Superb performance but narrow defeat

South Park Lions 3 Balham 1

It seems strange to say with the above scoreline, but this was almost certainly the best performance of the season. Every single player put in an incredible effort, with a bite in our tackles, and some lovely passing on a bobbly pitch. The boys were determined to perform well, particularly after the feisty affair back in September. With a few players missing, it looked like it might be a tough encounter against a side who have only lost once so far this season, but the boys can be also proud of the way they battled and played throughout.

With five minutes to go, the game was locked at 1-1 and Balham so nearly scored a second which perhaps would have resulted in a different ending. But for an exceptional save from their keeper, Balham would have earned a deserved lead.

On a cold, and windy day, after a long drive down to Reigate, it was clear from the outset that the Whites were up for it. They were first to every ball, with Luca, Charlie and Alex winning several tackles, blocking everything and putting their head to everything. Gethin, Chris, George and Jude were composed on the ball, playing some lovely short passes between themselves to look to unlock the defence. Dylan, James and Ollie - pressing everything - were a handful for their defence - even the exceptionally tall centre-half who played the match on the edge of the rules throughout.

The game was tight in the early stages: Gethin shot wide from George's corner, and Jude showed some exceptional skill in the middle of the park to feed a pass through to James. Gethin used his body strength brilliantly at the other end, preventing a dangerous attack - and Alex displayed excellent positional astuteness to clear an attack for a corner.

After a scrappy few minutes, the parents were treated to a wonderful piece of skill from George, who was dominating midfield and being man-marked by a couple of players aware of his skill and threat. He picked it up from a goal-kick, flicked the ball up and lobbed the ball from at least 35 yards towards goal. With the keeper nowhere to be seen, the ball crashed against the underside of the crossbar and bounced down - so close to crossing the line. It was a phenomenal piece of skill and it boosted the Captain further who was constantly being fouled in midfield as he danced through their players. With a docile referee, nothing was given - but it really should have been.

Totally against the run of play, the Reds took the lead through after an innocuous-looking free-kick evaded the defence with an unmarked attacker having the easiest chance to score.

The boys struck straight back after a superb corner from Ollie caused havoc in their defence. With the goalkeeper flapping at the ball, George was on hand to score a deserved goal after his impressive first-half performance.

Tomasz rightly praised the boys at half-time for their passion, energy, determination and skill. The second half looked like it might be tougher, with the boys having to play uphill, and South Park did start brightly.

Gethin put in two superb pieces of defending, showing real strength and composure to thwart their attack. Chris and Luca were tackling every ball that came their way, and Alex and Charlie headed several long clearances away.

Under pressure, one superb counter-attack nearly resulted in a goal. Dylan, not for the first time, showed searing pace to pass the left-back, cutting inside to George, who passed to Max, haring up on the left flank. He rifled a shot just over and it was still anyone's game. Jude delivered an incisive pass in the boys' next attack and James' right-foot effort was just wide of the post.

The team from Reigate were getting rattled and put in some awful challenges - none of them punished. A stray elbow and a studs-up challenge, both from the same player, really should have been punished but yet again the referee was so far away from the ball he did nothing.

It was still anyone's game, and the home side had the advantage of the slope - which suited their long-ball game. From a quick clearance, a striker found himself at the edge of the box, curling an exceptional shot towards the top corner. Somehow, Jacob leapt from the middle of his goal and clawed the ball right from the top corner - an astonishing save to keep the game level.

With just under ten minutes left, this spurred the boys on and they exerted a fantastic spell of pressure on the home side. After a glorious dinked pass from George, Dylan's shot was well blocked by 'Ronaldo' (yes, really) only yards from the goal. Jude was unlucky with a shot from the edge of the box which the diving keeper saved well, and Gethin's hopeful looping shot nearly caused problems but did not quite come down quickly enough. Dylan continued to cause havoc down the right-side and it looked like there would only be one winner.

Then came the turning point of the game. With another corner floated into a dangerous area, the ball fell to Chris at the edge of the box. A sumptuous left-footed shot looked like it was curling into the top of the net, but somehow the keeper pulled off an absolutely tremendous stop to push the ball over the bar.

Despite Jacob making another exceptional save, it was not to be. With Balham pressing for the winner, the home side broke quickly down their right - a glorious cross found an unmarked striker who tapped the ball home. A devastating blow. The Whites really went for the equaliser in the last five minutes, but it was not to be: the home side scoring a controversial goal with the last kick of the game after their midfielder had fouled Ollie but no whistle was blown.

This really was one of those days when the result does not matter. Every single player can be thrilled with their effort today, and can go into the last game of 2021 next week with confidence.

Well done all of you.