BALLARAT Red Devils’ brilliant form has finally transpired to the National Premier Leagues Victoria One season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just three days after a gruelling FFA Cup upset over Bentleigh Greens, the Red Devils thumped Dandenong City 3-0 at Morshead Park on Saturday night.
Ballarat dominated City from the start, with Shaun Romein, Pat Karras and Simon Murphy finding the back of the net in what was a clean sheet for the McDonald’s Reds.
The home side entered half-time with a 2-0 lead after Romein and Karras scored at the 17- and 39-minute marks.
Romein gave Ballarat the lead when he found the bottom-left corner of the net from a penalty, courtesy of Michael Trigger, who drew a foul when one-on-one with Dandenong keeper Damir Salcin.
The home side could have extended its lead shortly after, with young stars Karras and Jake Francis both missing highly gettable shots.
Karras redeemed himself when he flicked the ball past Salcin after brilliantly reading a long Aaron Romein clearance, which worked its way past nearly every player on the pitch.
The Red Devils continued the trend after the break, with Nelson Salvatore and Murphy injecting plenty of run when they came on for Liam Harding and Francis.
Murphy found the back of the net for the fourth time in the past seven days when he struck one home off the crossbar in the 78th minute.
Dandenong had virtually no chance of stealing a point in the latter stages, with Chris Ross red carded minutes prior to the Murphy goal after an altercation with Dom Swinton.
Red Devils coach James Robinson said his team was now in a good place after a poor start to the season.
“We’ve had a slow start within the league,” Robinson said.
“We’ve taken the momentum, obviously, from the second half of last week (against Goulburn Valley) into the cup game against Bentleigh.
“The biggest thing for me was the clean sheet. A 3-0 win and three points on the table, which is a kick-on for us.”
The win sees Ballarat advance out of the bottom two spots on the table with two wins, two draws and four losses from eight rounds.
Robinson said there was plenty of depth in the squad heading into this week’s clash against Melbourne City.
“We’ve got a bit of depth with the younger boys at the minute,” he said.
We’ve got hardly any injuries, so the young boys are pushing the more senior guys.”
michael.pollock@fairfaxmedia.com.au