MELBOURNE’S AAMI Park may be a long way from the turf of Alec Lamberton Field where Nathan Burns and Archie Thompson played as teenagers, but on Sunday it was the backdrop to a historic evening for both Bathurst soccer graduates.

Former Bathurst Sportsperson of the Year and now Melbourne Victory striker Thompson made his 200th A-League appearance when he was injected into the game off the bench in the 73rd minute.

But four minutes after Thompson ran out onto the field, Wellington Phoenix striker Burns tapped in what was to be the match winner.

A quick counter-attack by Phoenix caught Victory napping, with the ball squared to Burns who did the rest. He made it 3-2 and in doing so, helped Wellington to the first win in their A-League history over the Melbourne outfit.

“We went into the game with the belief that we can win here and the first half we showed that we’re a top table team. I’m proud of the boys for tonight’s effort. To take three points here, I think all the boys are pretty stoked,” Burns said.

It was Burns’ 11th goal of the season and first for Phoenix since returning to the club following his Asian Cup duties with the Socceroos.

But as much as Burns and his team-mates relished their history making victory, the evening was still a chance to reflect on Thompson’s brilliant career.

Thompson is only the sixth player in the history of the competition to play 200 games and the first from the Melbourne Victory to reach that milestone, having joined the club back in 2005.

He is the league’s all-time scoring leader with 84 goals and has played in two championship teams.

The 2006/07 grand final provided one of his major highlights as Thompson scored five goals to help his side crush Adelaide United 6-0. In doing so he became the first player in the competition’s history to score a hat-trick and won the Joe Marston Medal for man of the match.

His other championship season in 2009-10 did come with a sour note as he injured his knee 12 minutes into the deciding match against Sydney FC. It was an incident which sidelined him for 12 months.

Now 36, Thompson said the standard of the A-League has certainly improved over the years. He admitted that the strength of the competition saw a change in his attitude.

“The standard and the level and the intensity weren’t there,” he said of his early years in the A-League.

“I remember walking off halfway through sessions – they’d see my Subaru flying over the bridge and they’d think ‘Where’s Archie going?’

“Mind you, that was me having a big head coming back [from a stint playing overseas].

“Now there’s no silly buggers like there used to be.

“In our code it’s very rare that you’re at one club for so long and I’m just grateful,” he added.

In a testament to Thompson’s popularity, 22,096 fans turned up at AAMI Park on Sunday to watch him make his 200th appearance. They had been hoping to join him in celebrating a win, but it was not to be. 

Victory coach Kevin Muscat was amongst those who were disappointed not to make Thompson’s night that bit more special.

“In football, I learnt over a long time that you’ve got to remove emotion from everything you do,” Muscat said. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we couldn’t commemorate Archie’s 200th with a victory for him.”