Humbling exit in the London Cup

Last week, Balham could count themselves unlucky with the scoreline in the Cup; this week, they suffered a humiliation with a 9-0 thrashing. The scoreline in no way flattered our hosts from Wingate & Finchley; in fact but for several saves and near misses it could have been many more.

It was disappointing to see such a performance from the boys, particularly in the first half which was frankly a horror show. Players were avoiding putting tackles in, there was no communication between the players which left the North London team with free players all over the pitch, heads dropped very early on, and there was no passion or determination to win the 50/50 balls.

Balham did not muster a single shot on goal for the whole game, although can take some comfort in a markedly improved second-half performance. The defence was considerably more organised and the boys looked more eager to win tackles and show some steel.

This was a harsh lesson for the Whites, and there are some clear areas of focus required to make an improvement. Training over the next few weeks will be critical for them to work on some key areas which Tomasz will outline next week. There needs to be greater commitment and willingness to learn across the board. Hopefully, today's result will be the spur that the boys need to adopt that approach.