Thursday 17 December 2009
All 3 from missing MP
A no show by M and P O'Sullivan gave Balaga a 5-0 walkover and moves them up to 5th in the table. With one game left its all over regarding the title but Tongo can still take 4th spot, providing they beat Ma Duleas and Rosies do them a favour against Passage Rejects.
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Balaga Ring a Ring o' Rosies
Last Wednesday a crowd of 2 at Garryduff saw FC Balaga Tongo get back to winning ways against old rivals Rosies. After last 2 successive defeats the mood in the Balaga camp was low, and something had to be done. Tactical boffins Kevin Broderick and Tom O'Callaghan got there heads together on the Interwebs and discussed how to get back to winning ways. The next day a formation drawn up by the captain was leaked to the press and Balaga looked like they were returning to their favored attacking formation which got them to a pussycats whisker of the summer league title.
The formation and discipline was great for a change and Balaga were creating the best passages of play in the opening 15 minutes. Then came the first goal, a ball played in from the right wing was touched on sexily by Duggan into David W 's path as he side footed the ball past the keeper from just inside the box. One Nil to the cucumbers! The next goal was O' Driscoll, enjoying himself in the more attacking role that he was employed, he powered a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner to make it 2, Boom! Then a 3rd as Balaga pressed on, Parker picked up the ball two thirds of the way up the pitch and he took a circular route around the defenders before firing home from distance to make it 3, Peowww. Goal scoring like this hadn't been seen since Dawson's last cameo appearance in a black shirt or the days of past Balaga star Rory Browne, who was watching by this stage with one time player Nicholson. The first half came to a close at the scoreline was kept to 3-0 as Greener and Duggan worked hard at the back as Webz patrolled infront of them. Broderick was tested a few times and the all action keeper made an unbelievable save in the closing stages of the half, getting his finger tips to the ball after a big dive to his right.
The second half kicked off, and more of the same was the order, with O' Callaghan coming on for Parker the only change in personnel. It wasn't long before chances started to come again and in most cases go, but it was David W again who was flying upfront, eager to impress. The fourth then came to him as O' Driscoll put the ball down the line and Webz left it go to David W , who turned his man and slipped the ball past the onrushing keeper. Some lapses in concentration began to creep into play though and Rosies pulled one back through bad defending on the teams part. But the cucumbers defense worked hard to keep Rosies out and kept them to long range efforts for most of the game. The Rosies keeper then took a pretty funny slap off the ball on the side of his head as the ball came ripping through a crowded area from a Duggan shot and bounced off his temple rendering him a bit goosed for the rest of the game as the Ref was more worried about him than what was going on in the rest of the game. Balaga couldn't make the most of it though and it was O' Callaghan who was guilty on a few occasions as he was put clear through by David W and Parker. As the game wound down Rosies kept chasing their way back into the game and as the ref was putting the whistle to his lips they broke clear of defense and before the chasing pack could reach him, their midfielder blasted a long range low effort into the bottom corner as a stranded Broderick made is only mistake of the game coming a foot outside and being unable to put his out reaching hand to the ball.
4-2 it finished and the result put a smile back on players faces as they look to finish the season on a high and win their last 2 games. If they put in a performance like this one though they wont have to hope.
Other results didn't really do Balaga much favors though but with the title now well out of their mind a top half finish could still be possible.
The second half kicked off, and more of the same was the order, with O' Callaghan coming on for Parker the only change in personnel. It wasn't long before chances started to come again and in most cases go, but it was David W again who was flying upfront, eager to impress. The fourth then came to him as O' Driscoll put the ball down the line and Webz left it go to David W , who turned his man and slipped the ball past the onrushing keeper. Some lapses in concentration began to creep into play though and Rosies pulled one back through bad defending on the teams part. But the cucumbers defense worked hard to keep Rosies out and kept them to long range efforts for most of the game. The Rosies keeper then took a pretty funny slap off the ball on the side of his head as the ball came ripping through a crowded area from a Duggan shot and bounced off his temple rendering him a bit goosed for the rest of the game as the Ref was more worried about him than what was going on in the rest of the game. Balaga couldn't make the most of it though and it was O' Callaghan who was guilty on a few occasions as he was put clear through by David W and Parker. As the game wound down Rosies kept chasing their way back into the game and as the ref was putting the whistle to his lips they broke clear of defense and before the chasing pack could reach him, their midfielder blasted a long range low effort into the bottom corner as a stranded Broderick made is only mistake of the game coming a foot outside and being unable to put his out reaching hand to the ball.
4-2 it finished and the result put a smile back on players faces as they look to finish the season on a high and win their last 2 games. If they put in a performance like this one though they wont have to hope.
Other results didn't really do Balaga much favors though but with the title now well out of their mind a top half finish could still be possible.
Monday 7 December 2009
Balagas Passage blocked by Rejects
Balaga were without the leadership qualities of Tom (who had to serve EMC's industrial needs), but had Broderick back to step into goals. Damo had another slight problem and couldn't play. Looks like he will be out until after xmas so Broderick may as well get comfortable between the Balaga sticks. As a result Dawson was drafted in.... then out again so the cucumbers were left with only 7 starters. Mux also had to pull out after his watch wasn't synchronized to Webzes. Balaga's starting line-up:
Webz commented before the match - "as long as we don't concede in the first 10 minutes we'll be alright"... 5 minutes into the match Kev picked up the ball and attempted to kick it from the ground. It didn’t pass the first player and Rejects punished the stand in keeper. With plan A out the window Balaga moved to the next option, and attacked. They make inroads and were unlucky not to equalize but didn’t and Balaga conceded a second.
Balaga didn't lose the heads though and quickly pulled one back. Parker picked the up the ball on the wing, turned and found a path through to Webz who finished in style. 2-1. And not long afterwards it became 2-2 with a quickly taken corner by JD i think. It landed at Parkers feet who buried it via a deflection off a Rejects defender. However, Passage stepped it up again and buried another 2 before the break. 4-2 at half time i think.
Second half kicked off and although Balaga were making inroads, Passage and that fast feeted hooor up front were causing problems and broke the rear guard a total of three more times before the end. Balaga also got another two from Phil (from a corner kick; long range effort which he controlled outside the box and buried into the bottom left hand corner), and John (collected a Parker throw and found the onion sack with a neat finish). 4-7 the final score and really the final game of a terrible season for Balaga can’t come quick enough.
Webz commented before the match - "as long as we don't concede in the first 10 minutes we'll be alright"... 5 minutes into the match Kev picked up the ball and attempted to kick it from the ground. It didn’t pass the first player and Rejects punished the stand in keeper. With plan A out the window Balaga moved to the next option, and attacked. They make inroads and were unlucky not to equalize but didn’t and Balaga conceded a second.
Balaga didn't lose the heads though and quickly pulled one back. Parker picked the up the ball on the wing, turned and found a path through to Webz who finished in style. 2-1. And not long afterwards it became 2-2 with a quickly taken corner by JD i think. It landed at Parkers feet who buried it via a deflection off a Rejects defender. However, Passage stepped it up again and buried another 2 before the break. 4-2 at half time i think.
Second half kicked off and although Balaga were making inroads, Passage and that fast feeted hooor up front were causing problems and broke the rear guard a total of three more times before the end. Balaga also got another two from Phil (from a corner kick; long range effort which he controlled outside the box and buried into the bottom left hand corner), and John (collected a Parker throw and found the onion sack with a neat finish). 4-7 the final score and really the final game of a terrible season for Balaga can’t come quick enough.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Tigers Sink Claws into Cucumbers
After the international break it was back to tough business for FC Balaga Tongo as they faced league leaders TV Tigers.
2 weeks ago the cucumbers scrapped past the bottom feeders Booze Crew so paddy power had long odds on this one.With late squad news coming in, the multi-talented Broderick and goalkeeper Kennedy were ruled out and Balaga went into the game with the bare seven.
The first half turned out to be pretty even and Balaga were giving as good as they got, 2-3 (it was close to that anyway) was the score line going into the half time, goals came from Parks and Webz one of which was nice and one was a tap in i think. Some poor defending and lapses in concentration in the cucumber back line left it too easy at times for TV Tigers to get in. A slight injury to Greener tho left Balaga even worse off.
The second half brought with it the un-doing of Balaga Tongo. Pressure on the Tigers goal could not be converted and the Tigers counter attack and a keeper error left Balaga 5-2 down come the final whistle.
FC Balaga Tongo kit man O'Driscoll will surely have the squads new gear as they look for a positive going into the next game against Passage Rejects. Rejects who beat second spot Douglas Mortgage last week are hot on Balaga's tails and the cucumbers will be gunning for all 3 as they look to get out of the bottom half and finish the season on the up!
2 weeks ago the cucumbers scrapped past the bottom feeders Booze Crew so paddy power had long odds on this one.With late squad news coming in, the multi-talented Broderick and goalkeeper Kennedy were ruled out and Balaga went into the game with the bare seven.
The first half turned out to be pretty even and Balaga were giving as good as they got, 2-3 (it was close to that anyway) was the score line going into the half time, goals came from Parks and Webz one of which was nice and one was a tap in i think. Some poor defending and lapses in concentration in the cucumber back line left it too easy at times for TV Tigers to get in. A slight injury to Greener tho left Balaga even worse off.
The second half brought with it the un-doing of Balaga Tongo. Pressure on the Tigers goal could not be converted and the Tigers counter attack and a keeper error left Balaga 5-2 down come the final whistle.
FC Balaga Tongo kit man O'Driscoll will surely have the squads new gear as they look for a positive going into the next game against Passage Rejects. Rejects who beat second spot Douglas Mortgage last week are hot on Balaga's tails and the cucumbers will be gunning for all 3 as they look to get out of the bottom half and finish the season on the up!
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