By Nathan Johnson

Ballarat Red Devils will rue their missed chances after going down 0-1 to visitors Sunshine George Cross in a tight encounter on Saturday night at Morshead Park Stadium.

It was a tale of two substitutes, with Sunshine's man off the bench Chris Antoniadis ultimately providing the winner, while Ballarat's half-time substitute David King would earn himself a second yellow within half an hour of being on the pitch.

The start of the game was all Ballarat, as Pat Karras had a chance to take the lead just three minutes into the match.

The ball fell to Karras’ feet after a goal line scramble, only for him to put it over the bar.

Shortly after, Josh Romein had an open header from a corner that went just wide.

Before the half hour mark, Daniel Tinker had yet another chance after Ballarat caught the visitors’ defence outnumbered.

But it wasn’t to be, with Tinker putting his effort over the bar.

Sunshine finally got into the groove of things before the half, with a ball played over the top down the right flank finding Bozidar Lojanica, who connected well with the volley, only to have it saved well by Aaron Romein.

It took just over an hour to finally get a breakthrough.

A through ball played by Sunshine George Cross found one of their attackers on the edge of the 18, who squared it inside to Antoniadis.

Antoniadis swivelled on the ball, found space, and hit a low shot with his left into the bottom right corner to put Sunshine George Cross up 1-0.

Disaster struck for Ballarat soon after when substitute David King picked up his second yellow card for a rough challenge, after being on the pitch for less than half an hour.

Sunshine had a chance to double their lead shortly after Ajayi Adamson found himself one-on-one with keeper Romein, only for the Ballarat custodian to hold his ground and come away with the save.

Ballarat had one final lifeline through substitute and former Perth Glory winger Jimmy Downey.

A deep free kick left Sunshine keeper Robert Santilli stranded and unable to clear, with the rebound falling to Downey on the edge of the area, but he could only put it high and over the crossbar.

The miss confined Ballarat to a loss, with the visitors taking all three points back to Melbourne.

MATCH DETAILS

Ballarat Red Devils 0 were defeated by Sunshine George Cross 1 (Antoniadis 73’) at Morshead Park Stadium, Ballarat

BALLARAT RED DEVILS: 1. Aaron ROMEIN, 13. Scott LAMONT, 8. Josh ROMEIN, 14. Daniel FIRTH, 15. Dom SWINTON, 17. Shaun ROMEIN, 10. Michael TRIGGER, 23. Daniel TINKER, 11. Nelson SALVATORE, 31. Simon MURPHY, 22. Pat KARRAS

Substitutes: 4. David KING, 2. Jimmy DOWNEY, 19. Miles BAKER, 28. Callum FERGUSON, 40. Jason HILL

SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS: 1. Robert SANTILLI, 3. Martin MASON, 4. Brandon SCERRI, 5. Christopher DIB, 12. Matthew OGHANNA, 10. Adrian LOGOZZO, 8. Slaven VRANESEVIC, 11. Anthony CASSAR, 19. Ajayi ADAMSON, 9. Bozidar LOJANICA, 14. Ziyad MARKOVS

Substitutes: 21. Akim ABDUL, 13. Chris ANTONIADIS, 15. Joseph SIEH, 7. Brandon ZAFFINA, 18. Nemanja LOJANICA