SWANAGE TOWN & HERSTON 3

BALTI SPORTS 0

BALTI Sports were sent to a 3-0 defeat at Swanage Town & Herston in the Dorset Premier League despite being boosted by the short-term signing of striker Bailey Rowe.

Rowe has joined Balti to keep match fit following his exit from Portland United, who play two tiers higher in the Wessex League.

The British Virgin Islands international made his debut for Balti at Days Park but the forward went away empty-handed.

Rowe did have a chance to break the deadlock in a tightly-contested first half, but his lack of match sharpness betrayed him when he missed the target from a good position.

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At the other end, Sports’ goalkeeper Harrison Wallis was forced into action to prevent Dan Reeks from putting Swans 1-0 up.

After putting in all the hard yards in the first half, Balti came unstuck in the second as they failed to recover from a sloppy start.

Swanage put the game to bed when Ogun Gundoghu nodded home Jack Hughes’ free-kick and the latter then added a goal to his day’s work, bending an unstoppable shot into the top corner past Wallis.

Charlie Brassington made sure all three points went to the Purbeck side when he pounced on a defensive error for 3-0.

Speaking to Echosport, Balti boss Marco Nott said: “It was a tough game and we were hampered by a serious amount of unavailabilities, we had about 15 missing.

“Albeit, we got there and they’re much improved from last year. It was a hard-fought battle.

“The game plan was perfect in the first half. We played a little more direct and were brilliant.

“Second half, I don’t know if it was naivety or complacency but within 15 minutes we found ourselves 3-0 with some stupid errors. From then it was game over and damage limitation.

“So much hard work went into the first half. To then throw it away in the second half was extremely disappointing.”

On Rowe’s arrival, Nott said: “We had a chat with Bailey, he’s not playing any football and he’s a naturally talented young lad.

“It’s win-win for both parties. We’ve needed a striker and he needs minutes to get match fit to sign for a club higher up.

“We’re really happy to have him but it’s going to be short-term. He’s training with teams in a higher league. That’s part of the deal.

“Like any young player, you need minutes. It will do him good and to have his quality it will do us good.

“We’ve got him until he finds a club he wants to be at. Whether that’s Balti I’m not sure. We’re taking it game by game.”

Balti: Wallis, Allison, Butcher, Hawker, Rupp, McClements, Biles, Chambers, Batchelor, Summers, Rowe.