Balmain Tigers 0 Melbourne Victory 6

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Balmain Tigers 0

Melbourne Victory 6

(Berisha 11’, Pain 41’, Barbarouses 56’, Georgievski 59’, Howard 70’, Ben Khalfallah 84’)

It was always going to be a monumental ask for the part-timers from Balmain to go with the Hyundai A-League champions but they were far from disgraced at a boisterous Leichhardt Oval in the FFA Cup Round of 32.

The Tigers’ resistance lasted almost 11 minutes before Besart Berisha started and finished a clinical move to open the scoring.

But the goal didn’t rattle the battlers from the ‘burbs as they stayed right in the contest. Berisha then squandered three great chances to extend the lead, before Connor Pain did just that four minutes before the break as he swept home Jason Geria’s cross.

Victory’s class would eventually wear the brave Tigers down after the break though. Kosta Barbarouses and Daniel Georgievski added goals in quick succession within 15 minutes of the restart.

Youngster George Howard replaced Berisha and soon after had his first senior goal, before some Fahid Ben Khalfallah brilliance capped a cracking night of Cup football in front of an incredible crowd of almost 5000.