POOLE BOROUGH 4
BALTI SPORTS 3
BALTI Sports were delivered a hammer blow as they lost 4-3 at Poole Borough – despite leading 3-0 at half-time.
It is the latest dramatic turn in a rollercoaster Jewson Dorset Premier League season for Marco Nott’s men.
Centre-back Matt Brisco scored his maiden Balti goal since signing dual forms with Chickerell United, diving low to head home Liam Taylor’s free-kick.
Balti went 2-0 up when Matt Chambers stormed down the right and put his cross on a plate for Danny Andrews to control and rifle into the far corner.
Josh Grace hit the bar with a fierce long-range effort but right on half-time Andrews capitalised on defensive hesitation to slot past Sean Rourke in the Hornets’ goal for 3-0.
READ MORE: Shaftesbury Town Reserves 3-1 Balti Sports - match report
With Balti three goals up and cruising, a mixture of complacency and a sharp improvement from Borough began to turn the match on its head in the second half.
Callum Neate began the fightback by plundering a missile into the top corner past Andy Nott in the 47th minute.
Adam Batchelor missed an open goal from two yards for Balti and, spurred on by the momentum flexing in their favour, Hornets made it 3-2 when Jaime Martinez and Frankie White combined to set up Jack Fendley for a close-range header.
Borough’s third came with six minutes to go, Balti keeper Andy Nott parrying a Carl Preston free-kick only as far as Neate who tapped into an unguarded net.
Andrews missed a great chance for his hat-trick late on as Rourke denied him but the final, and most dramatic, blow was landed in stoppage-time when Sam Lench seized upon Che Curran’s weak headed backpass to beat Nott and send the Hornets’ bench into ecstasy.
Speaking to Echosport, Balti boss Marco Nott said: “We were so good first half, we really did play well. I don’t think they had a proper chance.
“I thought at 3-0 it was dead and buried but we came out so casual. It went from bad to worse. We conceded a stupid goal and it got their tails up.
“As bad as we were second half, to be fair to them they looked like a completely different team. God knows what they must’ve said in the changing rooms.
“Their striker, we couldn’t live with him. He ran our defence pretty ragged at times.
“They just kept getting a goal every minutes, it was crazy.”
Balti: A Nott, Curran, Brisco, Anderson, Riley, Taylor, Grace, Beals (Batchelor 60), Chambers, Andrews, R Zima (Rawlings 60). Subs not used: Goodwin, M Nott.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here