We smashed a team from Barking...at 10.30 in the morning

Balham 6 Barking Wolves 1

Ever since the draw was made, the 2017 rap classic (ahem) 'Barking' has been in my head, hence the title of today's report. If you would like more cheesy references, read on to the end. Balham did indeed play a team from Barking at 10.30 in the morning in the London Cup. They sent them back to East London soggy and well beaten as the Whites progressed to the next round. It is a rarity for Balham to still be in the hat by the turn of the year; this season gets better and better with a fantastic set of achievements to date.

The Whites started like a steamtrain and could have scored 3 in the first few minutes. The away side's goal was living a charmed life, with Jude's fine effort somehow stopped by a wonder save, AJ hitting the post and Max screwing a chance wide. A deserved goal came when Junior pressed a sloppy attempt to play out from the back and calmly curled the ball in. The boys were playing really well, passing the ball around crisply despite the horrendous conditions, and finding lots of space. There were several more chances: Jude curled over a free-kick, AJ was clean through but pulled the chance wide, Alex headed it straight at the keeper from a corner and Junior couldn't quite sort his feet out when clear at the far post from George's corner. Across the rest of the pitch, Charlie and Chris were calm at the back, Alex got his head to a number of hopeful balls, and Wilbur and Igor were consistently snapping into tackles. Finally the second came after AJ initially hit the bar from a rapid counter-attack, only to be fed the ball unmarked in the area after the forward line passed the rebound neatly around the box. Jude had a chance to seal the game before half-time, as did an unmarked George from a corner, but the scoreboard remained untouched for the rest of the half. Jude picked up a yellow for a little kick out at the opposition.

Jamie warned the boys to be alert for the beginning of the second half but a free-kick was given away in a poor area. For what seems like one of the few ways that teams have scored against us this season, the boys did not defend the free-kick well and a Barking player was left unmarked for an easy finish.

This hiccup could have caused problems but the boys were dominant for the rest of the half. A pinpoint pass from George, slid through perfectly as if he was using the triangle button on FC25, was latched on to by Jude but he fired over. Wilbur's tenacity and skill saw a shot rebound off the post from a tight angle, and a minute later his curling effort was just wide. The deserved third did come after some lovely skill from Dylan, up against an aggressive left-back who liked sliding in. The winger beat him to the byeline and found Luke who rifled in. A couple of minutes later, the same two combined again, but this time Luke found an onrushing Jude to slot home for 4-1.

The keeper made a couple of excellent saves from Luke, and overall he had a great game despite the scoreline. Even with the game won, the boys were still showing great hunger to win, with Alex and Igor regularly sliding in to win us the ball back. With players in experimental positions for the last 15 minutes, the Whites turned the screw. Alex's left-foot corner beat everyone and nestled into the net at the far post. George, pushed up into midfield, was controlling the ball and was unlucky not to score with the keeper denying him with his legs. The sixth did come after a long clearance from Igor was latched on to by AJ who beat the defender for pace to knock in his tenth of the season.

So Balham make the last 16 of the London Cup, a game that will be played on the first weekend of 2025. Carshalton were humbled 6-1 by Sutton in the Surrey Cup, whilst in the League, Colliers Wood have gone ahead of us after a narrow 2-1 win. Next week's opponents Worcester Park lost 6-3 at home to Reigate, and have now conceded 25 in the last three games. The boys will feel with a good week's training that they can put a further marker down.

But today was all about the Cup, and to adapt Ramz's lyrics slightly:

We smashed a team from Barking

At 10.30 in the morning

We're scoring, we're not boring

We got four in, and popped a couple more in

Come on Balham!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrrbEjJEVz4