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Balmain completed the season on Sunday with a 1-1 draw against Hurstville. The result secured 9th place for the Tigers in their first year in NSW State League Division One. The Under 20s finished their season with a 2-1 victory, ensuring the side finished sixth - agonisingly one place out of the playoffs.

Schofields once again proved too strong for Balmain on Saturday at Lambert Park. First Grade went down 2-0 with two goals falling just before half-time, while Under 20s' small squad struggled to a 6-0 loss. Last match of the season is next Saturday against Hurstville who will be looking for a win to ensure they avoid the wooden spoon.

Three fixtures each for First Grade and Under 20s over the past week against Hills Brumbies, Schofields and UNSW brought mixed results. Firsts secured their Division 1 survival with a 2-0 win over Hills, but a 4-0 loss to Schofields and then a 1-0 defeat to rivals UNSW brought the Tigers back to earth.

The Under 20s are still in with a chance of a finals berth, but it looks a long shot. They still edged Hills and UNSW 1-0, yet sandwiched between those games was a 2-1 defeat at Schofields that gave them a mountain to climb in the race for finals football. They sit five points off fifth place, and need to win their final two matches and hope Inter lose twice if they want to sneak into the playoffs.

Balmain accrued two more losses on Saturday. Under 20s gave up a 1-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining to lose 2-1 to 10-man Inter Lions. First Grade went down 3-2, giving up three extremely soft goals in another defeat.

Under 20s started the match with three goalkeepers named in the starting eleven. With Justin Delany in goals, Hiro Fujiwara at right fullback and Jeremy Martin in midfield, it was no surprise the match went 80 minutes before a goal was scored. It was Balmain who broke the drought, giving the Tigers what at that time appeared match-winning lead.

Yet Inter, who earlier had a man sent off, rallied and pulled off an improbable comeback. Two hopefuly forays into the Balmain area resulted in two goalmouth scrambles ending in goals. The match finished 2-1, setting Ivan's side a mountain to climb if a playoff position is to be achieved.

First Grade got off to a dismal start, with a harmless Inter cross bobbling into the net off a Balmain defender to put the Lions up 1-0. A superb cross from Craig Andrews and a strong leap from Jake Flower secured Balmain a headed equaliser, but Inter had time to punish Balmain with a direct breakaway before half-time, making the score 2-1.

The second half started even more poorly for the Tigers, with a mixup in defensive coverage allowing a Lions player to stroll into the area unchallenged and finish with ease.

A nice cross from Dane Maberley was bundled home by Lorenzo Merlino with help from Jake Flower to make it 3-2. With 20 minutes to go, the match was set for a grandstand finish. Yet a disallowed goal and a stunning save by the Lions' keeper off a Maberley volley was as close as Balmain could come, as the Tigers fell to their seventh loss of the season.

Next week it's the crunch match against bottom-placed Hills. Can Balmain shake their home hoodoo? First Grade are still winless at Lambert Park.

More frustration was endured for the Tigers over the last week as they went down 1-0 to Stanmore on Saturday night, then produced a stunning comeback to lead Fairfield 3-2 with 5 minutes to go only to concede an equaliser at the death for a 3-3 draw at Lambert Park last night.

The story of Saturday's match at Arlington Oval was like summing up the season so far in 90 minutes. It was a scrappy game with chances at a premium, and Balmain failed to convert the three best opportunities of the match. Stanmore created nothing of note until a deflected shot from the corner of the box looped into the top corner with 15 minutes to play.

The under 20s also endured a forgettable night, being outplayed and overpowered, and going down 3-0 in the end.

That brings us to Wednesday night at Lambert park. The under 20s bounced back from defeat to Stanmore with a 1-0 win over Fairfield. Denny Noor bagged the winner shortly before full time, smacking the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area. With a game in hand and 5th place Inter Lions visiting Lambert Park on Saturday, the finals are still not out of the question for the 20s.

The first grade game against Fairfield was played at a frantic pace from the outset. The ball pinged end to end with both sides eager to attack at every opportunity. Two fantastic early saves from Dan Conway kept the Tigers in the match, first palming the ball onto the crossbar then another onto the post to deny Farifield. Late in the half Fairfield jagged a goal when a mis-hit shot rolled across the six yard box and the unlucky Tom Sowden deflected it past the stranded Conway for an own goal. Worse came within minutes though, as some slack defending allowed Fairfield to play a couple of one-twos around the edge of the area, leaving an unmarked striker with a simple finish from six yards.

What a different story the second half was. The Tigers threw everything at Fairfield from the whistle and had shortly pulled a goal back via a smart finish by Craig Andrews from the edge of the area. The equaliser was provided by Jake Flower who smashed his shot into the roof of the net through a crowd in the penalty area. With the game still flowing from end to end it looked like either side could snatch the points. And with 5 to go, Andrews hit another from outside the box and big Lozza Merlino popped up to deflect it in off his thigh. That wasn't the end though. With Eamonn Byrne off the field concussed after being elbowed in the head off the ball, Fairfield took advantage and scored an equaliser to leave the Tigers once again spitting chips.

Balmain endured a disappointing evening at Lambert Park on Saturday against Mounties. Both grades had a chance to put pressure on teams above them as the playoff race hots up, but both failed to produce. Under 20s went down 5-0, while Firsts crashed 2-1.

Conceding two first half penalties in the Under 20s set the tone for the evening. The side came out in the second half intending to snatch something from the game, though their attacking mindset was punished as the opposition clinically counter attacked. After a good mid-season run put them in a position to challenge for the top five, the Mounties defeat has left the Under 20s with a mountain to climb for their playoff ambition.

First Grade was hungry to bridge the gap on the ladder between the side and the fifth-placed Mounties. A disappointing first period display saw them go down midway through the half. The Mounties striker controlled a difficult ball to bounce his way through a nervous Tigers’ backline before finishing smartly high into the net from a tight angle.

Despite the anxious first half display, the Tigers had their own opportunities. With his back to goal, Dane Maberley drew two defenders then played in Lorenzo Merlino who could only hit the post with the goal at his mercy. Yet Merlino made amends soon after by controlling the ball in the area, turning his marker and sliding a left footed shot past the keeper.

Still, the Tigers were punished by their lack of intensity. Not long before half-time, a back peddling Tiger defence allowed the Mounties forward a free shooting chance from 20 metres. He made no mistake, rifling a shot into the roof of the net.
Balmain came out a different side in the second half. Though they enjoyed a larger share of possession and territory, Balmain could not find the equaliser. The match would have been put beyond them had Dan Conway not pushed a feverish drive from a Mounties midfielder onto the post midway through the half.

More action was to be found at the other end of the pitch. With the goal at his mercy, Jackson Gothe-Snape couldn’t bring down a volley after a half-cleared free-kick. Lorenzo Merlino couldn’t beat the keeper one on one. A corner was cleared off the line amid claims for handball. Then Jeremy Pettenon fired a glistening strike towards the top left corner, only to see the keeper dive full length to his right to divert the ball away. The Tigers were to fall agonisingly short.

Wednesday night's postponed fixture against Schofields unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a farce. One of the light towers failed during the U20s game, forcing the game to be abandoned with Schofields leading 1-0 during the first half. An electrician was called to perform maintenance and the tower was fixed and the referees decided that the first grade game could go ahead as scheduled.

Sadly with Balmain leading 1-0 and the opposition down to 10 men after a brutal off the ball incident, half the lights on every tower went out during the half time interval. Football NSW has decided that both games must be replayed in full at a date to be announced.

So we look forward to Saturday night's home clash against Mounties FC, hoping that the Lambert Park lights stay on! Both grades will be looking to continue their good recent form and kick-start a run into finals contention.

Balmain enjoyed its proudest day of the season on Saturday night. Away to top of the table Dulwich Hill, First Grade triumphed 2-1 with a late winner to Lorenzo Merlino. Dane Maberly scored the other goal early in the first half. Earlier, the Under 20s secured victory with a 1-0 win via a Dave Hardwick strike, and now sit just one place out of the finals.

The full Football NSW match report is now online, and once again John Sowden has come up with the photographic goods from the sideline.

A double blow on the weekend came out at Blacktown, with Under 20s losing 2-1 and First Grade falling 2-0.

Despite enjoying a good share of the play, the Under 20s fell to a late goal to go down 2-1 for their first loss since early May. Steve Byrne's goal in the Under 20s was a rare high point for the evening. In fact at 1-1 with just minutes to go it looked as if the Tigers might snatch all three points. Sadly the Spartans struck to bring the formerly-buoyant Tigers back to earth. Daniel Pace saw red at the very end of the match for two yellow cards.

In First Grade, a new-look side playing a new-look formation fell frustratingly to two early goals. Two long balls caused disorganisation at the back leading to two goals, as the Tigers found themselves chasing the game after 15 minutes. It was a frustrating start for goalkeeper Dan Conway, making his league debut.

Nonetheless, the Tigers worked hard for the remainder of the match, but could not find an opening back into the game. The early goals also made it difficult to tell if the new shape could solve the Tigers' goal-scoring crisis.

The Tigers' goal in the 4-1 loss to Stanmore earlier in the season is the only goal the side has scored against teams in the top half of the table. With five out of the next six matches coming against those top six teams, the Tigers must find an answer to this goal drought or risk falling even further on the table.

Though First Grade lost to Sydney Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday night Under 20s continued their excellent form with a 3-0 victory, highlighted by a hat-trick to Dane 'D-Train' Maberly.

Under 20s sit just two points out of the playoffs after another sterling victory. Two first-half goals set the tone for the match, and the Tigers didn't let up. Another second half strike from D-Train earned him a sensational hat-trick.

In First Grade, a textbook header from Lozza Merlino following a pin-point cross from Tom Sowden gave Balmain the best possible start. Yet the lead was short lived, as the Tigers conceded a soft goal.

The Wanderers pushed on and Balmain struggled to find rhythm. Midway through the second half the Tigers started to find space and time, but just as it looked like the game was swinging their way another soft goal was conceded, knocking the stuffing out of the home side.

Balmain couldn't find an answer, and the match ended in a bitterly disappointing loss.