Central Coast Mariners will board an early morning flight to Kyrgyzstan as the A-League Men leaders and with a top-two finish in the bag after a 2-0 win over Western United.
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Max Balard opened the scoring with a well-taken goal in the 51st minute at the Wyndham Regional Football Facility in Tarneit on Saturday.
Christian Theoharous doubled the Mariners' lead with a sensational long-range strike in the 80th minute, just four minutes after entering the fray.
The win lifts Central Coast ahead of Wellington on games won (15 to 14), with both teams sitting on 49 points - eight clear of third-placed Melbourne Victory with two rounds left.
"It was over to us today after Wellington got the late win yesterday," coach Mark Jackson said.
"There was a little bit of pressure on us, but the boys have come good, particularly in the second half, and produced a professional performance."
It also delivered the club championship, with Central Coast the team with the most cumulative points across their men's and women's sides.
The Mariners and Phoenix can look forward to the first week of finals off before the two-legged semi-finals.
Central Coast have also sealed a berth in the Asian Champions League Elite for next season.
The Mariners fly to Kyrgyzstan on Sunday for the first leg of their AFC Cup inter-zonal final against Abdysh-Ata Kant on Wednesday.
"It's a gruelling, gruelling journey," Jackson said.
"We leave the hotel at 2am tomorrow morning, we fly and then we've got - l think it's a nine-hour layover - before we get on the flight to Kyrgyzstan.
"We're not complaining. We're very privileged to be in this position.
"We're going to embrace it, like we've done all this season, and we're going to go out there ready to perform and hopefully get the result."
The game burst to life five minutes into the second half.
Josh Nisbet pounced on a Sebastian Pasquali turnover and burst forward before cutting the ball back for Balard to score.
Eleventh-placed United were contentiously denied a penalty from a potential Balard handball in the 53rd minute.
"I don't know the rule anymore. Don't know the rule. We haven't been given much," United coach John Aloisi said.
"It came off of our player and hit him in the hand. When his arm was up. So normally they give that as a penalty. They didn't. So we can't complain."
Aloisi voiced his frustration at a perceived lack of consistency from referees.
"If they consistently make them that they're not handballs, then no problem," he said.
"If they consistently make them that they're handballs, then no problem, we'll deal with it.
"But they're not - they're changing their mind every week."
Theoharous sealed the three points when he evaded multiple defenders before rifling a left-footed strike from the edge of the box into the top corner.
United play Adelaide on Tuesday night in Tarneit, while the Mariners host the Reds on Sunday.
Australian Associated Press
