League Game 4

This match was archetypical of the old cliché, "a game of two halves"! 

Balally worked extremely hard in the first half to stifle the opposition whilst also creating quite a number of goal scoring opportunities. Paddy and Dave up front along with Gonzo on the left were causing all sorts of problems for the St. Annes defence. The opening goal came from a defence splitting pass down the channel. Paddy was clean through on the keeper who he easily rounded and slotted home into an empty net. 

St. Annes were testing us more and more as the half went on but any threat was coming from long balls over the top to two pacey strikers. Balally's back 5 of Nolie, Colie, Sammer, Ray and Marty in goals had a very strong half and were able to keep St. Annes at bay with some great defending, reading of the play and at times, the odd last ditch tackle. We also created a number of chances in the first half which we would ultimately rue as the game went on.

The second half began much the same as the first half ended with Balally defending well and breaking down both flanks. The equaliser came early and knocked the stuffing out of Balally thus giving the momentum to the home side. A long ball over the top caught Marty in two minds - come out or stay. The striker reacted quickest leaving the trailing Sammer in his wake. He got to the ball first and rounded Marty to slot into an empty net.

The second, a cracker, came soon after with St. Annes taking a short corner on their right. Balally didn't react quick enough and after quick interchange of passes the striker broke in from their right and curled a beauty into the top left hand corner from the edge of the box. 

We found it hard to turn things around and a number of substitutions were made as players suffered from tired legs after their efforts in the first half. Unfortunately St. Annes got a soft third goal before Balally could reassert themselves on the game. A long shot from home team's midfielder took a weird bounce on the relayed turf and slipped under Marty's foot. 

St. Annes took the foot off the pedal after this allowing Balally push on and grab number two. A corner from the left was whipped in on top of the keeper but Moe rose highest and headed a bullet past the keeper from 6 yards. Balally sensed a comeback may be on the cards but this optimism was short lived as we got caught trying to play offside. St. Annes number 9 had time to round Marty once again and tap home. Game over!

Goals: Paddy, Moe

The work rate and organisation in the first half was a huge improvement from the previous match. Ultimately our lack of fitness in the second half was the beginning of the end. Tired legs reacted slower and tired heads made bad decisions. We need to have a strong week training in order to change our fortunes.