AND then there were three. Three teams and two games to decide the winner of this season's Hyundai A-League.
Unfortunately for Jets fans, their team won't be part of the action in the final two weeks, but not through a lack of effort or courage.
Their minor semi-final clash with Wellington in front of a huge, partisan and parochial crowd in the windy city, went for 120 minutes and wasn't over until Eugene "Who's Your" Dadi sealed the Jets' fate with a tap-in from one metre in the 115th minute.
The Jets played a clever counter-attacking game and certainly gave themselves enough opportunities to make things terribly awkward for the home side.
However, there was always a sense that Wellington were just going to do enough to get home, and the longer the game went and the more it became a battle of lungs and legs, the more the Phoenix were favoured.
As I stated last week, the Phoenix would build off a base of discipline, hard work and tenacity, and would not stop for the duration. After that, they would look to get the ball to Paul Ifill in dangerous areas and hope to cash in.
In truth, even though Wellington's midfield trio of Brown, Lia and Muscat worked tirelessly and productively for 120 minutes, they were never going to rip the Jets apart. That job would fall to Ifill, and regardless of comments about his defensive contribution, or lack thereof, he was the player who caused all the problems for the Jets.
The Jets never really came to grips with the Barbados international. Had they done so, they might well be preparing for a trip to the SFS on Sunday.
Having started on the left, Ifill got no change out of Tarek Elrich in the opening exchanges, and promptly buggered off to the right and had a picnic.
He gave Adam D'Apuzzo a hard time before the Jets' penchant for shifting Ben Kantarovski to left back again transpired, and Ifill gave the youngster a torrid time.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kantarovski is an intelligent, mature and talented footballer, but he defends like a midfield player, because that's what he naturally is. The place he is least comfortable is against an attacker with pace going down his outside, requiring him to make a tackle with his least favoured left foot.
Young "Kanta" wouldn't be on his own there, with 98 per cent of the football-playing population dreading that exact scenario.
In truth, left back has been a problem area for the Jets since day one and in my view, asking Kantarovski to fill a hole there does little for his football development and even less for his confidence.
It was a weekend of contradictions for me, one which required recognition of a brave effort, but one which highlighted several areas of glaring deficiency.
The left back role I've already covered, but the Jets' lack of depth in the striking ranks in particular, and in general overall strength, was brought to the fore on Sunday.
Sean Rooney is a promising young attacker, but it's asking a lot of him to play the lone striker's role effectively at this stage of his career. But what alternatives were there for Branko Culina and his coaching staff?
Mirjan Pavlovic is not ready to do that job against experienced defenders, Sash Petrovski probably no longer has the mobility required, and Labinot Halita is a little too hot and cold to deliver consistently in that role.
Of course, Michael Bridges's injury left a yawning hole up front, but at 33 and with his share of injury concerns, you can hardly use him as a workhorse, or budget for a full complement of matches from him next season.
I'll return to the theme of next season in the next two weeks, but I couldn't help but notice the impact or the threat that the teams' various benches posed on Sunday.
Wellington brought on Daniel - a clever ball player with good vision and a sweet left foot; Dadi - a strong physical presence with a nose for goal; and Diego - an experienced playmaker to keep the ball when they were in front in the game.
Daniel was terrific, energetic and incisive, and you could have knocked Dadi's goal in with your . . . well you know what I mean, but he'd won important headers at both ends before being Johnny-on-the-spot for the sealer from a pass by, guess who, Diego.
Had their other substitute, Costa Barbarouses, come on, his pace would have been a nightmare for tiring defenders.
For the Jets, Pavlovic was busy and tried hard, but is not quite ready at this level. Haliti always tries hard, but I can barely remember him getting a touch in two periods of extra time, and Sasho hit a post, would probably have scored the chance Pavlovic had in injury time, but is unlikely to run 60 metres to score on a counter-attack.
In a thrilling second leg of the major semi-final, the strength and contributions of the respective benches was even more stark and important. Melbourne, supposedly in the middle of an injury crisis, had Archie Thompson, the league's most dangerous striker, Evan Berger, a livewire pitbull of a left-sided player, and the touch and guile of Costa Rican Marvin Angulo on their bench.
Sydney had youngsters Chris Payne and Brendan Gan, and veteran defender Hayden Foxe as their substitutes.
Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick went to his bench, Thompson not surprisingly changed the course of the game, while Sydney coach Lavicka was reluctant to remove any of his starting 11, and may pay a huge price if Alex Brosque's troublesome hamstring rules him out of next week's final.
If Brosque is unfit, Wellington have a huge chance of rolling Sydney. They have the work ethic and belief to do it.
Brosque's pace is important to Sydney, and Newcastle showed in patches on Sunday against a flat Wellington back four how vital that can possibly be.
Brosque's combination with a fit-again Mark Bridge, who was excellent on Sunday, is key to Sydney's creativity, particularly in Steve Corica's absence.
Whatever happens in terms of personnel, I don't see Sydney giving Paul Ifill the latitude he was allowed by the Jets.
If Brosque is out, I envisage Sydney moving Kisel to a central area, pushing Bridge further forward and allowing Shannon Cole to return and play in midfield in front of right back Seb Ryall. With McFlynn sitting in front of Sydney's left back Byun, Wellington will be asked to find another route to goal rather than Ifill on either flank.
It's Sydney for me. Remember they did actually win Sunday's game, but only narrowly.
And finally, hats off to Matt Thompson and all the Jets players for leaving nothing in the tank in their quest to keep an unlikely journey going.
To those who have played their final match for the club, we say thank you, and wish you all the best in football and in life.
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