Balham humbled in Cup

Balham 0 AFC Ewell 6

There is no disgrace losing to a Premier Elite side, and Balham had the misfortune of drawing one in the first round of the Cup. The score was much worse than it should have been - with 3 of the goals being down to really poor defensive mistakes, and a general lack of hunger when the boys went behind.

Balham actually started brightly and were on top for the first few minutes with AJ buzzing around upfront and Jude shooting just wide. A warning sign came after a few minute though, when the higher flight opposition danced through the midfield, a regular occurence throughout the match. Joa pulled off a fine save 1 on 1 to prevent the opener. It did not take too long for the opener, albeit it looked suspiciously offside. The team in orange scythed through Balham with some fine triangles in midfield, followed by a burst down the right with a simple tap-in from the resulting cross. AJ fired over a good chance shortly afterwards, and at that stage the boys were certainly not out of it.

The second goal was a bit of a horror show. Years of 'don't let it bounce!" fell on deaf ears as the goalkeeper's punt bounced through a static Balham defence for the striker to finish a simple goal. Max had a great chance to pull one back after strong work from AJ, but the keeper denied him with a fine save. Balham then somehow scrambled one off the line, but another misplaced pass gave the away side a simple third just before half-time.

Jamie had expressed before the game that we needed to show positional discipline and hunger - both of which were not at the level we would have wanted in the first half, despite the unflaterring scoreline. The second half started well again, with Jude forcing the keeper to make a fine save of a skidding surface. Whilst Balham huffed and puffed throughout the half, chances were few and far between with the Premier Elite team showing great desire to keep a clean sheet.

The fourth goal looked like an aimless shot from midfield but somehow it nestled into the corner. The fifth was almost a repeat of the second, a harmless-looking free-kick not being cleared and bouncing through for the attacker. Jude was unlucky twice before the end, hitting the bar and also having one cleared off the line but the match was well gone and heads were dropping. The sixth came with the final play of the game, with timid defending again allowing a simple goal.

Elsewhere, League matches took place with Carshalton beating Walton & Hersham 4-1 and Reigate and Colliers Wood sharing the spoils in a 2-2 draw. As a result, Balham are second in the table with a game in hand over the leaders:

	Played	W	D	L	P	GD
Carshalton	6	4	2	0	14	+12
Balham	5	4	1	0	13	+19
Reigate	6	3	3	0	12	+6
Colliers Wood	5	3	2	0	11	+12