Red Devils in last-gasp win over Richmond

By James Maloney

Red Devils edge Richmond in thriller at Morshead Park

Ballarat Red Devils hosted Richmond in a tight encounter that went right down to the final whistle.

In the Under 20’s match, Richmond cruised to a 6-1 win but the Senior encounter would prove to be a completely different affair. 

The home side started the stronger and had the first chance in the third minute when Dave King headed just wide from a free kick.

Ballarat would continue its dominance and had another great chance to take the lead in the 12th minute when a shot by Josh Romein was spilled by Richmond ‘keeper Christian Rossi straight into the path of Simon Murphy, who smashed the follow up against the underside of the bar from three yards out.

Richmond seemed to struggle with the early pace set by the Red Devils, and had three players booked inside the first half hour, before the side started to work its way into the match following the introduction Alex Caniglia in the 32nd minute.

Good build up play from Richmond created the visitors' best chance of the first half, which led to captain Tom Cahill shooting just wide.

However despite good chances for both sides they would go into the break level.

The second half started relatively quietly with few chances for either team.

The first chance of note in the second half come from a Richmond free kick.

Liam Flynn’s free kick from just outside the box forced a fine save from Red Devils’ keeper Aaron Romein who tipped it over the bar.

In the 64th minute, Ballarat made a change that would have an immediate impact on the match.

Two minutes after coming on, substitute James Downey was on hand to prod the ball home from close range after Richmond keeper Rossi had made two impressive saves, but couldn’t prevent Ballarat from taking a 66th minute lead.

Falling a goal behind seemed to spur Richmond into action and in the 70th minute Shaun Romein was forced to clear a shot off the line to preserve Ballarat’s lead. Tempers flared on both sides as a few robust challenges flew in as Richmond continued to search for an equaliser.

Finally in the 88th minute Richmond’s sustained period of pressure finally paid dividends as Cahill pounced on a goalmouth scramble following pressure from Flynn to the delight of the travelling fans.

However there would prove to be one final twist in a thrilling match as from the kick off Ballarat headed towards goal and were awarded a penalty for a foul on Liam Harding.

Shaun Romein stepped up to the spot and kept his cool to convert the penalty with the virtually the last kick of the game in the 92nd minute and give the home side the 3 points.

FT Score: Ballarat Red Devils 2 (Downey 66’, S. Romein (pen) 90+2’) Richmond SC 1 (Cahill 88’) at Morshead Park. [HT: 0-0]




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