Jersey visited the Mayfield Stadium in Croydon for the first of two matches there in a fortnight as they are also due to play A.F.C. Croydon Athletic shortly. Last season Jersey did the double with a last minute winner at Springfield and a 4-2 win here thanks to a Francis Lekimamati hat-trick. Jersey were just ahead, on goal difference, of Balham, being 13^th and 14^th in the table. Both had lost two of their three league matches and Balham had also fallen at the first hurdle in both the F.A. Cup and Vase

It was a much changed Jersey side with six differences to the one that lost at Tadley Calleva on Saturday, largely due to player unavailability. Harry Curtis, Sammy Sutcliffe, Adam Trotter, Fraser Barlow, Jack Boyle and Miguel Carvalho replaced Ben Le Rougetel, Luke Campbell, Kamen Nafkha, Francis Lekimamati, Jake Mulholland and Rai Dos Santos. Lekimamati was on the bench along with Jonny Le Quesne and Seaney McColgan, the latter poised to make his first team debut. With both Campbell and James Queree absent Jay Giles took over the captaincy.

On a mild (16C) evening Balham kicked off, five minutes late, attacking the Cemetery End and they adopted a policy of containment, defending deep and continually playing the ball between their back four. It was not entertaining but it succeeded with only a couple of Jack Boyle attempts which were well wide of the mark to show for the first quarter of the match. On the half hour Nathan Osaji was spoken to for yet another “over zealous” tackle before the ever industrious Boyle missed the target again with an attempted curler to the top left corner.

The deadlock was broken by a Lorne Bickley thunderbolt. Jake Henry, skipper Dan David and Piers Oldland were playing a defensive triangle whilst harried by Boyle. Oldland’s pass back to David was short, Bickley intercepted and advancing a couple of yards to the edge of the box shot in to the roof of the net from a narrowing angle.

The second half continued in similar fashion. David was sin binned but Jersey did not capitalise on the extra man. Soon after his return a Carvalho twenty yarder brought a save out of Haydn Read. With quarter of an hour to go Boyle did the same and from the corner a diving Luke Watson header was cleared off the line.

The card count climbed although somehow Osaji escaped one. Substitute Luke Hedges was also sin binned to reduce Balham to ten again. Another substitute, James Anderson, gave away a free kick when he body checked Trotter and Bickley took the consequent free kick quickly to the unmarked Barlow. Barlow’s touch was heavy but he was fortunate for his shot rebounded up off Read to enable him to head in the bouncing ball from a couple of yards.

Marco Erriu’s protests about the quick free kick gained Balham their third sin bin and when Anderson clattered Watson soon after the restart he was dismissed and Balham were down to eight for the final five added minutes. Seaney McColgan was brought on for Barlow for the last couple of them to make his debut.

Balham 0; Jersey Bulls 2 (Lorne Bickley 42, Fraser Barlow 90+1)

Attendance – 56

Programme – £2, pages T.B.A.

Balham – Haydn Read, Leighton Francis, Jake Henry, Dan David (c), Mark Palmer, Marco Erriu, Omario Stewart, Nathan Osaji (wore 18), Joel Onu, Jack Haire, Piers Oldland
Substitutes – 12. Luke Hedges (for Osaji 78), 14. Ray Moore (for Onu 68), 15. James Anderson (for Francis 82), 16. Tom Read (for Oldland also 68), 23. Jack Gordon (sub GK) (not used)

All Maroon; GK All Green

Ebrahim Seedat (Manager), Dare Jean-Pierre (Coach), Ivan Kile (Assistant Coach), Seneye Morrell (Physio.)

Jersey Bulls – Euan Van der Vliet, Frank Tobin, Jay Giles (c), Harry Curtis (wore 16), Sammy Sutcliffe, Adam Trotter, Fraser Barlow, Luke Watson, Lorne Bickley, Jack Boyle, Miguel Carvalho
Substitutes – 14. Seaney McColgan (for Barlow 90+6), 15. Jonny Le Quesne (for Boyle 78), 18. Francis Lekimamati (for Carvalho 68), only three substitutes

White (Light Blue & Pink trim)/Light Blue/White; GK All Yellow

Gary Freeman (Manager), Dan Seviour (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach)

Formations
Balham (4-4-2 R to L) 1; 2-5-4-3; 18-10-6-11; 7-9
Jersey Bulls (4-1-4-1 R to L) 1; 2-4-16-3; 6; 7-10-8-11; 9

Referee – Brendan Walsh (Morden)

Assistants – Roger Wells (Coulsdon) on the dug-outs side and Oliver Storey (Beckenham) on the grandstand side

Dismissal – Anderson (B) 90+3

Cautions – Giles (JB) 67, Haire (B) 72, Tobin (JB) 81

Sin Bins – David (B) 54, Hedges (B) 89, Erriu (B) 90+2

Corners – Balham (1) 4; Jersey Bulls (1) 3

Player of the Match – Jack Boyle

Added Time – 2.45 & 8.25 (11.10)