R&R Cobras 7 Balham 1

It was always going to be a tough game against one of the best sides in the league, but the task was made impossible as Balham played the whole match with 8 players, and a proportion of it with 7. Luca had bravely travelled to the match after an injury to his knee from a school sports practice, but it was clear from the warm-up that playing would risk further injury. With Jacob having to go off the pitch for 10 minutes after a horrific tackle, it really was a backs against the wall day for the boys.

Despite the scoreline, the boys can be proud of themselves as they all ran their socks off, and ended up the match exhausted. At times, it did not like they were a player down, which augurs well for the return match which hopefully we will be able to play with a full-strength squad.

Throughout the course of the match, Ethan, Chris and Dylan defended well and doggedly, Jacob made several good saves with his feet, Amine showed his skill despite being crowded off the ball, and Jude, Gethin and Ollie did not stop running, hassling their ponderous-looking central defenders.

We knew the opposition would be quick and direct and so it proved, with Jacob having to save smartly from a break. Surprisingly, their first goal came from a hopeful long-range effort, and they were not really dominating as we expected.

Jude turned well at the other end and had a long-range shot saved. Ethan and Ollie combined well down the right and put in a couple of crosses.

Sadly, the extra man showed as they scored from a break and it looked like a long, exhausting day ahead for the boys. When Jacob was tackled very late with two clear stud marks on his ankle, it was an even tougher task ahead. Gethin bravely went in goal and made a couple of saves, but a two player advantage was too much to hold out, with the boys going into half-time 4-0 down.

The boys battled very well in the second-half, with Dylan and Ethan particularly showing great pace and awareness to snuff out their dangerous-looking attack. The boys also fathomed more chances with Jude coming close with two left-foot efforts.

Despite their valiant efforts, again the extra player proved critical as R&R scored three goals in the half, with the aid of a couple of lucky deflections.

Balham did get the goal they deserved after a penalty for a blatant hand-ball. Gethin tucked it away superbly and it was no less than Balham deserved.

Who knows when we will play them at home, but the boys should look forward to the game. A couple of pointers for us to remember:

- their 2 centre-backs are very slow, and technically looked weak

- they are incredibly quick on the break

- they used their physicality a lot, using their bodies to shield the ball on numerous occasions and using their shoulders to outmuscle the Balham boys. All absolutely legitimate.

-A number of poor tackles were put in though (on Dylan and Jacob notably).

On to a team we have never met before next week - Welling.