Reigate Eagles 4 Balham 3

A sickening last-minute defeat in a game that Balham should not have lost.

A devastating last-minute winner was a huge sucker-punch for Balham, who had played well in the second half. The topsy-turvy season continues, with the Whites not able to string consecutive wins together.

On a bright sunny Autumn day, after a long drive through South London, the Whites played on an unusual pitch which had the hallmarks of years gone by - a large slope and rock-hard goalmouths. Within ten minutes, the boys were 2-0 up and it looked like a straightforward afternoon would be on the cards.

Balham had shown their attacking threat early on, with Jude threading George through only for him to be ruled offside. With the next attack, the Whites were one up after a long clearance from Ethan down the hill evaded all of the defenders. Max ran on to the ball, showing great composure to round the keeper and tap into an empty net. The second came immediately afterwards direct from a corner after George's cross was fumbled into the net by the keeper.

Balham were looking rampant: Gethin showed great strength to fend off the defender but shot just wide. The left-sided attacker had the ball in the net a couple of minutes later after Max's pass but it was chalked off for offside.

Inexplicably, Balham then lost their way completely for most of the rest of the half - they lacked energy and ambition, left gaping holes in defence and shipped three goals in ten minutes for a remarkable turnaround. The first was a hopeful ball through from a free kick which evaded everyone to give the unmarked attacker a simple shot in the penalty area. The second saw a gap almost the width of the pitch in the defence, and the attackers capitalised. The third was a hopeful long range effort which sailed into the top corner.

The lacklustre performance continued with Jacob keeping the score down after an excellent save at the foot of his post from a dipping effort. The boys were then sparked into action by some excellent tackling and tussling by Luca, who was determined to win the ball. Laying the ball off to Wilbur, who then passed it through to Max to slot home his second of the game.

A thrilling first-half, but the boys knew they had it all to do playing up hill in the second half.

The performance improved immeasurably in the second half, with the Whites showing more determination in the 50/50 tackles, and creating several chances to score. Nonetheless, Reigate looked dangerous on the attack, with both Charlie, making his debut, and Luca putting in excellent tackles to prevent good opportunities.

Balham had a great chance when Ollie beat the defender but the rasping shot was a foot or so over the bar. Max nearly got his third but the keeper pulled off a smart save; seconds later he made an excellent stop to deny Ethan who was showing tremendous fitness to get up and down the pitch.

The Whites continued to look the better side, but at the other end Jacob needed to get his body behind a couple of shots from the edge of the area, and Ty, Basil and Charlie all needed to make blocks.

The last five minutes was real end to end stuff. Max was so unlucky, hitting the top of the crossbar from the edge of the area, and George's corner again caused mayhem with the keeper very nearly flapping it into his own net. Reigate also hit the bar on the break - it looked like a draw would be the final result.

Just as the ref shouted that there was a minute to go, disaster struck after Balham did not clear their lines from a tame-looking attack. The attacker picked up the ball on the edge of the area and rifled an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner, to cries of anguish from the parents and boys alike.

There was no time left to rescue a point, and a dejected set of boys trudged off the pitch in dismay.

With BedHead winning again, there is now a gap of 6 points to the top despite South Park Lions losing their first game of the season.

Next week sees a very tough test in the Cup, with a home fixture against Walton & Hersham, who sit two divisions above Balham.

With a generous eye, and a quick check with VAR, George's corner is awarded as a goal for him today. Updated goalscorer stats below: