Balaga Barely Beat Boozers

In a tight fixture FC Balaga Tongo did just enough as they battled out a win against Booze Crew last night in Garryduff. With Webz away and Duggan due to be late Balaga were down to the starting 7 warriors. Damo keepinig goal hai, Greener and Broderick at the back, ODriscoll centre mid with OCallaghan and David W outside him and Parker in the striking role.

Balaga squad for Booze Crew game

It was 0-0 in the first half and both sides had chances with Balaga creating the most clear cut efforts. JD came on in second half and about half way through forced an error in defence from a corner and the ball went in on the near post. Beauty. They would of liked to push on from there in the ball in the back of the net department but a few missed chances later Booze Crew equalized. More pressure from the cucumbers followed and it finally payed off as David W who had missed a rake of clear cut chances before this scored from a Balaga breakaway.

David W describing his winner.

"Well Just before I scored the all crucial winner, i was moving well up front, running in and out of the space in front of the defenders. I saw John D in midfield bringing the ball out of defense so i moved in to the centre and in front of the centre back, he put thru a nice thru ball, i pushed the ball to my right and turned. With all the powerin my right leg let go a rocket at the keepr and in she goes, yesssss ba!"

Damo was daycent with two very memorable saves, one a diver high to his right and one on the ground with his quick foot. He was also commanding in his box during corners and frees. Greener was also worth a mention has he was solid out at the back and gave away nothing. Also of note Duggan has now racked up three assists from the three Balaga goals this season.

Other results went Balagas way somewhat with TV tigers aka the upsetters putting in a good performance beating Rosies 4-2. Last weeks opponents douglasmortgage were beaten by next weeks opponents Ma Duleas 4-1. In the other game M&P OSullivan beat Passage R-jects 6-1. This leaves the table pretty balanced with Balaga in the middle and Ma's and TV's leading the way.

Late Goal Beats Balaga

After a busy close season in the recruitment stakes Balaga would have a good gauge as to where they stand as they faced douglasmortage.ie for their opening fixture of the new campaign, the same team they beat 5-2 in the last game last season. Balaga formation:



The loss of Phil to some golfing trip didnt help Balaga's cause and with douglasmortage.ie's recruitment of Chen, the oriental goal machine, Balaga knew they would have a tougher battle on their hands this season. Balaga MVP last season, Webz was selected to do a man marking job on the danger man which allowed Parker to play up front.

A great start by Balaga from a throw in from the left from JD found Whifty who passed the ball into the net. The loss of Ronaldo Brown and Van Phil looked to be on the players minds as after the goal they began to drop, and a long ball up to Chen from douglas, left the player with Tom in his sights, turned him, then Kev sprinting back stuck a leg out but was turned once more by the striker who found the inside post to make it 1-1 at the break.

For the second half Jowensy was asked to play in midfield along with Greener, his official Balaga debut but Balaga started on the back foot and looked shaky. Damo made some vital saves during this period and even though JD and Webz were doing a job on Chen he still posed a threat. But Tongo eventually found their feet and were unlucky to take the lead, but with 8 minutes to go douglas once more hit them on the break and the young fella up front found the net with a well taken goal.

Tom was unlucky from a corner taken by Parker and JD blazed just over after being set up by Kev near the end, but all in all a disappointing opening to the campaign and with Oktoberfest coming up soon, the team needs to pick up as many wins as possibly cause the matches after the fest usually end up in losses!

Balaga Set for Autumn Season Kickoff!!!

Tonight FC Balaga Tongo will be looking to start the new season as they finished it, with a win against DouglasMortgage.ie. There has been some changes in the club during the off-season though, as Rory Browne had to hang his Balaga boots up. A loss which has been compared to that of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Man Utd this summer.

But with JD, John Duggan, re-signing after a summer hiatus, Balaga will be looking to him to fill the void after Browne's departure. David Green has also joined, and although he will be asked to mostly play at the back with Broderick and O'Callaghan, he has proved to be handy going forward too with a hammer of a shot. After previously impressing in some friendlies, and in last seasons final fixture, Greener was offered a full contract for the Autumn season.

The right Colour: Greener seen celebrating with his agent after signing his lucrative new contract.

Besides this the team remains the same with Damo, Webz, O'Driscoll and David W all in as well as Parker - who will be most likely played further forward where he can cause more damage.

Balaga will be confident after the past 2 seasons, as they now have a pretty settled squad and system ready to attack the division 2 title. A friendly game against Thursday Division 2 champions ExPats athletic was a good run out for the team, although with 4 key players out it wasn't the best for team tactics and the like. Another boost to spirits is club founder Paul "Juggs" Scott's return to the country after 2 years in Oz.

With the new season comes a new crest, with will be proudly displayed on new Balaga jerseys.... watch this space!



Tonights team news:

O'Driscoll is out due to some golf club finals yoke up the country - goodluck hai.
Jowensy will fill in and is another good option for Balaga Tongo upfront tonight.

VIVA LOS BALAGAGOS!

Cucumbers So Close: A Summer Retrospective Super Speil.

Despite the obvious disappointment of coming so near, FC Balaga Tongo's second season in footy.ie Wed Div 2 was one where they clearly made progress on the first. Finishing Second while winning ten, drawing one, and losing three of the fourteen games played.

The new 2-3-1 formation was an improvement on the previous seasons and resulted in some great wins and a ton of goals for the attacking five players in the squad:

Webz on 14 was top of the charts again, keeping his terrific record in front of goal up, as well as performing when asked to play in the defensive midfielder role. He was deservedly nominated for the footy.ie MVP award (won by teammate Browne last season).

Browne himself could not reach the high high heights he did in the Spring. After an EXPLOSIVE start and a rake of goals, his form was hampered by a moshing injury. Although he persevered through that and the legend still banged in 13!

David W  was a great addition to the team and he managed to make an immediate impact scoring 13 in his debut season. David W 's enthusiasm and team spirit was second to none throughout, even if he seemed rather very excitable at times.

In probably O'Driscoll's best season to date, he established himself as a great centre midfielder wheter he likes it or not. Always with great flare and "presence" going forward, his ball size seemed to double as he got stuck in more and more as the season went on. He also developed a mighty heading ability unseen before and was a great asset bagging 12 goals, his best tally yet helped Balaga to some vital victories.

Parkers season was interrupted by a nasty ankle knock, but he is a player Balaga can always count on 1000% commitment from even though he lamped a big mac 2 minutes before a game there one night. 12 goals is deadly fly and goals scored by the ratt were usually pretty gorgeous and he never complained when asked to fill in at the back.

This formation though was not so great defensively. Conceding on average 3 a game, or something, isn't the best although was the third best in the league to be fair. The formation can't take all the blame though, there are other things like ehhhhh, like losing Rookie of the century JD, John Duggan, to a brief MLS career and club management's failure to bring in a permanent replacement. Instead relying on chopping and changing players out of position. This bred inconsistency and that's probably not good la.

Damo had another flyer, confident again after his captain cleaning him out in the Spring, he was FULL of talk and pulled off some awesome saves. He should be confident of his place with rumors Blake Shine's contract in Canada is coming to an end.

Broderick and O' Callaghan have begun to form a good defensive partnership playing in the 2-3-1 formation and in the games where both were available and playing beside each other Balaga conceded less. Unfortunately these games weren't too often with O'Callaghan's new employment making him miss games, Broderick having to cover when Damo was injured and the 2 of them travelling off to the Mediterranean at different times. They scored 5 between them and both probably wish it was a bigger sum.

During the season reserves were called upon for many games and always did a great job. Skinty and Dawson(2 goals) were the main men used with 4 caps each. But all who played a part were safe, JD, Seanie Nich(1 goal), Greener(1 goal), Harry, Jowensy, and even an appearance from Tyrrell(2 goals) and O'Sullivan(1 goal). Sound biys.



No.1 fan for the season was obviously Ashling!

The story of the season in match reports:

Game 1 - Balaga cripple Cowboys
Game 2 - Premier Auto Taken Apart
Game 3 - Browne Shines Again As Balaga Bash Mercer
Game 4 - Arses ravaged by Cucumbers
Game 5 - Balaga stand up-2-setters
Game 6 - Rosies Cause Balaga To Blush
Game 7 - Balaga deny Mortgage

Game 8 - Cowboys Keep Cucumbers Quiet
Game 9 - Balaga service Premier Auto Parts
Game 10 - Balaga shown no mercy
Game 11 - Balaga Scrape Past Bare Arses
Game 12 - Balaga Exorcise Upsetters Demons
Game 12 - Balaga’s title hopes not so Rosie
Game 14 - Balaga Win Penultimate game but Fail in League


The season was celebrated at Webz'z Rooftop Rave where several Balaga Tongo Players Drank and were merry.

Balaga Win Penultimate game but Fail in League

Balaga Went into they're match with Douglas Mortgage .ie looking for nothing less than 3 points, and hoping that Mercer would drop points against Bare-Arse. This was the only way that the Cucumbers could claim the league title and FC Balaga Tongos first silverware.

With Browne out with injury to his leg, balaga once again called on the reliable services of Paul Dawson. O' Callaghan would be delayed and would miss the first 15 so David Green was asked to play, a player admired by club management, but who had not yet made his competitive debut after impressing in pre-season. Greener would slot in beside Broderick and in front of Damo, with O' Driscoll, Webz and Dawson ahead and Parker upfront. David W would have to settle for a starting spot on the bench, "freaked".

Greener and Dawson watch as Balaga Attack.

Cutting the details short, Parker was sensational and banged in four goals, three i saw and they were all absolute raspers from the wings. Greener also got his name on the score sheet, in a great performance, finishing clinically from a Webz throw in. Douglas got two themselves but it was all irrelevant as Merver battled out for a victory despite losing the seasons MVP to injury during the match. Quick recovery bai.

Parker Holds the ball under pressure.

The team hung around after the game and applauded the champions who eventually won on the extra head to head goal they scored, but in fairness would of won on goal difference if it had come to that aswell.

GUTTED!!!