TIME wasting tactics have seen Ballarat Red Devils hold off a fiery Pascoe Vale at Morshead Park and exit the league relegation zone.
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The McDonalds Reds recorded a 2-0 win with 26 minutes remaining in Wednesday night's conclusion to an abandoned round 18 match.
Pascoe Vale started the match with blistering intensity, having been told by coach Vitale Ferrante beforehand that it was an opportunity for a "free swing".
Several minutes of relentless pressure saw the Red Devils revert to sending the ball flying out onto the adjacent Pleasant Street at every opportunity, requiring extra balls to be fetched a number of times.
One avid fan, at the request of keeper Aaron Romein, refused to toss the ball back in play for nearly 30 seconds before hurling it over the players' heads and into open space when instructed to by the match referee.
All the while, the match clock ticked towards that magical 26-minute mark.
Pascoe Vale's relentless pressure nearly saw it break through for a number of goals in the final 10 minutes of play.
Romein displayed a strong set of hands to extinguish any chance of a successful header 19 minutes in, and showed enough nous to tip a long range strike off to the left moments later.
The match went for several minutes longer than expected, with the referee blowing the final whistle just shy of the 30-minute mark, prompting complaints from the home crowd.
Ferrante said he took no issue with the Red Devils' tactics.
"I've got no problem with that, Ballarat needed points so that they go into the last round equal with the other teams," he said post-match.
"The coach has given them tactics to waste time with that and hold the ball up.
"I've got no problem with that at all and I would have done the same - it's not like they did it for 70 minutes etc."
Red Devils player manager James Robinson denied any instruction was given to his players to waste time through extravagant exits over the boundary.
He was nonetheless pleased with the way his team handled Pascoe Vale's pressure.
"Fantastic, unbeaten in three games," he said.
"We knew we had to do a job tonight and the boys did it to a tee."
The win sees Ballarat jump into 11th place on the National Premier Leagues Victoria ladder, level with Port Melbourne and Werribee City on 27 points with one round remaining.
The Red Devils will face off against second-placed Oakleigh Cannons away from home, while Port Melbourne and Werribee will play each other at Port's JL Murphy Reserve home.
michael.pollock@fairfaxmedia.com.au
