Welling Wings United 10 Balham 3

On a cold and windy day, Balham were given a harsh lesson by an excellent side. The newcomers to the league passed the ball around superbly, and thoroughly deserved their victory.

In the first half, the boys were unstuck twice with attacks down the right-hand side, a fruitful route for the opposition with their excellent right-winger, who gave our defence a torrid time. Jacob had already had to make two strong saves, but Balham still found themselves 3-0 down after 20 minutes. Jude rescued one back before half-time with an excellent long-range effort, to give the boys some hope as half-time came.

With the wind and slope in Balham's favour in the second half, the parents hoped for a comeback but an early Welling goal snuffed that out. The whites pulled one back with a lovely interchange between Wilbur and Jude, the latter putting in a super cross for Wilbur to tuck home to make it 4-2.

Unfortunately, the team in red ran away with it for the rest of the half, with the right winger looking dangerous time and time again. Balham's heads dropped a bit as the half wore on, and a combination of poor defending, a goalkeeping error and frankly excellent play from the opposition made for a difficult morning.

In amongst the disappointment, Wilbur battled hard to earn a penalty which George converted.

It gets no easier with a visit of Bromley Ravens next week - the boys will have to work very hard in training this week, particularly on their defence and playing out from the back.