Balmoral import leaves Ducks high and dry

A RAMPANT Balmoral FC defeated the Deakin Ducks 5-1 at Deakin University on Saturday night, thanks solely to its highly rated Italian import Francesco Rossini.

Rossini, an incredibly gifted attacker with professional experience in the Italian thirdtiered Serie C, scored a hattrick to lead the visitors to victory over the stunned Ducks.

Last week the Italian magician netted four against Barwon and has now scored an astonishing total of 17 goals in seven games since signing for the western Melbourne outfit midway through the season.

The Ducks found themselves 2-0 down at the break and conceded their third immediately after the second half had kicked off.

Minutes later, Deakin coach Colin Raj pulled a bold tactical move, which saw substitutes Jonno Ray, Zac Hollow and Jai Watts make their way onto the pitch.

It was Ray who proved instrumental in the home side earning a penalty in the 60th minute, which was beautifully dispatched by club leading goalscorer Marcus Lindeberg, who now has 11 goals in 13 matches.

Despite the Ducks dominating the ensuing 10-minute period, it was the visitors who sealed the result in the 80th minute through Rossini’s magic from a set piece at 25m.

The icing on the cake for Balmoral was provided in the 89th minute following a well executed counter attack.

After the match, Deakin coach Colin Raj called it as he saw it. “Balmoral has not lost in seven games that they have had him (Rossini) in the side and today you could see why,” he said. “In effect, we were beaten by one man. He is incredible and certainly deserves to be playing in a higher grade.

“The key period for us was leading up to our penalty and the following 10 minutes. That’s when we really could have changed the game in our favour. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalise and it wasn’t to be. Having said that, overall we defended quite well. In the end, we copped five goals — but three came from set pieces and two from counter attacks.”