After a rollercoaster of a night, which saw Balaga behind for most of the game and in the lead with one minute to go, the match ended with a fair result and one both teams should be happy with.
With Parker and Damo absent from the squad, Fred Nagle came in as cover for the Tongelese side. Broderick had to drop into goal (where he had not played for Balaga since their first season) to cover Damo, and the rest of the side lined out in a familiar enough formation of Duggan, O'Callaghan, Deano across the back, O' Driscoll and Browne in midfield, Webz upfront and Nagle on the bench, keen to get his first Balaga cap before jetting off to Australia next week.
Although not quite as caught as Ireland were in their International match with Georgia last night, Balaga didn't get off to a smooth start as Seven looked the sharper side and it showed as Balaga conceded 2 early goals due to poor defensive organisation and lapses in concentration. But Browne was looking as determined as we have seen him in a Balaga shirt and pulled one back for the cucumbers with a fine solo effort soon afterwards.
About 15 minutes in, O'Callaghan was caught on the nose (which was dawked at the weekend too) by an elbow. A quick substitution was made in the hope the blood flow could be stopped. Nagle was ready and slotted into left back as Duggan dropped into the center. Minutes later things didnt get any better, as Deano looked to have strained some sort of leg muscle and was struggling.
O'Driscoll, Browne and Webz searched hard for the goals to get Balaga back in the game and were not getting much joy from a tough Seven back line. But O'Driscoll did eventually find the net. He recieved the ball from a Deano throw in and fired off a powerful strike. Meanwhile Seven FC were controlling most of the first half procedings and scored another 2 goals, to make the score 4-2 before half time. By this time O'Callaghan had stemmed the bleeding and had replaced the injured Deano.
Unsuprisingly the dressing room/dugout was not a happy place to be at half time. But frustration with the performance didnt boil over and the team kept their heads, coming out for the second half more focused and with more purpose.
It was another very tough tightly contested half where webz was working hard but finding little joy against the strong Seven defenders and O' Driscoll had a tough job of trying to hold the midfield with Browne. Duggan, O'Callaghan, and Nagle were communicating a bit better and were doing their best to stop the Seven attacks.
Browne showed great skill to get his name on the scoresheet twice with two absolutely cracking shots drivinig Balaga right back into the match. O' Driscoll got another too, this time recieving the ball from a Nagle throw in and shooting past the Seven keeper. But Seven got one themselves and the score was 5-5 going into the last 5 or so minutes.
Balaga then scored their 6th to put them in the lead The goal itself was a nice counter attacking move started by Duggan, involving O'Driscoll and O'Callaghan and then finished cooly by Webz.
So it was 6-5 and Balaga just had to hold out for the last few minutes, Seven piled on the pressure and Browne was forced to drop back into defence as Balaga were pinned back. Some heroic defending and goalkeeping by Broderick kept the lead intact. But it wasn't to be and on 59 minutes a lofted ball to the back post was struck well by a Seven FC fella giving Broderick no chance and the game finished honours even.
A good result on the night but Balagas title aspirations will be put into question after a game which saw them palying poorly at times. Definate frailtys in defence were shown again as the players seemed to be uncomfortable and lacking organisation. Captain O'Callaghan commented:
"We have some good players at the back and in midfield but we were caught a lot last night and I am not happy with the performance in that respect and i need to take responsibility for most of that and get it sorted. But the grit and determination shown was excellent to see and although we couldn't hold on for the win the lads really fought to get back in the game after a first half we would like to forget."
When asked about the games intensity(texted) this morning, midfielder O'Driscoll said:
"Can Barely move... Got a knee into the ribs/hip in the first minute and was in agony for the game! Back is wrecked too. A draw awas a fair result though... they were handy."
With Manning Park beating World Class 5-1, Balaga Tongo and Seven drop into joint second place. Fourth are the Upsetters who got a great 8-1 result over fifth placed Rosies. Elsewhere Sevin Sinners beat Ma Dulleas 4-2.
With Parker back from France early next week and Damo hopefully not doing any late shifts Balaga Tongo should have a full squad and will aim to get back to winning ways against an Upsetters team coming of the back of 2 good wins.
Video Highlights Coming Soon!
note: match report may not represent actual events exactly.
note: match report may not represent actual events exactly.
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