Reserves match report by Matt Linton

Round three of the competition and so far so good: unbeaten and looking like a competitive team for the season. Perhaps that was what undid us, an over-confidence that resulted in some soft goals. The match started off OK but there were some obvious defensive holes and a lack of flowing passing football. There was on occasion some good pressure put on the Melchester goal but overall we were looking the lesser side. Some scrambling defence saved us on many occasions. Steve Ashton's goal had us feeling a little more positive. Unfortunately an equaliser from Melchester saw us lose the advantage as the first half ended with scores level at 1-1.

A few changes at half-time and some shuffling around seemed to give us something extra and the football began to improve. We still struggled to get control in the centre of the pitch but some penetrating runs down the wings streched Melchester and let them know they were in a game. Sadly some lapses in concentration at the back (and I put my hand up for some of this) and lack of effort let Melchester through to score three remarkably similar goals. Lesser teams would have crumbled but from this point we seemed to lift a notch or two and put Melchester under considerable pressure resulting in a second goal from Super Boot Liney. We still had a chance to get back on level pegging but the clock was against us and the final whistle blew. 2-4.

Goals: Steve Ashton, Rob Liney
Pele Points: 2 - Michael Penman, Drew Schaper, 1 - Erin Owens, Pete Boyle

Firsts match report by Martyn Farnworth

On a baking hot day the pre-match warm up for the Firsts consisted of hot dogs, extensive back massages and Pete Boyle scoring an own goal. With 2 wins out of 2 and a +10 goal difference the lads began the game with much confidence. On the back of cool, calm defending and good ball possession Balmain looked like the only team who were going to score, and when Farnworth cut the ball across on the edge of the Melchester box for Rob Liney mid-way through the 1st half the golden chance had arrived, but Rob dallied and the chance was gone! Half-time 0-0.

The second half began with Balmain straight into attack mode. With the tireless running of McLeod and Salomoni and the livewire pace of Farnworth it was only a matter of time for the goal to come. The shape of the team was disrupted a little when Steve Ashcroft picked up a small leg injury and had to go off the field. Five minutes later Balmain were back in control. The pressure built and the winner proved to be of a special quality. Farnworth received the ball on the half way line, zipped past 1 midfielder, took on 2 more defenders, dummied the keeper and slotted the ball home with his left foot. 1-0 Balmain. Did someone say Kinkladze?

From then on Melchester pushed forward leaving themselves vulnerable at the back. Balmain had several chances to increase the lead with Liney hitting the crossbar, McLeod firing over from 8 yards and Farnworth getting an unlucky bobble from a Henderson pass to send the ball inches over the crossbar. Dom Salomoni picked up a yellow card when the ball hit him in the 'face', but other than that a composed team performance highlighted the medal points allocation. To quote from Stew Shaw's inspiring pre-match team talk, Balmain remain "Top Of The Pops". 1-0.

Goals: Martyn Farnworth
Pele Points: 1 - Marshall Moir, Pete Boyle, Andy Henderson, Stew Shaw, Dom Salomoni, Andy McLeod

Match report by Sergio Fiorenza

Another lovely autumn day saw the Rovers (with 3 rovers of the canine variety cheering us on from the sidelines) make their way out to Henley Park to sample the hospitality of Enfield Rovers, whose bark turned out to be worse than their bite! Your correspondent was injured and unable to play, but warned the lads to expect a very physical game from Enfield, and we were not to be disappointed. Straight from the kick-off the physical stuff started, as it was quite obvious that they were no match for us football-wise. Sure enough, Simon duly slotted a lovely left foot shot into the bottom corner of the Enfield net after only 5 minutes.

Next it was Dan Whaite's turn, with his first goal for Rovers, and soon after followed a third when Simon was cynically hacked down inside the area. He scored on the rebound after the keeper had made a good save. For some reason we went to sleep, and did our usual trick of gifting the opponents a goal, and soon after another, with one of the softest penalties I have ever seen courtesy of a request in Arabic to the ref from one of the Enfield boys. The ref will remain unmentioned in the remainder of this match report, as we all know how many people read these newsletters all over the world, and I don’t want to get a disrepute charge from FIFA! Anyway a quick chat at half time to get our focus back seemed to work, and Simon got his third and Dan Whaite sealed it with his second goal. Another sloppy piece of defending from a corner gave Enfield an undeserved third goal making the final score 5-3 to Balmain.

Next week is the big double-header at Easton Park, where Rovers Div 7 play at 1:15, followed by Allan’s Div 8 team at 3pm. Hope to see you all there!!

Goals: Simon (3), Dan (2)
Pele Points: 3 - Roberto Arocha, 2 - Simon Goodman, 1 - Dan Whaite