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Balmain took home all three points after a 1-0 victory over Kellyville in the annual Weekend at Bernie's road trip. Arriving at the famously sloped ground to find a mud pit that had been destroyed by cattle during the week, all thoughts of a flair-filled short passing game were thrown straight out the window. Balmain created the early chances, with Daniel Totatro heading wide and Eric Lynch seeing a low shot skid agonisingly across the face of goal with the keeper well beaten. When the goal finally came on 20 minutes, it was Totaro who chipped the keeper after he had been unleashed by an outside of the foot special by Lorenzo Merlino. Meanwhile, with Guinness World Records officials standing by, the trigger happy referee began his quest for the world record for most number of cards handed out in 90 minutes of football. Six or seven cards, 43 free kicks, and 20 minutes later it was half time with the Tigers holding a 1-0 lead, and the referee was staking a solid claim for man of the match.

The second half was, I'm told by the neutrals, truly awful stuff. Seeing the impossibility of rolling a pass along the cratered pitch, both sides descended into a hoofathon, giving the defenders at each end plenty of heading and kicking practice. Kellyville had an Alan Smith lookalike sent from the field for his second yellow card after pulling back Julian Bracewell after he had been played into the clear. Anthony Trieste stole the record-setting limelight from the referee when he produced a crunching tackle that ended in three Kellyville players being yellow carded for complaining. The Tigers held on for the win, and that sends them into the top four for the first time this season, albeit with other teams having a game in hand. Gutsy defender slash midfielder Jackson Gothe-Snape earned the Exchange Hotel man of the match award.

On a sad note, young Balmain prodigy Noel Deasey suffered a broken nose delivered by an unprovoked head-butt from a sore loser while attempting to shake hands after the final whistle. This is now a matter under police investigation.

The 21s bad run continued with a 2-0 defeat to a Kellyville team that achieved only its second win of the season. After dominating for the first 10 minutes or so, sloppy marking at Kellyville's first corner allowed the home side to take the lead, even after the inital header had rebounded off the crossbar. On 32 minutes a penalty for handball was awarded against Eamonn Byrne when a point blank drive was smashed against his back and armpit. Kellyville scored to make it 2-0 and if that wasn't enough, on Balmain's next attack Sami Yildiz cracked a cross into the box which hit a Kellyville defender in identical circumstances as Byrne's. You guessed it, no penalty and a yellow card to Yildiz for his protests. The second half produced no goals but a much improved display from the 21s. Here's hoping the boys can break the losing streak next weekend.

19s cult heroes Barnaby and The Reverand

The talk around the traps right now is the form turnaround from the U19s, and rightly so as they knocked off third placed Kellyville 5-3 on Saturday. The traditional early goal was conceded right on 10 minutes when a scramble outside the box led to a deflected shot that Vince could do nothing about. In the past this would have meant impending doom, but not so for the revitalised Tigers. A period of settling down followed until Chris "2 games" Grayson scored the equaliser after 24mins. The boys started to exude confidence and their pressure play resulted in a penalty which Simon Roddy slotted home for a 2-1 half time lead. New signing Mitch Bonus delivered a telling blow four mins into the 2nd half from a corner to make the score 3-1. Unfortunately within minutes a cruel deflection yet again left Vince stranded as the ball looped over his head to make it 3-2. Bonus scored his second, again from a corner, this time with a magnificent side footed volley into the top corner. Again Kellyville hit back to take the scores to 4-3, but Balmain captain Matt Coelho had the final say, lashing a volley through the hands of the Kolts keeper to seal the match. That's nine points and 14 goals from their past three games, and all of a sudden the 19s look an outside chance for the semi-finals.

Tigers 6, Islanders 1

Balmain carried on where they left off against Hakoah midweek, thrashing Greenisland (thats Green-Island, not Greenis-Land for the dyslexic - you know who you are!) 6-1 at Birchgrove on Saturday. Balmain were without captain Eric Lynch who was recovering from a total toe reconstruction, and they soon lost Luis Soares to injury when he suffered a corked thigh, coach Andrews bringing on Noel Deasey as his replacement. A deadlocked opening half hour was broken when Lorenzo Merlino sent Jem Richardson clear on the right and he wrongfooted the keeper before rolling the ball into an unguarded net. Curiously, the goal featured a brilliant piece of refereeing as play-on was called despite the non-interfering Julian Bracewell being well offside. It was the pearly Macleans-white booted Bracewell who headed in the second after Dave Hardwick treated the crowd to a mazy circumnavigation of the penalty area followed by a pinpoint cross.

The gargantuan long throw of Grant Burgess was put to good use early in the second half, with Dave Hardwick heading the third straight in off a throw-in. Young Brazilian dead ball specialist Juninho Deasey hammered in the free kick of the season shortly after that, sending a left-footed rocket from outside the area that left the keeper stranded. The only blemish of the day came when a Greenisland free kick was diverted by the rush of air from Anthony Trieste's airswing clearance, causing Jackson Gothe-Snape to score a rare chested goal rather spectacularly at the wrong end. The Tigers rolled on though and Daniel Totaro broke his scoring drought, slotting the ball into the corner after it fell to him from a deflected Adriano Deasey free kick. Richardson snatched his second late in the game and Sami Yildiz was unlucky not to bag a goal as well, but this time the passive offside call went against Bracewell. Picking the player of the match was again a hard decision as the team was full of stars. Dave Hardwick and Grant Burgess had outstanding games, but the Exchange Hotel brews went to the tireless Daniel Totaro who capped a great match up front with a well deserved goal.

Roving SBS camera-man Matt Jaffrey has kindly provided us with the following highlights package:

• Jeremy Deasey's bullet free kick
• Lorenzo Merlino hits a cracking volley that forces a great save from the keeper
• Daniel Totaro scores from a deflected free kick

The U21s produced an ordinary second half, conceding twice in the final ten minutes to lose 2-1 to Greenisland. Eric La Rocca opened the scoring on the quarter hour with another long range free kick, proving the first one a few weeks ago was no fluke. Unfortunately that was the only bright spot amid a host of good chances that the Tigers were unable to finish. Two sloppy goals were conceded in the final 10 minutes to allow the bottom placed Islanders to snag their second win of the season.

Earlier the U19s continue their improvement, playing as well as they have all season, in a 7-0 romp over Greenisland. Simon Roddy was the first half hat trick hero, bagging goals in the 11th, 29th and 45th minutes. Marcus Beh scored his debut goal for the club in his second appearance and Chris Grayson socred a brace either side of half time. Finally defender Glenn Lynch somehow found himself upfield far enough to score his first for the season. The match also featured a stirring half time sermon from The Reverand Sam McNeill, urging his teammates to turn the other cheek in the face of hostilities from their opponents.

Balmain summoned their best performance of the season in dishing out a 4-1 hiding to Hakoah at Lidcombe Oval last night. With Merlino suspended, Little injured, Cremasco and Byrne unavailable, and Gothe-Snape late due to CityRail and car trouble, coach Luke Andrews was once again forced to ring the changes. In came Grant Burgess and Gavin Buddis at the back, Luis Soares replaced Merlino in midfield, and Sean Foley partnered flu victim Daniel Totaro up front. Hakoah started as expected, sitting deep, content to defend and play on the counter attack. On the quarter hour Eric Lynch brought back memories of Ronaldinho vs England in the last world cup and the days the Wests Magpies used to grace the Lidcombe turf, humping a high bomb goalward from miles out. The crowd craned their necks and watched with baited breathe as the ball dropped perfectly into the top corner of the goal, leaving the keeper looking for some sand to stick his head into. This galvanised the Tigers and they began to overpower their opponents with some quality passing and vigorous tackling. Sean Foley got a little too vigorous in the 25th minute though and was perhaps harshly sent from the field after a mistimed tackle hit too much leg and not enough ball. As so often happens in football when a side finds themselves a man short, the Tigers lifted a gear and were soon two up. Anthony "Cement" Trieste (he's hard and loves putting the ball in the mixer) smashed a shot that was deflected into the path of Dave Hardwick, and from six yards out he couldn't miss. Despite the 2-0 half time lead, the match was evenly poised with the prospect of a 10 vs 11 second half contest.

Any doubts that the Tigers would carry on with the job were dispelled just 3 minutes into the second period as they produced one of the finest team goals you will ever see. A Richardson tackle saw the ball roll out to Buddis on the right side of defence, who hit the ball long to Totaro, who headed first time square into the path of Hardwick, who hit a first time defence splitter wide to the left, and the flying Swede Henrik Andersson rounded off the move with a first touch lob that gave the keeper no chance. Eric Lynch added the fourth 10 minutes later when Julian Bracewell, who had come on for Totaro, chested a cross into his path leaving him with a simple finish from six yards. The Tigers were then unlucky not to have a fifth when Richardson smashed a cross from Andersson in at the far post, only to have it called back for another player who did not touch or go near the ball being judged offside. Hakoah squeezed in a late consolation goal to ruin Charlie Sosa's clean sheet on debut aspirations, but in the end it was only a minor blemish on a spectaular night for Balmain football. Among a host of outstanding performances all over the park, tricky winger Jem Richardson was awarded the Exchange Hotel man of the match award.

At the post-game press conference, the opposition and match officials were full of praise for the Tigers' performance. In particular the referee commented "that was Premier League standard" (NSW Premier League we assume).

Earlier, the U21s did their semi-final chances no good in going down 4-0 to Hakoah. The less said about this game the better, suffice it to say that the four goals were served up to the opposition via a stir-fry of poor defending and goalkeeping. Down 2-0 at the break the Tigers had a magnificent chance to pull one back from a corner just after the restart. On another day it might have gone in but in the end it didn't, Hakoah made it three within minutes and the rest, as they say, is history.

A crowd in the tens turned up to Pratten Park to see the U19s upset the heavily fancied Hakoah 2-1 on Thursday night. The night started badly when the Tigers were unable to clear a cross effectivley and the ensuing shot slightly deflected off Grant Burgess' arm past the stranded keeper Vince. On the half hour, Simon Roddy surged into the box and was crudely hacked down resulting in a penalty. The big bloodnut Burgess hammered it home, sending the tights-wearing, head-banded, mulletted keeper the wrong way. Balmain's defense did well to keep Hakoah at bay for the remainder of the half, with Jamie "Seb" Oliver and Dave "Cucumber" Pye proving especially solid. Spurred on by the rowdy travelling Balmain crowd, the Tigers scored a deserved winner on 70 minutes, with the boy with the world's longest name scoring after a goalmouth scramble. So another solid result from the U19s against one of the competition leaders - is it the start of a surge into the mid-table comfort zone?

Cheer up after the weekend results with a look at photos of some of the action from the season so far. We also have a couple of video clips in the videos section.

All can be found in the gallery.

A disappointing Balmain suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of the University of NSW on Saturday. Balmain lost keeper Matt Mulhall to injury within the first quarter of an hour, which meant a first grade debut for Andrew Pye. The Tigers then conceded on the half hour mark after a period of sustained dominance from the home side. The Tigers went into the sheds at half time with little to show for their efforts apart from an Eric Lynch free kick and a Nathan Little header that both went over the top without troubling the keeper. The Tigers conceded from a free kick early in the second half, then lost Lorenzo Merlino for two bookable offences within the space of 10 minutes. UNSW took advantage of the extra man, scoring twice late in the game to round off a comfortable victory.

The U21s were extremely unfortunate to end up on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against the competition leaders. Controlling posession and creating most of the chances in the first half wasn't enough as Uni somehow managed to keep the ball out of the net. Among the near misses, Noel Deasey had a free kick that hit the side netting with the keeper well beaten and Dean Tutic had a headed effort cleared off the goal line. The game continued in a similar vein in the second period until the Tigers were hit with a classic sucker punch, conceding from a 70th minute corner when a Uni player was allowed to head home unchallenged at the far post. Despite the loss, the Balmain side looked more than capable of matching it with the competition front runners, and will look forward to possibly facing them again come finals time.

You could almost write an identical match report for the U19s - playing the league leaders they held their own and created several decent chances, only to concede an 89th minute goal to go down 1-0. Producing a performance of cool, calm assurance at the back, Dave "Cucumber" Pye took home the man of the match award, which ended up being a couple of glasses of coke drunk through an open window at the Exchange Hotel. Unfortunately the photo of sad looking Dave peering in through the pub window turned out to be unrecognisable.