Lethargic Balham snatch late win

Balham Eagles 2 Balham 3

On a bright sunny day, Balham delivered their most unconvincing victory of the season. There was no lack of effort throughout, but the quality of football was not as expected with a series of misplaced passes and defensive errors. It was clear that the boys had not trained for a few weeks as the usual crispness and cohesion was lacking.

The boys, playing in their blue training tops, started well with James looking lively and creating a couple of chances from crosses. As the half wore on, Balham started to lose control of the midfield which was surprising given the formation with two holding players. A lack of positional discipline was plain to see with gaping holes in the centre of midfield too frequent.

After twenty minutes, Jamie made a tactical change, putting James up top and dropping Jude into midfield. The plan worked instantly - with Joe's lofted through ball picked up well by the new striker. He calmly finished and the boys were 1-0 up. This spurred the boys on, and Matthieu's surging run nearly came to something but James' final shot was straight at the keeper. The Eagles were not out of it though, and drew back level deservedly, if with a large chunk of luck. With plenty of chances to clear the ball in the box, the final clearance was rattled straight against the striker, when some composure could perhaps have seen the ball played out. An inadvertent bounce saw the ball loop into our net.

Balham struck back quickly though with some excellent forward play by James and Jude, the latter twisting and turning to restore the lead. It looked like the boys would push on from there, but an uncharacteristic defensive error gifted a chance which could not really have been missed. A dejected bunch trooped off at half-time, well aware that the quality was lacking and they needed to improve.

Balham started the half well with Ethan looking particularly dangerous down the right flank. Nothing came of our early attacks though, the best chance being a well-worked free-kick from George when it looked like he might shoot. At the other end, Alex needed to make a couple of saves after long balls caught the defence too high.

In the final fifteen minutes, Balham looked the stronger side. In one almighty goalmouth scramble, both Joe and George had shots blocked from determined and passionate defenders. With Sammi making a strong run down the right, George missed a good chance to seal it, but a couple of minutes later the roles were reversed to good effect. George's lofted through ball found Sammi clear who poked the ball past a despairing goalkeeper and defender who perhaps would have cleared the rolling ball.

There were no big celebrations at the end as the boys knew they did not really live up to their own potential today. The team clearly need a couple of well attended training sessions this week before the final match of the season against Carshalton next Sunday.

Today's victory cements Balham's position in table as fifth which is where we will finish at the end of the season.