By Daniel Campos (@francisfields)

Photo Tim Carr

A last gasp equaliser by St Albans Saints' Barry Devlin has salvaged a point against a tricky Ballarat Red Devils side on Sunday afternoon at Churchill Reserve.

Prior to kick the match was delayed due to a horrific injury in the U20s match and that played an unexpected role in the lead-up to kick off.

As soon as proceedings began the visitors created a flurry of early goal-scoring opportunities.

The Red Devils' persistence paid off on 25 minutes when a careless foul was awarded and Michael Trigger made full advantage with a direct free-kick that saw his effort onto the top corner to open the scoring.

Aaron Romein was brought into action for Ballarat pulling off a stunning save on the half-hour mark that made the Red Devil's conviction grow stronger as the game progressed.

The second half saw St Albans continue their frustration as their desperation grew. Opting to play their chances with aerial balls, the visiting Red Devils replied equally as strong to cancel out any oncoming danger.

Stuart Webster in goals denied an intelligent Michael Trigger free kick with his low shot well saved on the hour mark.

The resulting corner kick saw a counter-attack by the locals where Nick Scerri was able to quickly flick the ball from the half-way line to enable Daniel Sweeney to follow through.

Had it not been for the quick thinking of Aaron Romein on the other end of goal an equaliser was surely on the cards.

Only minutes later Romein again responded well denying Scerri with another attempt down low to his first post.

Daniel Sweeney on 64 minutes had another brilliant chance to lock the scores with a potent left-footed drive that saw his shot sail over the crossbar.

Ibrahim Ghulami looked to have extended Ballarat's lead as he fended off his marker only to then clash with Barry Devlin but instead of the referee awarding a penalty, he was unimpressed with the theatrics.

Set pieces looked to be best way for St Albans to get themselves back in the game and twice it was only a matter of inches that denied them with Barry Devlin getting himself onto a header and Daniel Sweeney as well.

Tensions grew as Ballarat looked to secure three points with a second goal whilst St Albans looked for an equaliser.  Midfielder Anthony Yabio was moved a little up front a caused havoc for David King in the Ballarat back-line.

With barely minutes remaining St Albans insisted to play on the break and catch Ballarat napping until Barry Devlin found himself getting a tap in from close range to equal the scores at 1-1.

Devlin minutes later could have made the difference with an unmarked header that saw the ball sail wide.  Aaron Romein in the Ballarat goal had to keep himself alert as St Albans tried on numerous occasions to break the offside trap with long balls in the final minutes.

Ballarat Red Devils also had a last-gasp opportunity to get back on the lead from an indirect free kick that saw substitute Ronaldo Yousef with an unmarked header that went wide.

A hard-earned point shared for both side left St Albans coach Joe Kovacevic not entirely satisfied

"I have to give credit to Ballarat for troubling us right from the start but we managed to make a few adjustments in the last fifteen and got our goal," Kovacevic said.

"We didn't win today but a draw is better than leaving empty handed, after all this is our home ground and have to keep making sure we continue our strong record in front of our local fans."

Match details:

St Albans Saints 1 (89' Barry Devlin) drew to Ballarat Red Devils 1 (25' Michael Trigger) at Churchill Reserve.

St Albans Saints: 1. Stuart WEBSTER, 2. Ryan McGUFFIE, 3. Nana-Yew OTUOACHEAMPONG, 5. Tedros YABIO (19. Gorgi NICESKI 85') , 7. Trent WATERSON, 8. Ross HARVEY, 9. Barry DEVLIN, 11. Nicholas SCERRI, 18. Ben SHAPER, 20. Ante KOZUL (6. Matko BUDIMIR 64') , 23. Daniel SWEENEY (13. Anthony BORAS 76')

Unubsed Subs: 14. Kristian BORAS, , 22. Dilen IBRAHIM.

Yellow Cards: 18. Ben SHAPER 40'

Ballarat Red Devils: 1. Aaron ROMEIN, 14. Daniel FIRTH, 21. Charles KING, 10. Michael TRIGGER (3. Ronaldo YOUSEF 85'), 22. David KING, 23. Daniel TINKER, 17. Shaun ROMEIN, 6. Liam HARDING, 15. Dominic SWINTON, 31. Simon MURPHY, 30. Ibrahim GHULAMI (33. Joshua DEVOOGEL 71').

Unused Subs: 40. Ryan SCHORBACK, 19. Miles BAKER, 13. Dechlan PICITEN.

Yellow Cards: 1. Aaron ROMEIN 88'.



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