Back to winning ways with comfortable win

Balham 3 Colliers Wood 1

With a few players missing due to absence and injury, Balham were forced to field one of the smaller squads to date this season. Against a side who had only lost one match to date, we might not have expected a pretty straightforward victory, but Balham were well deserved winners and should have scored more.

On a bitter day, but thankfully before a big downpour, the Whites started off superbly with Jude's long-range shot hit wide in the first minute. In the second minute, the boys were ahead after AJ showed great strength and skill down the right. An angled shot across goal saw the net ripple for our quickest goal of the season. Somewhat frustratingly the away side struck straight back from the restart after two loose headers in defence were picked off by the striker who volleyed the loose ball in.

Colliers Wood's tails were up and they had a flurry of corners without making any chances from them - it was positive to see the Whites being more resolute in defence from set pieces. Riding the mini-storm, Balham were the strongest side for the rest of the half. Max's shot was somehow blocked by a last-gasp defender, and AJ, who was causing havoc, was amazingly denied a penalty despite being clearly bundled over. Whilst on occasion the passing was a bit sloppy, when Balham were patient with the ball, they showed some strong possession. One lovely move saw Charlie advancing into the box and Junior hitting a left-foot shot just wide. With Dom off feeling sick, a reshuffle was required with George dropping back into defence and Damian moving to left-back. Luke joined Igor in midfield and the two of them showed some great energy and ball-winning determination for the rest of the game.

A deserved second came after a loose ball in the box was well finished by Max, finally getting some luck after several defensive blocks in previous matches. It was a good finish and Balham had a deserved lead. A third nearly came after AJ's great turn and lay-off found an unmarked Jude who unluckily couldn't quite sort his feet out in the mud.

The first ten minutes of the second half were critical and Balham were absolutely dominant with well over 90% possession for the early part of the half and a constant recycling of attacks. Colliers Wood were limited to long balls which Chris and George consistently cleared up, giving Charlie and Damian chances to attack down the flanks. The boys continued to press and AJ's twenty-yard shot was tipped over well by the keeper. From the resulting corner though, Jude's corner held up slightly in the wind, and AJ leapt superbly to head the ball in for his tenth League goal of the season.

As the match wore on, it looked more likely that Balham would extend their lead than the away side get back into it. In one attack, the ball was cleared off the line twice, and AJ was close to his hat-trick after getting a touch to George's free-kick. Whilst Igor and Jude both had good long-range efforts, the keeper did well to get his body behind them both. Joa blocked off a late effort, and Jacob came on up front for the last three minutes, only to receive a yellow card almost instantly for a mistimed slide tackle - an event that most of the boys found very amusing!

With two more home matches before half-term, the boys have a great chance to keep the pressure on at the top. With Carshalton losing to Leatherhead 2-1, Balham are again four points behind with three games in hand. Leatherhead continue their great run, and like us have a few matches in hand.

	Played	Points	Goal Difference
Carshalton	13	29	+27
Balham	10	25	+26
Colliers Wood	13	25	+20
Reigate	15	23	+11
Leatherhead	11	23	+5