Reserves match report by Erin Owens

Prestons Racing’s home ground is a long, long way away. Yet, heeding Rob’s insightful comments, we all endeavoured to be there nice and early to get set for the game. And it worked. Kicking off under a blazing sun (the consensus between defender and striker was 'ken hot'), Rovers quickly got into our stride. Our communication, movement and precise passing, combined with a determination to be first to the ball, restricted Racing to a few speculative shots from 30 yards.

At the other end, half chances were being steadily accumulated without the final ball quite reaching its mark, that is, until late in the first half. Mark Wootton played a fine through ball into the right channel for Richie to run on to. He cuts inside, gets into the box, turns his man and CHOP. Ref points to the spot, Stubbsie steps up and takes it with style, high and to the left. Half-time 1-0.

Rovers picked up where we left off and within 10 minutes it was 2-0. After some battling in midfield Huw was able to feed the ball to Tony Unsworth on the left flank, who played a lovely cross field pass for Richie to slot home. As the half progressed, Racing were able to get back into the game and won a free kick just outside the box. As we were setting up the wall, a cheeky quick kick was taken, catching everyone by surprise. Rovers’ response was swift, the Racing defence were just not quick enough to deal with the hard running Ben Jones who slotted home a long through ball for a third goal.

A few minutes later Huw burst down the left flank into the box and unleashed an unstoppable left (ie wrong-) footed shot that cannoned in to the net stanchion and back into the field. The referee, from his position in the centre circle, waved play on and the linesman seemed to be looking the other way. We was robbed I tell ya! The game drifted toward the final whistle as Racing lost their composure and tried a bit of thuggery to put us off, to no avail. In the final minutes Ben wasted a gilt-edged opportunity to go 4-1 up when he was put through for a one-on on-, only to direct his shot straight into the keeper’s arms. 3-1 was the final score, a well deserved win.

Goals: Mike Stubbs, Rich Briscoe, Ben Jones
Pele Points: 3 - Kristian Wiles, 2 - Rich Briscoe, 1 - Jim Wragg

Firsts match report by Kristian Wiles

Following an accomplished performance by the Reserve team, the First Graders set about the task in hand, lining up against a side at least a foot taller on average compared with their Reserve Grade counterparts. Prestons had clearly upsized, plus they had the advantage of sizeable home support in a somewhat family affair. There wasn’t a lot to choose between the teams in the opening exchanges but as the half wore on, a few chances were created at both ends of the ground, Rob managing to find half a yard on the last man, only for his shot to flash across goal from just outside the box. Prestons began to assert themselves, finding time to get shots off on several occasions but without really troubling Stew.

The tide turned shortly afterwards however, when Ben Jones earned a free kick wide on the left. Mike Stubbs launched a dangerous kick deep into the penalty area, met towards the far post by Andy McLeod whose downward header evaded Prestons' defence and keeper. 1-0. Not to be denied, Prestons kept creating opportunities for themselves and Balmain’s lead was relatively short-lived, the game being turned on its head before half-time with Prestons scoring two goals from close-range as gaps appeared in the usually stingy, well-organised defence.

Rob’s troublesome hammy meant a substitution at half-time (the man's becoming more injury prone than Darren Anderton as the season wears on). Rich Briscoe’s introduction led to a reversion to the 4-4-2, but the momentum stayed with Prestons who made it 3-1 soon after the break. Despite a few chances falling Balmain’s way, Prestons continued to keep the pressure on leading to Rovers’ defensive line being breached numerous times as three more goals were added to Prestons tally without reply. Despite the scoreline, Balmain persevered and created several more chances, but the end product was just a bit lacking today, one to forget and an opportunity to put things to right next week against one of the form teams in the league. 1-6

Goals: Andy McLeod
Pele Points: 2 - Stewart Shaw, 1 - Dom Salomoni, Ben Jones, Mike Stubbs, Martyn Farnworth

Div 7 Match report by Tony Madau

Finally we had a nice sunny day after almost five days of rain. After seven wins, we thought Saturday's game would be win number eight for the season: How wrong we were! The game started with neither team in control of the game, although to be fair Balmain didn't start very brightly, in fact by the time we woke up and realised the game had started we were 1-0 behind, and the score remained 0-1 at half-time. This was uncharted territory for us, the first time this season that we had not scored a goal in the first half of a game.

Stern words were said at half-time, and we still thought we could get back into the game. We made a lot more chances than in the first half but could not score a goal. Then with about 15 minutes to go, a Burwood striker broke through our backline and scored a second goal, which killed the game off. All in all a poor showing. Now we have to pick ourselves up and dig deep for next week!! 0-2.

Goals: nil
Pele Points: 2 - Omar Elsadik, Richard Raward, 1 - Morgan Bowling, Gabe Cataldo