Cowboys Keep Cucumbers Quiet

Back to almost full strength, FC Balaga Tongo failed to finish off their opponents in a low scoring draw with Callas Cowboys last night in Garryduff.

Team news before the game was all good except for word that regular Balaga stopper Damo Kennedy would be out again and maybe for a few more weeks with his Rib injury. Skinty was called and would fill in as goalkeeper for the night. The starting line up, infront of a new low of 0 fans, was as follows...

Balaga had the lions share of possession from the off, but the cowboys were no pushovers, defending well and repeatedly trying to catch the Tongolese with fast breakaways and balls over the top of Broderick and O' Callaghan. These were dealt with but about half way through the first half they were able to scramble past the defense and the striker had a one on one with Skinty, the stand in keeper reacted quickly but a swave meg finish put Callas 1-0 up.

Shocked by this, Balaga pushed on again but were being again frustrated with staunch defending, corner upon throw upon shot were had but to no avail, and the half time whistle blew.

The second half started off like the first, the players talked about a bit more urgency but things just weren't coming off for the Tongolese. Then about half way through the second half O' Callaghan struck a volley from about a 1/2 yard out after Webz spotted his run from a throw in. The match was then there for the taking but both teams were finding eachother hard to break down as Balaga struggled to handle the Callas forward, keith it think, and Skinty was called into action a few times while Browne, Webz, David W , O' Driscoll and Parker all couldnt get the ball in the net despite a good few chances.

So the game ended a dull 1-1, and in the stats it will go down as the clubs best defensive performance and worst attacking performance. The result keeps Balaga on top of the league with Upsetters moving 3 points behind in 2nd after beating Bare-Arse 5-2. Mercer lost to Premier Auto Parts 3-2 leaving them a further point behind in third. Rosies and DouglasMortgage played out a 2-2 draw to stay in 4th and 5th respectively. How callas are third from bottom is a mystery.


So 1 point is better than none but not half as good as 3, i did the maths, and Balaga Tongo will have to be fully commited next week to take the 3 from Premier Auto Parts who have in recent matches found some form and maybe a new player or two. 6 more wins and the title will be in Tongolese hands, but theres a hell of a lot of ball to be played yet.