'Friendly' versus local rivals Sandyford Utd.

Our second friendly of the 2011-12 season was against our local rivals Sandyford Utd. A newly formed team, they are made up of local players and are managed by an ex-Balally player which adds to the spice of the fixture.

Sandyford seemed to have the edge in the first half and dominated with two excellent goal chances only to be thwarted by two even better saves by Marty. Balally were able to create a couple of half chances themselves with Dave wasting a one on one opportunity. However, we went into half time with a one nil lead after Diego pounced on some sloppy defending by Sandyford.

The second half was a scrappy affair with a lot of strong robust tackles from both sides. Unfortunately, for Balally, Mo was shown a red card for a tackle from behind as Sandyford made a quick counter attack. Sandyford also should have been reduced to ten men after a punch was thrown. Even though the referee had a clear view of the incident he decided to force them to subsitute their player instead of brandishing the red card. Balally felt that this was unfair as it was clearly a much worse offense than Mo's.

Balally shrugged off this event and moved on to take a two goal lead. A Mick Neill free kick was not dealt with by the Sandyford keeper who ended up hitting it straight off Dave and into the net from 1 yard.

Sandyford got a consolation goal with a wonderfully taken free kick which beat Marty from about 25 yards out on the left hand side. The game finished shortly after with Balally holding on easily to the 2-1 lead.

Goals: Dave, Diego

Red Card: Mo Whelan