By Rory Flanagan (@Rory_Flanagan)

The Ballarat Red Devils secured a vital three points with a nail-biting last gasp 3-2 win over Green Gully on Saturday afternoon.

Dane Milovanovic buried a controversial stoppage time penalty to seal victory after Ratip Cileli and Stephen Downes brought Gully level in a pulsating clash at Morshead Park.

A highly physical encounter began with a bang as Roddy Vargas was clattered by his own teammate in the opening minute. The former Victory man was clearly hindered by the knock to his knee, but battled through the pain and played the full 90 minutes.

Player-coach James Robinson -still not fully fit- was his usual animated best on the sidelines, constantly shouting instructions as his Red Devils started well and took the lead.

Dom Swinton stormed into the box before being hauled down by Mitchell Bissinger, giving Shaun Evans no choice but to point to the spot. Milovanovic calmly stepped up and fired into the bottom corner for a deserved 13th minute lead.

Green Gully eventually crept back into the contest and was unlucky not to be level on 26 minutes. Brent Fisher's vicious volley from distance cannoned back off the post before a Roddy Vargas header was magnificently tipped over the bar by Jordan Franken from the subsequent corner.

The Red Devils were on the back foot in the lead-up to halftime, but maintained the one-goal advantage thanks to some superb interceptions and crucial headers by Danny O'Donnell.

Swinton recommenced his mazy runs after the resumption and skipped past three players before Daniel Jones floored the flying winger, promptly entering the book for a crunching challenge.

Ballarat's intent to increase the lead while Gully looked for a way back into the game made it spectacular viewing.
Milovanovic would have blown the roof off the grandstand - had it been completed – if his 35-yard bullet nestled in the top corner rather than crashing against the post.

An industrious display from Liam Harding was finally rewarded midway through the second half, accurately dispatching Patrick Karras's pullback into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Green Gully namesake Sean Harding then attempted to stake his claim for goal of the season, cutting in from the right flank and blasting a shot agonisingly wide of the top corner.

It was all Green Gully following Harding's effort, and Slobode Stojcevski made the curious decision of dragging captain Andy Vargas in favour of Downes.

Vargas was fuming and hacked at a water bottle on his way to the bench, but the change paid handsome dividends. Downes was on hand to crisply finish a Berkant cut-back on his left boot from 18 yards and provide a much-needed lifeline.

Osagie Ederaro then came alive after 80 minutes of frustration due to Charlie King and O'Donnell's superb defending.

He played in Sanders with a stunning pass before his glancing header led to the goal-mouth scramble for the equaliser.

Cileli was in the right place at the right time to prod home his first-ever senior goal from close range after uncharacteristically poor defending.

Gully then looked like taking all three points until O'Donnell produced one of the tackles of the season to preserve a point - or so it seemed.

In the final minute of stoppage time, Swinton had one last run at Roddy Vargas who fouled the man of the match on the edge of the area. Shaun Evans initially pointed to the spot before consulting with his linesman.

The home crowd was expecting a free kick to be awarded instead, but the decision remained unchanged and Milovanovic bagged all three points with another composed strike from the penalty spot.

Post-game, Robinson was bouncing around with delight.

"You look at what we wanted to do and we've done it to a tee - I'm not going to ask for any more than that,” Robinson said.

Robinson also praised the dangerous Swinton.

"He's a livewire - you give him space and time and he'll beat you (one v one)," he said.

Green Gully was unavailable for comment.

Match Details

Ballarat Red Devils 3 (Milovanovic 11’ pen., 90+3’ pen., Harding 64’) defeated Green Gully 2 (Downes 77’, Cileli 86’) at Morshead Park Stadium [HT: 1-0]

Ballarat Red Devils: 40. Jordan FRANKEN, 16. Charlie KING, 2. Tristan ROMEIN, 18. Danny O’DONNELL, 3. Daniel TINKER, 12. Miles BAKER (13. Michael TRIGGER 58’), 4. Dane MILOVANOVIC, 15. Dom SWINTON, 6. Liam HARDING (29. Harley BOSHER 79’), 22. Pat KARRAS (30. Ibrahim GHULAMI 89’), 31. Simon MURPHY

Unused subs: Aaron ROMEIN, Steven THOMPSON.

Cautions: Murphy 37'

Green Gully: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ (GK), 2. Daniel JONES, 4. Mitchell BISSINGER, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 9. Brent FISHER (11. Jem BERKANT 68’), 10. Ratip CILELI, 12. Mathew SANDERS, 16. Sean HARDING, 17. Andy VARGAS (Stephen DOWNES 73’, Jeff FLEMING 85’), 20. Osagie EDERARO, 21. Brian VANEGA

Unused subs: 23. Akim ABDUL (RGK), 19. Ardian VUNIQI

Cautions: Bissinger 12', Cileli 28', Jones 51', R.Vargas 90'+3