Recap

The final installment of Series Futsal action for Round 8 saw the high flying first placed Balwyn face off against second last placed Brunswick. After beating Fitzroy last week for their second win of the season, Brunswick were in high spirits as they looked to be the first team since Pascoe Vale to take points off Balwyn this season. Robert Armellini opened the scoring within the first 10 seconds of the game, when he won the ball from Brunswick’s kick off and hit a long range strike into the bottom right corner. A defensive lapse from Balwyn allowed Josh Pulvirenti to pounce and level the score minutes later as he rifled his shot past Castavan. From the resulting kick off Pulvirenti intercepted the ball and played in Mark Borchert who finished, to have Brunswick leading within the space of 30 seconds. The game settled down some what after such a frantic start, but with about 10 minutes remaining in the half some good close control from Andrea Zaccone saw him round Giang Pham and tap into an empty net. Both teams tightened up defensively after that and saw the rest of the half out without conceding.

The second half didn’t start with the same flurry that the first did as both teams were cautious with the game hanging in the balance. Half way through the second period Matteo Rocca stepped for his side, as he cut inside from the left and powered a shot into the left side of the goal. Brunswick eventually equalised through Ruz Roslan, as he toe poked his effort into the bottom left corner, to equalise with less than 10 minutes remaining. From the resulting kick off, however, Davide Iacovissi burst up the right side before threading a brilliant pass to Rocca at the back post who put Balwyn back in front. The drama wasn’t finished though, as Matthew Sesay won a free kick for Brunswick with less than a minute left. Sesay stepped up and drilled a low shot home to gain a massive point for Brunswick.

Man of the Match: Matteo Rocca (FC Balwyn)