09.09.23 KO 3.00pm. Cranford Avenue, Weymouth.
A hard fought game saw both sides share a point on a tropical afternoon in Weymouth.
The visitors from Bournemouth started brightly enjoying the majority of possession and took the lead in the 11th minute when striker Madison Wilkin raced onto an excellent pass from Sports playmaker Gabriel Spennato to finish superbly in the top corner.
Following a short water break which seemed to affect the visitors who lost momentum and after the restart indeed found themselves pegged back on level terms when Balti equalised within 2 minutes. Moreover Balti went ahead soon afterwards with a header from a free kick which was ruled out by the referee. HT 1-1
Into the second half and the visitors went ahead in the 47th minute again through that man Wilkin. Following some excellent build up play featuring Matt Game and Gabriel Spennato who’s excellent pass split the Balti defence apart for the pacey Matt Ellis to race onto the ball and square it inside the box for Madison Wilkin to finish off.
Balti,to their credit, kept coming back and had to wait for there equaliser on 75 minutes as Sports failed to clear a corner the ball was crossed back into the box for the tall central defender to head back across goal for a player to finish off from close range.
As the game entered the latter stages it was the visitors from Bournemouth who finished stronger with a series of attacks coming down their right hand side with substitute Will Tuffill looking lively. Indeed Sports almost won it at the death when substitute Jai Crowther turned superbly inside the box and saw his shot cannon off the post and out for a goal kick.
A draw on reflection was a fair result for both sides who had participated in a highly entertaining game.
Sports – Monty Eldridge, Jake Perch, Chris Houlihan, Cameron Shaw, Jack Hepburn, Gabriel Spennato, Jamie Trimble, Matt Gane, Matt Ellis, James Bergin, Madison Wilkin
Subs – Tony Voisey for Madison Wilkin 60 mins, Jai Crowther for Matt Ellis 70 mins, Will Tuffill for Jake Perch 82 minutes
