Belter of a game in the rain

What an absolutely pulsating clash this match was, with Balham showing brilliant determination, skill, and grit throughout the game. The Whites can count themselves unlucky not to have won the game, but in one of the stand-out performances of the season, they showed excellent football in all facets of the game.

Ten-Em-Bee are the Sydenham side that Ian Wright first played at (as announced in the BBC commentary of the game). They played in a similar style to Balham - lots of passing, movement, and pace. As a result, the match was a humdinger from the off.

A very lively-looking Ollie had a couple of chances early on, the second an excellent move with crisp passing from George and Wilbur. Luca showed his determination at the other end with an almost elastic leg taking the ball down from head height. Wilbur was looking superbly composed at the back, regularly squashing any attack from Ten-Em-Bee.

Going forward, the boys had more chances and looked threatening. Ethan's overlapping cross didn't quite reach a player, and Gethin's shot from outside the box was well-saved. The Welsh striker ran hard all day, hassling and closing down defenders to great effect.

After ten minutes, he slotted home a through ball calmly with his left foot, but was rightly given offside by the referee - having to do this without a linesman at this stage of the game.

Balham continued to press, causing havoc in the Yellows' defence when a back pass had to be smartly saved by their impressive-looking keeper. From the resulting corner though, Balham took a deserved lead. Ollie's excellent cross, one of many in the half, was nodded home by George.

Ten-Em-Bee looked dangerous down the right wing but had not tested Jacob until a volley was calmly saved. At the other end, George came close until he was well foiled by the goalkeeper. Balham deserved a second and came close after Amine's close skill set up Gethin whose lovely effort drifted inches wide of the post.

The goal just would not come. Ollie's corner was headed wide by Wilbur; Amine's excellent shot was tipped wide by the goalkeeper; and after Wilbur's excellent pass, Ethan's lung-busting run and shot was well saved.

At the other end, Chris continued to hassle and put in strong tackles, and Ethan put in two excellent tackles to stop the counter-attack.

As half-time approached, the crowd started to wonder whether Balham would regret not extending their lead. They should have been given a chance in the last minute of the half when Ollie was being man-handled in the area, but the rather placid referee looked the other way.

The second half was a closer affair, particularly with the Yellows' dangerously rapid striker on the pitch, but Balham did have several chances too.

The tall Ten-Em-Bee striker had an excellent chance early on, catching the ball beautifully from the edge of the area. For all intents and purposes it looked like the equaliser, until Jacob somehow threw himself into the top corner to block the effort.

This prompted some excellent attacking and passing from Balham. Ollie's excellent ball through to Jude looked like the deserved second, but again the goalkeeper smothered the chance.

Balham suffered a significant blow when an under-the-weather Wilbur had to be taken off after ten minutes of the second half. The boys expected a siege and so it proved. Luca, Amine, Ethan, and Chris all put in excellent tackles and blocks when the opposition looked dangerous and pacy on the attack.

Both sides continued to pass the ball well through midfield, and the game continued in a tight fashion. George nearly scored a spectacular goal from the half-way line after the goalkeeper made an uncharacteristic error leaving his area to clear the ball. With the goal agape, the captain's excellent shot looked like it was heading in until a cruel curve at the last minute saw it sail just wide.

Sadly Balham were to rue the missed chances, after ongoing pressure resulted in a fine finish from the erratic striker after ongoing pressure on the defence.

The Whites picked themselves up in the last five minutes and either side could have nicked it. The best chance came after Amine was felled right at the edge of the area. A matter of inches and it would have been a penalty. With half the ball on the white line of the box, George's free-kick was blocked by the wall.

With both teams running to the end, there were no more clear chances before the end. The rain eased up as an exhausted set of boys left the pitch disappointed by the result but rightly proud of their performance and effort throughout.