BALTI SPORTS 8

SHAFTESBURY TOWN RES 0

BALTI Sports won by an eight-goal margin for the second time this season with an 8-0 drubbing of Shaftesbury Town Reserves in the Dorset Senior Trophy.

The result came just shy of the 9-1 thrashing dished out to Bridport Reserves in the second game of the season.

Balti now face a testing home tie in the second round against current Dorset Premier League champions Holt United.

Marco Nott’s men were 4-0 up at half-time after a dominant opening 45 minutes.

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Balti began brightly as Callum Allison picked up possession out wide, snuck past his man and fired into the bottom corner.

Allison grabbed his second, placing the ball into the top-right corner after a precise pass from Sami Nichols.

Allison then turned provider for striker Oscar Preece, laying a square pass for the ex-Upwey man to finish.

Balti made it 4-0 on 35 minutes as Preece touched home Adam Batchelor’s corner and the forward bagged his hat-trick in the second half, blasting home inside the area.

Goal continued to flow as Ethan Devaney’s clever chip found Marcus Biles and the midfielder slotted a cool finish home his maiden Balti goal.

Devaney produced a classy effort for 7-0 and Balti completed the scoring as Stef Stavrianos grabbed his third goal this season, volleying home a clinical shot to cap a memorable win.

Nott said: “With the old hoodoo of the cup I was nervous going into that game but the lads were really good.

“Scoring eight goals and keeping a clean sheet, you can’t ask for any more. We chopped and changed the team to give players game time that hadn’t had much recently.

“They all lived up to the bill, had a point to prove and were superb. We found out quite a few things about our new team.

“It was the perfect result and we’ve got a tough game in the next round but it’s nice to get through.”

Balti now host Merley on Saturday (3pm), the east Dorset side under new management this season in Johny Bines following his move from Bisterne.

Nott said: “Merley are always an extremely tough team to play against.

“I’ve never played Bisterne personally so we’re going into the unknown. With Matt Groves leaving I’m expecting a different side than in previous years but they’ve started well.

“They had big change, a bit like ourselves, but we’re in good spirits after a good result.

“Our league form, we’re currently unbeaten at home, we want to make sure we’re a tough place to come to. We’ll be looking to keep it that way.”

Jake Hawker misses out, while Derek Wall serves the second game of a two-match ban, while Weymouth Under-23s prospect Alfie Stone could make his debut.

Balti: Wallis, Jarvis (Rupp 60), Butcher, Hawker, Hansford, Allison (Devaney 46), Biles, Nichols, Batchelor (Gear 65), Preece (Stavrianos 70), Summers (Chambers 70).