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Balmain were desperately unlucky not to come home from Punchbowl with all three points after Sunday's 1-1 draw against Sydney Cedars. The Tigers opened the scoring early when Jeremy Deasey played to the whistle, chasing down a ball that Julian Bracewell had let go seeing as though he was a mile offside. Deasey got to the ball before the charging Cedars keeper, strolled past him, then passed it into an empty net to make it 1-0. Cedars equalised 10 minutes later when their striker controlled a long ball over the top then left Justin Delaney stranded with a perfectly weighted lob.

Level at the interval, Balmain threw everything at their opposition in search of the winner but try as they might the ball would not get over the line. Keeping the grandstand full of travelling supporters on the edge of their seats, Julian Bracewell rounded the keeper then hit the post from a tight angle, Lorenzo Merlino had a close range effort blocked, and Grant Burgess hit the crossbar in the final seconds. Final score 1-1, and after a dashing display on the left of midfield, Deasey took home the Exchange Hotel man of the match award.

The U21s let a good first half slip in their 1-1 draw with the Cedars. Ben Shine gave the Tigers the lead when he met Eric LaRocca's cross with a bullet header that slipped through the flailing keeper's hands. Not the most mobile team, the Cedars tactics consisted of hoofing the ball long at their earliest convenience, giving the Tigers' back four 90 minutes of heading practice. Unfortunately the gameplan was rewared midway through the second half when a defensive mixup allowed a Cedars striker to get on the end of yet another hoof and score to make it 1-1. There were chances at both ends after that and Andrew Pye, in goal for Balmain, pulled off a couple of first class saves.

With their opposition scoring 13 and conceding 11 in their first three games of the season it was not surprising to see a high scoring encounter in the U19s. The Tigers came from behind three times before eventually going down 4-3 with only 10 men. Big Sam Bonus headed the first for the Tigers before Grant Burgess grabbed two second half equalisers. In between, Chris Grayson was sent from the field after showing that he liked the Cedars kit so much that he wanted to pull it off the back of an opponent on two occasions.

Balmain keeper Justin Delaney was the hero in Saturday's hard fought 2-0 victory over Kellyville. The Tigers took the lead in the 4th minute when Dave Hardwick did his best impression of a salmon, leaping high and heading in from a corner. Continuing where he left off last week, Delaney fisted away a dipping free kick, then produced the save of the season, flinging himself across the face of goal to deny an opposition striker a two metre tap in. After denying a couple of cast-iron penalty appeals, the referee finally ruled in favour of the Tigers when Julian Bracewell was felled in the box. Bracewell however hit his penalty against the inside of the post and the rebound shot from captain Eric Lynch was well saved by the Kellyville keeper.

As expected, Kellyville upped the tempo after the break and threw everything at the Tigers in search of an equaliser, even managing to hit the post on one occasion. A frustrated Bracewell received a yellow card for engaging in a bout of handbags with a Kellyville defender before Balmain sealed the win with 10 minutes remaining. Some midfield trickery from Jackson Gothe-Snape and Jem Richardson presented Lorenzo Merlino with a simple chance which he put away for his second goal this season. Delaney almost managed to score with a monster clearing kick which was headed onto the post by a backtracking defender, and Kellyville had one disallowed for offside before the referee blew full time. The supporters and coaching staff were unanimous in their praise of keeper Justin Delaney, earning him the Exchange Hotel man of the match award.

The under 21 squad put in a solid second half performance to record a 2-0 win over Kellyville. The match marked the return from suspension of Keith "Napoleon" Agnew, back to marshall the troops from the centre of midfield in a calculated positional move from coach Anton Ivancic designed to ensure his goalkeeping skills wouldn't be tested. Alas a first half of few highlights ended with the teams scoreless. The introduction of Steele Bonus up front after the break provided the impetus Balmain needed to snatch a victory. Bonus unleashed Sami Yildiz into the clear on 55 minutes, and Yildiz smashed the bouncing ball past the stranded keeper. Bonus then got a goal of his own, when he hammered a Kellyville corner clearance into the back of the net square off the middle of his chest. 2-0 to the Tigers and they shoot up the ladder into second place.

The under 19s could not hide their disappointment after they saw a two goal lead evaporate in the final minutes of their 2-2 draw. Balmain opened the scoring only 3 minutes in, when keeper Vince's route one clearance was latched onto by Simon Roddy and stroked home. Leading 1-0 at the break, Roddy then added a second and with 10 minutes to go it looked like the Tigers would stroll to their first win of the season. Kellyville had other ideas and grabbed a point with goals from a late free kick and a scramble in the box. All in all a fine performance for 80 minutes from the 19s, soured by a late lapse in concentration.

Balmain registered their first points of the season with a comfortable 3-1 victory away to Greenisland on Sunday. Despite being introduced as "Glebe Tigers" by the cartographically-dyslexic ground announcer, the lads overcame the identity crisis to start the match brightly. Keen to impress with his first start, Kelly Zammit, twin brother of 2004 cult hero and secret gymnast Dylan, began what would turn out to be a stormer of a game on the right of midfield. Zammit's early cross found Lorenzo Merlino at the back post, only to have his neat volleyed finish disallowed after Julian Bracewell was adjudged offside. The breakthrough came 24 minutes in, with Merlino unleashing a huge tackle on the half-way line, spilling the ball to Dave Hardwick who put Bracewell through clear on goal, and he calmly slotted it past the keeper.

The lead was doubled a couple of minutes after half time as Zammit again found Merlino with a pinpoint cross at the far post. This time the keeper produced an amazing save to deny Merlino but fortunately, only managed to parry it straight back, giving him the opportunity to score from all of a yard. After last week's shenanigans, a few in the crowd still held their breath, but they need not have worried as the big man walked it over the line. Dave Hardwick added a third with 15 miuntes remaining, his shot beating the keeper and rolling in off the post. Greenisland managed a late scare when they scored inside the final 10 minutes and also forced keeper Justin Delaney into making a couple of top-drawer saves. However anything less than a win would have been harsh justice on the Tigers, and so they held their lead until the final whistle.

The 21s also found their first win for 2005, coming from behind twice in a hard-fought 3-2 victory. It looked as if it wasn't going to be the Tigers' day as Greenisland scored a scrappy goal after a scramble in the box, and Daniel Totaro had two goals disallowed as well as another near miss. Despite enjoying the better of the play for most of the half, Balmain went into the sheds down 1-0 at half time. The luck changed shortly after the restart as Paul Graham's cross was dropped by the keeper onto his own head and back over the line for a cracking own goal to level things up. Greenisland then hit straight back, regaining the lead a couple of minutes later. Totaro finally got a deserved goal when he leapt like a salmon to head Eric LaRocca's cross in, and Sami Yildiz snatched the winner for the Tigers shortly after.

Playing the first 10 minutes with only 9 men, the 19s did well in a narrow 2-1 loss. Greenisland scored the opener before Balmain could get their full team on the pitch, and then added a second 10 minutes before the break. Balmain showed a lot of courage in the second half to outplay their opponents, but were unable to peg back the two goal advantage. Simon Roddy scored for Balmain with a cracking curling shot into the top left corner from 20 metres with a minute to go to make the final score 2-1 to the home side.

Saturday's season opener saw Balmain achieve what can only be described as an embarrassing start to the new season, as all three grades were swept aside in the second half of their respective matches.

The firsts produced a solid first half and indeed took the lead when Gavin Buddis, with SportsTab quoting 450-1 pre-match for him to be first scorer, produced a volley of such sublime quality that it left several in the crowd choking on their kebab rolls in delight. A corner was headed clear by the student defense but Buddis, standing well outside the box, never let it touch the ground as he smashed a first time pile driver that flew at knee height until it crashed into the back of the net. It will take something very special to beat that for goal of the season. After that it was pretty much all downhill as the Tigers lost three players to injury, missed a sitter inside the six-yard box, then conceded an equaliser only seconds before half time. Like a hot dog you buy outside the pub at 2am, the Tigers looked good at first but halfway through you started to realise that they were a little underdone. And so it proved as they were overrun in the second half by a fit and well organised Uni side, falling to a 4-1 deficit before Julian Bracewell scored a late consolation to make the final score 4-2 to the visitors.

Unfortunately the news for the 21s was more of the same. The 21s started in style, Hugo Muecke scoring his first goal for the club with his first touch of the ball inside the opening minute. UNSW equalised with a superbly hit free kick and the scores were level at half time. Early in the second half Keith Agnew produced a magnificent one-handed reflex save to deny a certain goal from the visitors. Sadly, Agnew wasn't playing in goal and was promptly sent from the field, UNSW taking lead with the resultant spot kick. The 10 man Tigers could not hold out a rampant Uni side, who went on to score three more in a 5-1 drubbing.

The 19s showed they were capable of matching their opposition as they ended the first half 2-1 down with a goal from Chris Grayson. Despite producing some fine football, hitting the post, and doing just about everything else, they could not manage to find an equaliser. Alas they too were well beaten in the second half, and finished on the end of a 4-1 scoreline.

This weekend sees Balmain start its 2005 season against the University of NSW. All three grades are playing at Birchgrove Oval on Saturday, with the U19s kicking things off at 11am, the U21s at 1pm, and first grade at 3pm.

For the players, click here to check which squad you have been selected in and what Navy Standard Time you are required to be at the ground.