The French connection fires makeshift Tadders to Balham triumph

Tadley Calleva put the disappointment of last weekend’s thumping defeat at Farnham behind them as goals from Argjend Ahmetaj and Jack French fired them to a 2-0 win over Balham in south London.

Injuries forced manager Joe Lawler to make changes at the heart of the Tadders defence. The returning Alfie Saunders, who is back for a second spell at Barlow’s Park, partnered Scott Kinge in a makeshift centre-back pairing.

The diminutive Saunders, traditionally a full-back, played on the wing for Dorchester Town against Hungerford in the Southern Premier League last month, and has had a staggering 11 different clubs since departing National League Aldershot in November 2021. Club legend Kinge, meanwhile, was filling in despite having announced his retirement over the summer. However, the duo were imperious at the back and provided solid foundations from which the visitors could build.

Tadley started brightly and went ahead after just a couple of minutes. Sheldon Wright, who had already caused problems with his direct running, broke down the right and pulled the ball back for Argjend Ahmetaj and the silky midfielder curled a right-footed finish from the edge of the box into the top corner to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

In a frenetic start to the game, Balham had strong appeals for a penalty controversially waved away moments after conceding. James Adebayo stole in after the visitors dallied in possession and collided with Saunders as both men attempted to be first to the resulting loose ball. With attacker and defender tumbling to the floor, Balham were convinced the referee was about to point to the spot and the visitors were perhaps a little fortunate that he did not.

Tadley went close to doubling their lead before the break on a couple of occasions, with Connor Thorne thwarted by a fantastic save and Alex Fragata denied by a goalline clearance as Balham kept the deficit down to one.

Although the hosts controlled possession after the restart, Tadley continued to look the more dangerous and extended their advantage with two minutes of normal time remaining when the impressive Jack French both started and finished a slick counter-attack, making it 2-0 from close range after excellent work from substitute Enow Ojong.