Balmain Wanderers

Luke Skinner – 7
Trev Bale – 7
Ryan Ostle – 6
Fergal Donlon – 6 (gone but not forgotten)
Kieran Buckley – 6

It was a big weekend of games for the club with the first of 3 games of a 7 game stretch in 8 days for both teams. The club was away to Dobroyd Gunners on Saturday and then the Reserves travelled out to Bark Hutts to do battle with Prestons in the second round of the Amateur Cup on Sunday.

Saturday was shaping to be a wonderful day of football, the sun was shining, it was warm then we got to the ground and saw the pitch…. Undoubtedly there have been bumpier moguls courses at the Winter Olympics, which didnt lend itself so nicely the slick passing game of the Wanderers.

The Reserves got first look into the minefield of a pitch and despite some akwardness early on managed to grab a goal through Dean Davis to head into the half 1-0. The second half continued much the same as the first, the weight of possession much in the Wanderers favour but conditions were not allowing us to take control of the game. Then Kieran was pulled down in the box and despite his best efforts to take the penalty Mickey G grabbed the ball and calmly slotted home the shot just inside the right upright. Not bad for an Englishman, the crowd was heard to whisper…. So the Reserves got back to their winning ways with a much needed 2 points.

The Firsts game was looking like it maybe heading down the same path, with the pitch playing the commanding role, till a few extraordinary passages of play lead to an unexpected 4-0 half time lead for the Wanderers. A confusion with the rules lead to the Gunners keeper double handling the ball, and Trev roofed a scramble in the box following the free kick. Then Ryan smoothly slotted home a near post flick from Adum’s corner, followed by what can only be described as an own goal from the keeper with an assist from the pitch. Somehow the ball managed to stay low from a freekick, deceiving the keeper who decided to jump up. The last goal was a YouTube special though, with Ryan lurking on the edge of the box, where the keeper obligingly knocked his goal kick straight to him and he headed home on the farpost. The second half was a much quieter affair with Trev bagging two more to complete his hattrick….

Sunday saw the Reserves travel out to the luxuriously flat and well grassed Bark Hutts to try and stay alive in the Cup against Prestons. Previous meetings had resulted in emphatic Wanderers wins, but this Prestons team was barely recognisable from those games. They came out full of running from not having played the previous day and were out to attack at every opportunity. The first goal game from a wildly offside position, but was calmy taken chipping the keeper from 30 yards. However Wanderers were soon back in the game thanks to another Gunn branded penalty (if you guessed he shot just inside the right post you’d be correct….). The first half ended at 1-1. The second half started poorly with another Prestons goal, although this time it was immediately answered from the rarest of things, a Dave G strike! It stayed at 2-2 for a while before Prestons scored a strong goal from the inside the box, and despite desperate play from the Wanderers that is where is stayed…

These are the remaining fixture for the season including all catch up games.
Obviously further rain will affect this.

Saturday 5th July
Wanderers v Leichhardt Tigers Easton Park, Rozelle
Sunday 6th
Ecuador v Wanderers Bark Huts,Belfield
Saturday 12th
Leichhardt Tigers v Wanderers Cooke Park, Sth Stathfield
Saturday 19th
Wanderers v Dobroyd Gunners Bark Huts, Belfield
Saturday 26th
Reserve grade 6 a side 12 -5 pm Bark Huts,Belfield
First Grade Bye
Saturday 2nd August
Thirsties v Wanderers Bark Huts,Belfield
Saturday 9th
Wanderers v Bahktar Glory Easton Park
Saturday 16th
Wanderers v Prestons Easton Pk
Saturday 23rd
First Grade 6 a side
Sunday 24th
Wanderers v Jaguars TBA

Finals 30th August – 23rd September

That’s been a slight change to the fixtures over the next couple of weeks.

27th June – Dobroyd Gunners, 1pm & 3pm at Algie Park, Haberfield
28th June – Prestons (Reserve Grade) Cup match, 11am KO but get there for 10.15am

5th July – Leichhardt Tigers at the home of football (Easton Park) 1pm & 3pm
6th July – Ecuador at Bark Huts 1pm & 3pm (keep MG away from the cards!!)

If you can’t make any of these let Ian or Mickey know.

See you all at training on Thursday.

The Wanderers hosted the Leichhardt Saints in an all Inner West derby at a sun-drenched Easton Park. The Reserves had had the measure of the Saints in their previous two meetings this season, unfortunately the Firsts were yet to record a win against their opposition.

The Reserves game was a tight tussle with neither side giving an inch. The Saints had a few strong chances on goal in the first half, with one shot cannoning of the crossbar but bouncing away. Justice really for a missed, blatant handball not 2 seconds earlier. The second half was much like the first, neither side giving away much although the momentum seemed to be with the Wanderers but the game ended up at 0-0. One for the fans of a tight defensive game….

The Firsts game started with a sendoff of a Saints player only hotted up from there. Ryan was brought down in front of goal and the referee had little choice but to send off the offender. The Wanderers took a 2-0 lead in the half on the back of two markers from Ryan and some vintage scything tackles from Adam. The second half started poorly after Trev dragged down a Saints player in the box and the penalty was put away breaking keeper Brandon’s streak of 4 clean sheets. Man of the Match Adam then scored one back after a scramble in the box saw him roof one to send it to 3-1. A header from the Saints brought it back to 3-2 but thats where it stayed in a strong win against a quality opposition. A nice turnaround from the previous two meetings this year.

Well the group round of Euro 2008 is over and if you are a french, czech or greek supporter then things are not looking rosy. For the rest of us there is the tipping comp, please find the leaderboard as it stands prior to the quarter finals. Despite appearances the Kenny family entries are legit

Susanna Sharpe – 24
Marvin Kenny – 24
Mark Kenny – 24
Gavin Harmon – 20
George Srdic – 20
Jarrod Kenny – 20
Dave Richardson – 20
Julian O’Brien – 18
Stacey Wilson – 18
David Doyle – 18
Tony Boutoubia – 18

Well done to all these people and stay tuned for further updates once the remaining games are played.

After another frustrating week off the park, and another called off game on Saturday (are we doomed never to play Leichhardt Tigers?) Wanderers travelled out to Stanwell Park in Ashcroft to do battle with the Jaguars.

On a windswept pitch the reserves went 1-0 up thanks to some marvellous footwork from Mickey Gunn, impersonating a pylon on the farpost before calming slotting away a goal. A few key injuries to Wanderers players upset our rhythm in the second half and the Jaguars equalised and then went ahead after a scrap in the goal mouth. Despite Man of the Match efforts from JP it was all to no avail and we fell to our second loss of the season 1-2. A highlight of the match however was the brief but drama packed cameo from comeback kid Craig ‘Hools’ Hooley, who came on in the first half to almost immediately handball in our box (not called….) and then proceeded to reinjure his gammy knee for potential season end not 9 minutes after he came on.

Firsts came away from the trip with the full three points however thanks to a 2-0 over a tiring Jaguars side that had more than a few players backing up. The game was not without its drama either, with Luke missing a penalty kick at 0-0 before goals from Al and Ryan made sure of the result. Ian playing for the first time with the club at centre back took the Man of the Match honours.

Wanderers travelled out west to Blamfield Park, Ashcroft on Sunday to take on Prestons and as with the previous week both sides came away with a win. What was more impressive was a total of 12 goals were scored with none conceded.

The reserves had a 5-0 win in a game they controlled from start to finish. Fergal Donlon got the first goal in the opening stages which was followed by strikes from Phil Osman and Matt Friend to give them a 3-0 cushion at half time. Trev Bale, although struggling to keep up with the reserve grade standard got two in the second half to give the Wanderers a convincing win. Dean Davis was man of the match. Read full match report here

In First Grade the flood of goals continued with Wanderers coming away win a 7-0 win. Luke Skinner continued his scoring form with an opportunistic goal early on. Andy Corlett grabbed a second with a well taken strike. Despite going a man down in the second half the result was never in doubt with goals coming from Luke, Al, Ryan and Eddie. Man of the match was Dave Patterson but the highlight of the day was a diving header goal from club mascot Matt Cochinos.