SEVERAL unleashed flares and the theft of a corner flag conspired to temporarily halt the Ballarat Red Devils' 4-1 loss to Melbourne Victory's youth side on Saturday.
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Victory fans used the cover of six flares - four smoke and two light - to steal the flag before being ushered out of Morshead Park by grounds staff at around the 80th minute of the round six National Premier Leagues Victoria One clash.
Play was delayed for several minutes, with rules dictating that the referee is unable to resume the match until all corner flags are in place.
Ballarat players were visibly upset by the distraction and Red Devils coach James Robinson, while diplomatic, said it "took the sting out of the game".
"Obviously you never condone the flares," Robinson said.
"It's the same for both teams, but they're (Victory) leading and that's the difference.
"It takes the sting out of it so it slows it all down for them. You want the intensity to get back up and get going straight away, whereas that's delayed the game and the whole momentum."
Ballarat was trailing 3-1 at the time of the interruption.
The match itself was played out in good spirit, with both sides entering the break at 1-1 after an entertaining first-half.
The Reds looked far superior in the opening minutes and Josh Romein scored the opener from a long range blast setup by a clever Michael Trigger flick at the 19-minute mark.
John MacLean scored the equaliser - the first of his hat-trick - 10 minutes later as Ballarat's keeper Aaron Romein was caught out of position.
A lame Dom Swinton was subbed off for Pat Karras at the 38-minute mark, with Robinson later confirming he had a suffered a knock to his ankle.
The end to end play continued for the remainder of the half, with neither side unable to take advantage of several golden opportunities.
It took Victory only a few minutes to wrest the advantage from Ballarat after the break as the home side's defence was caught napping.
The visitors dominated the final 30 minutes of play, scoring two more goals, and Robinson said the slick ball movement and supreme fitness of Victory's stars proved to be the difference in the end.
"It's washed out a bit, in terms of the 4-1 result," he said.
"The movement and pattern of play opened us up a bit.
"They gained momentum and kicked on for the whole 90 minutes (and) we didn't have the legs for the whole 90 minutes."