Scrappy defeat in London Cup

Balham 0 Cray Wanderers 1

Cray Wanderers are the oldest football club in London, and the game itself was a match from a bygone era: scrappy throughout with few chances, and no VAR to overturn a ludicrous penalty decision which ended up giving the away side the victory. For the third time in four games, the Whites lost by a single goal; with 11 goals scored and 12 conceded so far this season, it surely is a matter of time until the boys have some more luck and start winning games.

The Whites battled hard throughout, particularly in a makeshift defence with skipper George stepping into centre-half with Patrick. Lots of blocks and tackles were put in by the whole team, and the opposition were restricted to a few chances. Similarly, Balham were not really able to play much fluid passing - with the exception of a ten minute period at the beginning of the second-half including one glorious passage of one-touch passing right the way from the back which was thwarted at the last.

The inexperienced referee made some strange decisions throughout the match, and both sides were perplexed by several of them. In the first half, each side were given an indirect free-kick in the penalty area for alleged back passes, both of which were odd decisions. With such an unusual set-piece, neither side were able to make anything of dangerous situations. Both sides can feel disappointed that they were unable to take free-kicks with the opposition properly retreated, and Cray Wanderers regularly stood in front of the ball to prevent any set-pieces being taken properly.

Cray had a couple of chances which they hit wide, and Jacob smothered a break with an excellent sliding tackle. Balham's first really clear cut chance was excellently set up by Wilbur, who after an excellent tackle, set up Jude who beat the defender to have a clear sight of goal. Matthieu could not quite follow in the rebound. Wilbur did not stop running throughout the game, and was the focus of most of Balham's attacks including setting up another chance for Jude who hit the shot just wide.

Balham started the second-half superbly including the one-touch move which saw Joe blocked in the area after almost every player touched the ball in a sweeping move. Despite the strong start, Patrick was needed to foil a dangerous attack and Jacob leapt full-stretch to deny a superb effort from just outside of the box.

The match turned with an incredibly contentious decision with Charlie accused of pushing an attacker. It looked like an incredibly soft call, and most of the Balham defence looked shocked about the decision. The striker did not hit the penalty cleanly but it was in the corner and the Yellows took the lead.

Balham then had a few chances to equalise - the best a header from George after an excellent free-kick from Wilbur. Jude showed great skill, despite being fouled to no punishment, beating several players before he was finally crowded out with his shirt being pulled. Sammi and Mattieu combined well down the right but the boys did not create many clear-cut chances. With the boys pushing forward in the last few minutes, they lost shape and Jacob pulled off an exceptional one on one save to keep the boys in it. Max fought hard down the left in the last few minutes, winning a couple of corners, but the ball would not fall for the Whites and the match drew to a close.

With no match next week, the boys can look to return after half-term with a League match against Worcester Park, a match which ended 5-5 last year. With a SYL Cup tie against a Premier Elite side the week after, there are more tough tests ahead for the boys but they can look ahead with some optimism despite today's result.