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Saturday's 3-3 draw against East Coast Magic brought to an end both Balmain's four match winning streak and any chance of making the finals. Balmain took the early lead through a cracking half volley from Mahmoud and the score stayed 1-0 until half time. Shortly after half time the referee gave the Magic his first gift, awarding a free kick for an innocuous little bump between two players. The free kick then turned into a penalty when the Magic players pointed out to the dumbstruck referee that the free kick was in fact in the penalty area, the official having been confused by the multitude of lines painted by the Birchgrove groundsman, Pro Hart. So that made it 1-1 and the Magic made it 2-1 within five minutes. Jem Richardson pulled one back for the Tigers, cutting in from the left and smashing a low drive under the diving keeper's body. Dave Hardwick then made it 3-2 with only minutes remaining, with a skillfully taken turn and shot from the edge of the area. However the referee had the final say, again awarding a penalty after the Balmain keeper and a Magic attacker both hit the ball at the same time - the attacker fell over, the referee blew his whistle, Magic scored - final score 3-3.

Reserve grade also saw their finals hopes end after they too drew 3-3 against the Magic. Two goals to Andre Mazzacao and one thumping volley from Paolo Gravina rounded out the scoring for the Tigers. However it was the countless good chances missed, particularly in the first half when the Tigers could have had seven or eight goals, that cost the Tigers the game in the end.

Balmain made the longest journey of the season well worthwhile with wins for both grades over Lithgow at the weekend. The first team followed up an excellent first half with a patchy second half but still managed to run out 2-0 winners. Balmain youth academy sensation Chris Grayson opened the scoring, popping up in the box to force home a low cross for his first goal of the season. Then followed a series of missed chances, with an otherwise rampaging Jem Richardson being particularly wasteful. Richardson however did manage a superb overhead volley direct from a corner but was denied a corker by a Lithgow defender's headed goal line clearance. Early in the second half substitute Paolo Gravina and Jeremy "Jake the Snake" Loblay combined with a sweet one-two that sent Loblay into the clear, and he squeezed his shot under the Lithgow keeper for the second. Balmain had to absorb tremendous amounts of late pressure in the last 15 minutes with Lithgow hitting the goalposts on four or five occasions. In the end though it was Balmain's day and the win extends the Tigers recent run of good form to four wins in a row.

The reserve team were very nearly mugged before a solitary late goal grabbed them three vital points. Balmain started the game on fire and, if not for some poor finishing, could have been up by four or five by half time. The game looked headed for a frustrating draw when, with ten minutes to go, Lithgow were awarded a penalty the first time they entered the Balmain penalty box. Coach Leo Cirillo ordered the defrosting of the cryogenically frozen keeper Matt Mulhall, who had not been needed up until that point, and feeling fresh as a daisy he dived to his left to pull off a magnificent penalty save. This inspired the Tigers and, in the 87th minute, substitute Jemba Jemba Richardson beat the offside trap and cut the ball back to Fraser "Sklep" Leggat who was free in the box with the goal at his mercy. Sklep promptly tripped over the ball attempting a first time shot but, such is his blinding speed, he still managed to regain his feet, avoid a defender, and stab the ball past the keeper for the winner. Truly a goal to be cherished.

Balmain notched up a hat-trick of victories for the first time this season with their 4-2 win over Kosciuszko at Birchgrove on Saturday. It was a dismal game full of poor first touches, shots going out for throw-ins, and keystone cops style defending. In fact the only thing that made it remotely remarkable was Brendan "Hugh Grant" Dobbie's first ever goal for the club after almost three years of trying. Brendan pleaded to have his "swerving, dipping, cracking, pile driving, untouchable stinger missile of a goal" (his words not mine) described in it's full glory to the world wibe web of Tigers fans so here goes: A corner floated over, the butter-fingered keeper dropped it at Hugh's feet, and he kicked it in from all of six yards out.

Reserve grade produced a polished performance, earning a 4-1 win over a Kosciuszko team which, for the most part, backed up to play the first grade game. Superb goals to Fraser and Luigi set the Tigers on their way to a 2-0 half time lead, followed by more of the same in the second.

This Sunday sees the Tigers venture far, far west for the annual Lithgow road trip. We can't wait to see what mother nature has up her sleeve - in recent years the Tigers have battled howling winds, sleet, driving rain, sandstorms, bushfires, and combinations of all the above.

The unlikely semi-final dream remains alive for another week after Balmain outclassed second placed Prospect United 3-1. Coach Arthur Stamatis's pre game match plan hinged on the Tigers holding out the Prossies - let me make it crystal clear that this is what they call themselves on the field - in the first half while running uphill on a pitch that resembled Thredbo without the snow. The plan went astray when Hassan Reda was distracted by his fan club of a couple of 11 year old locals who thought he was 11 as well until they saw him up close, whereupon they resorted to calling him elf-man and goblin... ah but I digress. Anyway Reda lost the toss and Balmain skiied downslope.

As for the action, the Prossies were shocked and awed by a cracking first session full of penetration with minimal collateral damage and only a couple of civilian casualties from the Tigers (if you've ever seen Andrew Pittas clear a ball into the crowd you'll know what I mean). The half ended with the Tigers 2-0 ahead, the goals courtesy of Hassan "Goblin" Reda and Jeremy "Jake the Snake" Loblay. Brendan "Hugh Grant" Dobbie even got asked for an autograph on the way to the sheds by a local kid with coke bottle thick glasses who thought our Hugh was actually Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. Playing a style coach Stamatis likes to call the "counter-attacking, running uphill, against the wind with a 2-0 lead" tactic in the second half, Balmain extended the lead to three midway through the period with a Peter Stamatis header. The Prossies did manage to get a ball in a couple of minutes before the end, but by that stage the fat lady had well and truly started singing a little ditty known as "Balmain boys we are here".

Reserve grade suffered a big blow-out in their finals campaign after copping a 5-1 spanking from the Prossies. The Tigers squared the game at 1-1 midway through the first half, but two late goals left them chasing the game - down 3-1 at half time. In the second half the Tigers had Prossies all over them and never looked like pulling the game out of the bag. With all the other top sides winning, it leaves them seven points out of the four and, like first grade, in need of other results to start going their way fast.