Archives

« February 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 »

Sunday's game had almost everything your classic Tigers fan could want: an epic Western Sydney road trip. Crunching tackles. Bloodied faces. A near total lack of decent passing football. The drinking of Camden's beer.

The only thing missing (Abe hopes) was the shagging of Camden's women. And more to the point sadly, our famous victory tune.

From my vantage point under Camden's big old tree, even if we had have taken three points, it would hardly have been deserved. After the bulk of a match shaded by a stuttering Balmain machine, in the end Camden's equaliser came when a deflected long shot that Delaney could only parry landed in the path of a lucky Camden striker. That was enough for Camden, who looked happy with a 1-1 draw.

Rewind 90 minutes though, and after witnessing one of the great Tigers comebacks in Under 20s (more on that later) just prior to kickoff, the boys started brightly. Tackles flying in. A whirlwind of movement. Possession in the opposition half - the game promised so much! But then, the story of the season so far reared its ugly head. The boys just couldn't maintain control of the match. From midway through the first-half, Balmain gave up field position and possession and let Camden off the hook.

The second half started thankfully with some improvement and then - behold - with a goal! The breakthrough came when Deasey jinked down the right flank. Beating his man, the tricky winger dinked a ball in from the byline over the keeper to find Flower who bundled the ball over the line from point blank range. Calls for handball from the Camden side were politely declined. After all, Balmain had a football match to play!

Over the next quarter of an hour, the boys had a couple more chances. Young Sasha nodded a header into the post and Snape hit one from 40 yards that only just went over. Unfortunately, the cutting edge couldn't be found. Slowly, rhythm was lost as dubious Camden challenges on Tiger warriors Flower and Byrnes made for extended stoppages. Minutes later Camden were level and before long the Tiger tussle ended all square.

The same couldn't be said about cutting edges in the Under 20s match, which appeared more like a trip to your local Stihl shop. First it came from Camden, who leaped to a 4-2 lead. Then from Balmain, who roared back into it with a miraculous three goals in the final ten minutes to take it 5-4. Abe hadn't seen anything like it since those crazy days of division seven in the 1980s. Starring was Captain Pirelli's Mandarin man Hardwick, who notched up a hat-trick on his return from China. Credit must go to the whole team though, of which not one player let his head drop. True Tiger spirit gents!

With the Camden trip behind them now, most of the boys have plenty of work to do this week to prepare for their toughest test yet on Saturday - trying to keep pace with the club's experienced drinkers at the season's first Saturday night at the Exchange. That will (hopefully) follow our glorious double victory over current league leaders UNSW. Should be a great day and night - Abe will see you there!

And finally, my apologies to the Camden club - I would have loved to join you for a beer again this year after the game, but I had to shoot off back home to cook dinner for my daughter. I'll see you gentlemen at Birchgrove later on in the season.

Unable to make the trip down to Wollongong midweek for the Cup nonsense, I was pleased to see my boys get back to winning ways on Sunday. Always formidable are the Fogolar Wanderers, and this season proved no exception. Still, the Tigers scratched a 1-0, even if it was a game about as memorable as the drive out there.

It began as you'd expect from a 1-0. The first half was certainly a hell of a lot more even than the work of Fogular's mower. Unfortunately, like the open sewer at the western end of the ground, it was a bit shit. There was some physical play in midfield, a sterling defensive job performed by the Big Bonus and a whistle-happy ref, but the highlight from the first half was Delaney's sharp right-handed block as a Fogolar striker bore down on goal.

The second half couldn't have been more different. It started in the same vein as the first half, with Fogolar resorting to long balls to clear the Tigers defensively-minded midfield and the Tigers equally ineffective in attack. But then Burns, on for the injured Bonus at half-time, clicked both teams into gear with a right-left open-handed combo in retaliation for a violent studs-meets-knee challenge. Lucky to stay on the park though Top Cop was, his fire brought the game alive, and before long the Tigers were in front.

Magic Kingdom nearby may have closed down, but nobody told Lorenzo. His somewhat uncharacteristic delicate ball, dinked over the onrushing Fogolar defence, found the other big man in the team Totaro who cooked up a sweet finish through the keeper's legs.

Before long the game opened up like my ex-wife. With Fogolar having the bye in the first-round, and the Tigers similarly still hunting top fitness, the small pitch was finally offering up some space.

When Snape clattered into the Fogolar sweeper with 20 minutes to go, it forced the sub-happy Wanderers down to 10 men. From then the Tigers should have wrapped it up, with more than half a dozen gilt-edged chances. But it was left to young Delaney to wrap up the three points with the save of the season.

A ball into the box was met with a full-blooded Wanderers drive only for the Tigers' keeper to deflect it up onto the underside of the crossbar and, after a classic goalmouth scrap, out.

So my beloved Tigers have gone two from two. Take a peek at the table on the right. Only UNSW can say the same. Can't wait to see that match in a couple of weeks - it'll be DVD material.

In the 20s, the Tigers will be disappointed to come away with only a 1-1 draw. Struggling to click in the first half's tropical temperatures they conceded a sloppy goal to go 1-0 down. Credit to them though, the Tigers gritted their teeth and fought back to 1-1, before a flurry of late chances should have ensured a Balmain victory. It was two points lost rather than one point gained for the Balmain cubs, but they'll still be confident of beating the Camden Tigers next week, with whom they share second place.

Editor's note: please welcome our new match reporter, Tigers die-hard, rugby league convert, and part time butcher Abe Stirling...

Well it wasn't pretty, but neither are the boys (except that bloke on the right). Still, the Tigers snuck over the line in Lidcombe's long grass, sending Bathurst home without as much as a Birchgrove kebab.

2-1 it finished, with Balmain coming back in the second half with a couple of lucky goals. The first was a penalty, won well by Bracewell and converted by Hardwick. The second followed midway through the half, with big Lorenzo nodding in.

I tell you though - the boys are bloody lucky to come away with the three sore joints. With half the Bathurst team in nappies, and a dubious first half, the Tigers still have plenty to do to avoid relegation and dismissal from Soccer NSW's State League with next year's restructuring. The tension in the last few minutes had my ticker working overtime. Can't see Bathurst staying up, that's for sure. Though I would love to see them prove me wrong - old Abe loves a good road trip.

No-one really impressed too much in first grade. The defence didn't have too much to do, but shouldn't have even let Bathurst down our end for the freekick and goal. Midfield were sound enough, though as Grill will tell you, if you can hit a 50 yard through-ball backheel to feet every time you should be playing in the Premier League. I think we can all take something from that. And the strikers? Well, they are mostly English, so I doubt whether we can expect much more.

Finally, a big shout out to M.Owen and Chanel No 5 who made their Tigers first grade debuts.

On to the other grade now, and it is with great pleasure that I can bring you the result of the 20s opening match. With hardly a player ever having donned the yellow and black in the past, the squad coming away with a rousing 4-0 victory damn well nearly brought a tear to the eye. Sensational hat-trick from the bloke everyone was calling Sasha - especially considering I hear he's a left-back by trade.

I haven't seen a generation of Tiger cubs this good come through since the golden era of the late 90s. They just need to toughen up and start bloody well talking to each other and come September a round of shandies could be on me. Come and talk to Mr. Stirling and I'll give you some pointers.

Until next match.

Abe

for we only know that there's gonna be a show and the Balmain Tigers will be there!

Our Continental Tyres Cup match against Dandaloo will be played this Wednesday night at Wetherall Park, Nicole Road, Primbee.

Kick off is at 8:15pm, but please allow plenty of travelling time as the ground is south of Wollongong.