Temple No Place of Solitude as Balaga Torment Tigers.

It was a cool evening in Garryduff last night as Balaga lined out to face the Temple Inn Tigers, a team they edged victory against 7-6 earlier in the campaign. David W was back so it was a full squad of 9 for only the second time this season.

The start of the match was quiet and it was the cucumbers that went 1-0 down as they needed to wake up everywhere. O'Driscoll was causing problems up front and Tristan supporting him was getting on the ball as well looking for the break through. At times the Tigers seemed overrun as JD and Webz came from midfield to support the front two and soon Balaga equalised through Duggan as Hurley found him in the centre of the box with a pinpoint throw and the header was straight into the far corner past a flapping goalkeeper. In fact the goalkeeper was their usual best player stuck in goals for 20minutes as Temple's regular keeper was absent.

As soon as he came out field he was causing danger for the Tongolese and made it 2 for Temple Inn as the defenders struggled with his pace and strength. Duggan then got involved again as it was his shot came of the keeper onto the crossbar and into David W's path, the striker just on a minute before for O'Driscoll happily knocked it in. More Balaga pressure and a free kick was earned 15 yards out in the centre of the pitch, Duggan hammered his effort through the wall, a lurking Parker, attempting to break his 5 game goal duck, blocked the keepers view and the ball found its way through the two of them and into the net. Tristan got himself got on the score sheet. Breaking down the right wing he picked his spot in the opposite corner to make it 4-2 at half time.

After sorting out how to defend against the two front men and the Rory Delap like throws from the strong looking earringed chap at the back for Tigers, Broderick and O'Callaghan seemed much more comfortable. Damo though was called into action on occasion and no more so than when the Tigers striker turned and whipped a fine effort at the top right corner, Damo flung himself and got his fist to it to put the ball over the bar and Balaga were safe again. Super Save! Duggan didn't have the same luck as the first half though and his best opportunity saw the midfielder fire high high high.

Webz on a goalscoring streak of late then finished off Temple Inn in real style with 2 good goals. The first came from a throw in on the left as Webz gave it to Parker who chested it down for his midfield partner and Webz duley obliged by hammering it high inside the near post. The second was opportunistic if anything else as the Temple Inn defense were confused Webz picked up the ball between two men and strode through on goal "thinking David W is a defender, struck it early between the keepers legs" and 6-2 FC Balaga Tongo.

Other results saw Ma Dulleas held to a 4-4 draw against Abtran, to the delight of the Balaga faithful! QEF pipped DouglasMortgage.ie 2-1, a draw would of been better! And finally and surprisingly the Friars ran out 5-0 winners against Passage.

It was an excellent team performance on the night and if Balaga can keep playing together like this they could still be challenging for the title come the end of the season. Big games loom for the cucumbers though with league leaders QEF Global up next and then second placed Ma Dulleas before games against Passage Rejects and Abtran Connects.

VIVA LA BALAGA!