Tenacious ten topple Staines

Balham 3 Staines 1

A gritty, determined and tenacious performance from a 10 man Balham team really was the tonic the boys needed and deserved after their recent run of results. With a very early start due to the clock change, every single player put on a show that their Mums would have been proud of on this Mother's Day.

Each and every one of them was on their A game today, and the victory was thoroughly deserved. Heads could have gone down when it became clear that unfortunately they would be playing short again due to a mass of injuries and absences in the squad. Instead, the Whites showed resilience and skill all the way through the side. Wilbur and George dominated midfield, showing excellent footwork and vision throughout the game; Jude buzzed around menacingly, regularly finding Dylan and Max who both looked dangerous and pacy; Gethin, Luca, Charlie and Chris were dogged in the tackle and calm in possession, always finding a player in white when they needed to; and Jacob regularly played a sweeper keeper role, showing astute awareness and positioning throughout.

In a match that was switched from REMG due to the Rugby 7's, an early and cold start down the M25 resulted in a scrappy first few minutes. Balham looked solid though, with Gethin particularly holding and dominating the defensive line. At the other end, Balham had plenty of possession with the midfield vastly superior to the opposition. Despite that, the boys could not create many clearcut chances until the 15th minute when Dylan's electrifying pace from Charlie's through-ball caused chaos in the Yellow's defence. Sadly, he screwed the shot just wide.

George displayed superb skill to beat 4 of their players, but Jude couldn't quite get past the defender. Wilbur hit a fierce effort just over, and Balham were looking the more potent side despite the man disadvantage. Luca took another knock and looked to be hobbling - coupled with his potentially broken finger, it was brave and committed of him to carry on. As half-time approached, with the exception of one Staines attack which Jacob smothered with a strong tackle, the Whites were dominant. Jude's shot was blocked in the area, and Dylan narrowly missed after some superb skill from George.

At half-time the parents wisely stated that the next goal was critical, as concern rose about Balham's energy levels with the player down. Deservedly, and almost instantaneously, the Whites got it after a brilliant driving run from Wilbur down the left flank. Passing it on to Max, who squared it back to George, the captain showed great composure to hit the shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the box.

Staines then had their first really dangerous attack of the match and would have scored but for a barnstorming sliding tackle from Luca to prevent the shot. It proved to be crucial as from their next attack, the boys doubled their lead. Max pounced on a poor goalkeeper error, calmly slotting the ball in and the boys' hard effort was paying off.

The game then became stilted with a few fouls from both sides disrupting the flow. In truth, this probably suited Balham who were looking tired as a result of their constant running. Staines had a fantastic chance from the edge of the box, but hit the free-kick over and the Whites started to take their time with free-kicks and goal-kicks to the opposition's annoyance.

Staines' heads dropped further with ten minutes to go after an absolutely superb goal put the game to bed. Dylan's excellent cross was hit on the half volley by Jude for one of the goals of the season and the beaming smiles across the whole side told the story. Max probably should have made it four shortly afterwards after an amazing dribbling run from Wilbur - who kindly squared it to the striker but the shot sailed over the bar.

There was enough time for a Staines player to be given a yellow card after a despicable foot-up tackle on Luca which somehow both their coaches and parents seemed to think was fair. Given a booking is a rarity at this level, the referee rightly thought otherwise, but suddenly Balham were down to 9 with a few minutes left. Whilst they defended strongly for the most part, a free-kick - taken from the wrong place - was converted by their striker for a consolation goal.

As the whistle went, Balham knew they had put in a superb effort to win the three points. Let's hope next week can see the first back to back victories of the season - there is the opportunity to finish the season strongly with three matches to go.