise of an attacking feast, with plenty of bumps on the way.With Rojas, Kosta Barbarouses, Gui Finkler and Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick all turning out against their former employers, there was plenty of feeling on display.Full-backs Daniel Georgievski and Jason Geria powered Victory, the former involved in the two first-half penalties.On 20 minutes, the Macedonian international flew into the box and was clumsily brought down by Roly Bonevacia as he collected Oliver Bozanics nifty pass.Two minutes later Georgievski turned provider for Berisha.Dylan Foxs attempt to muscle out the Albanian went awry, with his leg sticking inside Berishas stride like a rod in between the spokes of a bicycle wheel.On both occasions, Victorys striker strode confidently to the penalty spot, shooting to Moss right.Three points looked assured when Fox was served his second yellow card on 59 minutes for halting Berishas run on goal.But the Phoenix were awarded a penalty of their own when Alan Baro brought down Roy Krishna who duly converted.Their threat lasted just nine minutes, when Rojas timed his run into the box perfectly to gather Berishas ball and lash home.The winger was gifted his second, with Jacob Tratts poor clearance allowing him to sidefoot into an unguarded net on 77 minutes.After Berisha scored his 85th A-League goal - bringing him within five of Archie Thompsons all-time record - Austin took his turn to get on the scoresheet after more good work from Rojas.The result deepens Wellingtons season of woe, with Merricks men stranded on the foot of the A-League table after four games without a point.Victory jumped to third place, wiping out their negative goal differential suffered in round twos Melbourne derby on the way.Coach Kevin Muscat, who recorded his best win as a coach, said he was disappointed when the Phoenix battled back into the contest but happy with the final result.It could have been a few more ... well take some confidence from that, he said.Muscat said Georgievski would be taken for scans after going off clutching his shoulder.Merrick, who lost key defender Marco Rossi before the first whistle with a thigh injury, said he couldnt take anything from the performance.We tried to play good football right to the end but we made a series of errors, he said. Cheap Nuggets Jerseys . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Nuggets Jerseys China . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. https://www.cheapnuggets.com/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Nuggets Jerseys 2020 . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Wholesale Nuggets Jerseys . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. The Year of Tanking sort of turned into the Year of the Mediocre Wild Card Teams. All four wild cards won fewer than 90 games and the four teams collectively won 352, the lowest combined total in the five-year history of the two wild-card era.That, however, doesnt mean one of these teams wont make noise in the postseason. The 2014 World Series was an all-wild-card affair between the 89-win Royals and 88-win Giants. While those were the only wild cards to reach the World Series since 2012, in the one-team wild-card era, seven wild cards reached the World Series between 2002 and 2011 -- with the 2002 Angels, 20003 Marlins, 2004 Red Sox and 2011 Cardinals winning it all.ddddddddddddSome of them had high win totals -- the 2002 Angels won 99 games and the 2004 Red Sox won 98, for example -- but the 2003 Marlins won just 91 games, the 2011 Cardinals and 2007 Rockies won 90 and the 2005 Astros won 89. Id call these sneaky-good teams. One thing they all did during their World Series seasons was to have spurts of dominance; they didnt just plod along at two or three games over .500 each month. ' ' '