Balham remain unbeaten but pegged back twice

Balham 2 Moor Mead 2

This week has seen a number of niggles and injuries as well as the return of COVID. Several boys played bravely with knocks today, but the Whites trudged off the pitch, well aware that it really was a match they should have won. Overall, the play was not as crisp and connected as we have got used to, but they battled hard throughout.

As the match started on a windy day at REMG, Balham showed how to play in these conditions in the first ten minutes. Some really excellent passing of the ball from 1 through to 11 the team looked positive and relaxed without creating any significant chances. After a sloppy couple of minutes at the back, the Whites got on the front foot again with a surging run from Patrick down the left. It looked like he may have been knocked on the way through, but he played on, playing the ball back unfortunately beyond a swathe of onrushing attackers. At the other end, Moor Mead had a chance to score which they should have done better with.

Half-way through the first-half, the boys took the lead after a brave Ty header from Wilbur's corner. As the minutes ticked on, the Whites had a few chances to extend their lead, which they would come to regret. Jude's free-kick was hit over after some excellent skill to win it; a 5 on 2 break came to nothing after a heavy touch; Matthieu's snapshot was tipped over after a strong break from Patrick, and Wilbur's onrushing header from Ethan C's cross was well saved. The key turning point was when the away side somehow made a goal-line clearance from a corner when it looked like the lead would be doubled.

In the second half, with Chris off with a nasty knock to his knee, Balham found the conditions tough with the wind picking up. Alex, playing in his first match of the season after his return from injury, played a comfortable twenty minutes, and George continued to show great composure on the ball at the back. Offensively, the boys struggled, often looking to force a pass or dribble through too many players, rather than playing around the opposition - who were direct throughout.

Moor Mead started to grow into the game, forcing Jacob to make a decent save from distance. Then came the sucker-punch: with too many bodies forward, the opposition broke up an attack and countered quickly down the right to equalise.

To the boys' great credit, they responded immediately though and within a minute were leading again. After a surging run from Ty, Jude showed excellent skill at the edge of the box, rifling in a curling left-footer to give the keeper no chance with a smashing strike. The boys had chances to extend the lead, with a Wilbur free-kick just wide and a good save to the keeper's right from Matthieu's tenacious driving run.

With only a few minutes left, another equaliser came though, this time from a corner. The boys did not react well enough to the second ball giving an opposition player the chance to side foot in. The match then became very stretched for the last few minutes, with Wilbur being taking out cynically near the end on the final move of the match.

The Whites can be proud of their battling attitude today in the face of several injuries, but will rue the lack of game management when ahead. The opposition consistently called for fouls throughout, and probably influenced the referee more than we did. We need to learn to be smarter in elements of the game like this, as well as being more disciplined in holding positions and playing the simple ball more frequently.

Sheen Lions are the only team to have won both matches, after a convincing thrashing of Carshalton 4-1. As a result, Balham are third in the league on goal difference and remain unbeaten. Next week will be a tougher assignment in the Cup against Premier Elite opposition Doverhouse Lions.