Ballarat City conceded four goals in the opening half hour of play against Northcote City on Saturday night as the match quickly slipped away from the visitors.
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Goals at the 9, 11, 22 and 30 minute-mark ensured the ladder leader was in full control of the round three clash.
Ballarat City managed to respond with a much better second half, drawing the score back to 4-1, but the damage was done early.
Coach Danny Gnjidic said the side struggled to contain the rampant Northcote, but took solace from the second half resolve.
“We just didn’t respond well to going a goal down. We lost our way a little bit after that,” Gnjidic said.
“They’re not the team everyone’s talking about for no reason, they are well organised and have some really good individuals...they punished us.
“But a really good response from the players (in the second half) they could’ve fallen away and dropped their heads but they didn’t. We got a lot of positives and encouragement from their response, but obviously a lot of work to do to avoid that sort of thing happening again.
“They made all that domination count on the scoreboard and we were left wanting on the scoreboard. 4-0, it’s game over for all intents and purposes.”
Ballarat City returns home next week to take on the second-placed Moreland Zebras.
