BALTI SPORTS 2

SHAFTESBURY TOWN RES 1

BALTI Sports shook off a Covid-19 scare to beat Shaftesbury Town Reserves 2-1 in their Dorset Premier League opener at Weymouth College.

Balti hastily arranged the fixture following a positive coronavirus test amongst the Swanage squad.

Marco Nott’s men were due to visit Corfe Castle but that plan was scrapped after the Purbeck side played Swanage one day prior to the positive result.

With the Swans due to play Shaftesbury, Balti then stepped in at short notice to host the Rockies – making a sublime start.

With less than one minute on the clock, Danny Andrews had put Balti in front.

Exciting talent Matt Burrows showed great vision to unleash the striker with a scything through ball, leaving Andrews to lob the keeper with a spectacular finish.

Balti dominated the first half but their search for a second proved fruitless despite numerous chances.

Jack Drummond missed a good opportunity while Andrews directed a close-range header off target and Stef Stavrianos also shot wide.

Shaftesbury were shocked not to equalise when the Rockies’ forward latched onto a poor backpass to round keeper Andy Nott, only to miss a gaping goal.

Following the let-off, a youthful Balti returned for the second half but conceded a harsh penalty with 65 minutes gone as a firm shot struck the arm of Liam O’Shaughnessy at close quarters.

Aaron Lawes stepped up to whack his spot-kick down the middle to level the scores.

With time ticking, winger Burrows again conjured a goal with a drilled low cross which presented Andrews with a tap-in as Balti took all three points.

Post-match, boss Nott said: “It was a funny game because we got off to a flyer and scored in the first minute.

“We missed so many chances to kill the game – typical Balti. They equalised with the penalty and to our credit we finally took a chance in the 85th minute and got the winner.

“It’s always good to get the winner like that but I’d have liked it to be more straightforward. If we converted our chances we would’ve been three, four-nil up at half-time.”

Balti scrambled to prepare their ground for the clash, with just 24 hours’ notice.

Nott said: “It was Friday at 12, last minute dot com. I got a phonecall saying the game was off because of the Covid thing.

“I haven’t been down (the ground) to mark out social distancing so it got chucked on us. (Nott had) to sort the Covid stuff out and tell our lads it’s changed and ring Redlands as the ressies were playing.

“The opportunity was there to play Shaftesbury, obviously you don’t want to fall behind in games so we took the opportunity and luckily got three points.”

Nott reserved praise for Burrows, who has shone through Balti’s reserve team.

He said: “He was a man-of-the-match contender. In the first half an hour he ran them ragged – we had to change the formation to try and accommodate him. He had them on toast.

“He’s a serious prospect and looks dangerous. He played for our reserves last season and got a hat-trick against Ham Rec in the cup.

“If a player can score a hat-trick against Ham Rec he must be decent. He’s come in for pre-season and done the business.”

Sports visit Westland on Saturday (3pm).

Balti: A Nott, Curran, Anderson, Taylor, O’Shaughnessy, Dovell, Zima, Stavrianos (Lane 65), Burrows, Andrews, Drummond (Grace 85).

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