BALTI SPORTS 1

PORTLAND UNITED RES 1

BALTI Sports collected a creditable 1-1 draw with a strengthened Portland United Reserves in their Dorset Premier League clash at Weymouth College.

Sports remain unbeaten after six games and occupy third position behind reigning champions Hamworthy Recreation.

Balti were almost handed an exceptional start as Sean Zima raced through on goal in the second minute, only to fire straight at Blues’ goalkeeper Ash Green.

Zima’s miss set the tone for a second consecutive lacklustre first half for Balti as Portland grew into the game.

United’s momentum was seized upon as Bailey Rowe’s powerful shot proved too strong for home goalkeeper Andy Nott who was unable to keep his effort out despite getting a paw to it.

Portland took the 1-0 lead into half-time where Balti were given a strong talking to by assistant-manager Chris Hicks.

Balti duly applied themselves in a second half in which they dominated possession and territory.

Their resurgence led to a deserved leveller when former Portland striker Sanchez Baker chested the ball down and lashed a shot past Green.

Ethan Devaney saw a shot tipped over by Green late on as Balti settled for a draw.

Speaking to Echosport, Balti boss Marco Nott said: “It’s frustrating, we were so poor in the first half – I don’t think we made a tackle.

“Second half was chalk and cheese – we were brilliant. We set the tempo and were all over them. We got the goal, just couldn’t get the winner at the end.”

Balti: A Nott, Curran, Burton, Anderson, Gay, Zima (Andrews 65), McClements, Nichols, Devaney, Lane (Drummond 85), Baker. Subs not used: R Walker, S Walker, Stavrianos