2021 ends in a resurgent victory

Moormead Wanderers 2 Balham 4

In a lovely location by the river, Balham completed their 2021 fixtures with a well-earned victory. The pitch, muddy due to the location and the recent weather, resulted in a scrappy match for much of the 70 minutes, but Balham did pass the ball around better than their opponents throughout.

The boys were aware that Moormead were bottom of the league, and perhaps fell into the trap of under-estimating them from the outset. A poor defensive performance in the first-half resulted in the Whites having to come back from a 2-1 half-time deficit; in the second half, the boys showed they were the better side and could have won by a larger margin.

James and Dylan looked lively on the right from the beginning of the game, fathoming several chances with the right-winger killing their defender for pace every time. Similarly, the home side's right flank looked dangerous throughout in the first half, with the Whites out of sorts defensively and leaving gaps for the opposition to exploit.

Nonetheless, Balham took a deserved early lead after Ty's long ball allowed James to show the defender a clean pair of heels. His snap shot squirmed underneath the keeper and it looked like a positive day ahead. Indeed, a minute later James was so close to doubling the lead, after a brilliant tackle from Chris found Ollie who flicked it on to the striker, who ended up shooting just wide.

The home side then had a strong ten minutes, capitalising on some haphazard defending from the boys. The striker missed a sitter clean through, when he really should have scored. In the next attack, the Whites were lucky not to have a penalty awarded after it looked like it hit a hand in the penalty area, but it did not matter as a poor clearance was picked up by a striker whose looping shot went in past Jacob.

With Tarquin and Wilbur on the pitch, the boys had a lively five minutes in response but could not score. Tarquin came close from a corner, and James had another shot well saved. Astonishingly, though, Balham then fell behind after another attack from the right caused havoc. Sadly exposed, Ty's tackle felled the attacker; the penalty was rifled into the top corner and the home side were dreaming of their first victory of the season.

With five minutes to go in the half, it spurred Balham into action. James very nearly scored from Tarquin's free-kick but the keeper smothered superbly. Wilbur's left-foot effort was just wide and sadly the equaliser did not come. In fact, but for a superb last-second block from Ty, the boys would have been even further behind at the break.

The second half was a different story, and the boys were so much more positive and energetic. With George and Wilbur together on the pitch for the first time in the game, the Whites dominated midfield and created several chances. The boys started a lot better - Dylan causing chaos in their defence and a couple of strange refereeing decisions giving the boys a boost.

After some wonderful skill from Tarquin, playing his last game for the club before his return to New Zealand, Balham were awarded a penalty. Cutting in from the left, he beat several defenders and was fouled in the area to give the boys a chance to equalise. Unfortunately, Gethin's shot was saved by the keeper, and Jude could not quite finish from the follow-up.

With fifteen minutes to go, Balham were really up against it, despite dominating possession. Wilbur's long-range effort was well saved by the tall goalkeeper, but the boys scored a deserved equaliser shortly afterwards. Gethin's long ball had the defenders flapping, James ran on to it and rounded the keeper brilliantly to slot the ball home.

A game that was boiling over all of a sudden did, with their goalkeeper kicking out at Dylan and some crunching tackles being put in across the park. Encouragingly, Balham kept their heads and kept on pressing for the victory. All of a sudden, the boys looked lethal on the attack and the win was there for the taking. After some superb skill from Dylan on the right, who not only showed his pace but also battled superbly at the bye-line, pulling back a lovely cross to Jude whose shot was exquisitely placed in the bottom corner for a 3-2 lead.

With Moormead throwing everyone forward in the last few minutes, the Whites delivered a brilliant counter-punch to seal the game. Wilbur's surging break from his own penalty area had the two defenders looking terrified with the Whites piling forward. An excellent pass through to Jude was well finished off for his second in the game.

With the victory secure, both James and Jude had a chance to complete their hat-tricks, but the keeper was equal to their shots on both occasions.

An excellent second-half performance from the boys, and 2021 comes to a close with a deserved win. Santa hats at training this week!