Recap

Western Wolves have stunned Balwyn in the opening match of the night, beating the Series Futsal Australia (SFA) hopefuls by six goals to three.

Balwyn were below average from the start of the game, playing slow and sluggish futsal, while their less fancied opponents were slick and direct from the get go.

The Wolves got out to a three-nil lead in the first half, and they held that lead until the half-time break.

Balwyn showed signs of improvement in the second half, but they still found themselves unable to breach the three goal margin going into the last five minutes of the game, with both teams adding two goals each since the half-time break.

Balwyn decided to deploy the fifth-man tactic, and while it looked to have paid dividends when Matti Dwyer got one goal back for them, courtesy of his chest.

But Wolves keeper Bilal Atik, who had just been substituted on, capitalised on Balwyn’s decision to play without a goalkeeper and lobbed the ball into the open net to seal the win for his side.

The loss severely dents Balwyn’s SFA hopes, as they face Pascoe Vale and then Fitzroy in the last two rounds.

Man of the Match: Tiema Couliabaly (Western Wolves FC)