SWANAGE T&H 3

BALTI SPORTS 5

BALTI Sports cruised to a 5-3 victory over Swanage Town and Herston in a Dorset Premier League goal-fest at Days Park.

Despite going behind early on, Balti put the hammer down and streaked into a 5-1 lead before a late Paul Best double salvaged some positives for the sorry Swans.

Danny Andrews and Josh Houghton squandered three gilt-edged chances before the hosts won a clear penalty, despite claims for a foul against Swans in the build-up, when Scott Walker committed a foul allowing Joe Clarke to score in the sixth minute.

Andrews equalised after stepping inside and slamming home a rapid left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

Balti profited from a fortuitous ricochet just before half-time when Ryan Dovell’s close-range shot was saved by Swans’ keeper James Langdon, only for Sammy Nichols to inadvertently knee a rebound into the net.

Both sides saw a man sin-binned – Balti’s culprit being Charlie Kenderdine – before Andrews claimed the visitors’ third goal from the spot.

In truth, the awarding of a penalty was soft with a Swanage defender appearing to win the ball but Andrews nevertheless stepped up to send Langdon the wrong way.

Andrews wrapped up a fabulous hat-trick when Sean Zima burst through the Swanage back line and unselfishly squared for the striker to complete his treble.

Balti were in clinical mood and youngster Jack Drummond then netted his second goal in two games by shifting the ball out of his feet and finding the top corner from 12 yards.

Balti eased off the gas in the closing stages as Best headed home for 5-2 before goalkeeper Andy Nott scored a bizarre own goal, punching an attempted clearance into his own net.

To round off a poor day for the Swans, they were reduced to 10 men late on for alleged dissent.

Speaking to Echosport, Balti boss Marco Nott hailed a “comfortable” win for his fourth-placed side.

He said: “It was quite comfortable in the end, we were 5-1 up with 20 minutes to go and they scored two goals with 10 minutes to go.

“It was a slightly nervous finish but we were pretty much in control. It was a good game but I think the referee had a couple of poor decisions.

“I was really happy because we were short on players. Luckily our reserves got called off so we called up a few reserves.

“Going down to Swanage with nowhere near our strongest side I thought we could be in a bit of trouble but we applied ourselves really well and did a professional job.”

Balti: A Nott, R Walker (Hickman 70), S Walker, Harding (Drummond 55), L Taylor, Zima, Nichols (O’Shaughnessy 70), Kenderdine, Dovell, Houghton, Andrews.

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