Sheerwater rounded off their season with a disappointing result away to Balham FC who play their home games at the home of Tooting & Mitcham.

However, it was a tense afternoon for the hosts who had to win the game and hope either Chipstead or Sandhurst Town lost. Their part was done with four goals in the first half against a lacklustre Sheerwater. It was understandable with the visitors having to wait a month to play this game following their win against Tooting & Mitcham on 22nd March.

As expected Balham came out flying and got the ball forward quickly putting Sheerwater under severe pressure. Two early chances went begging with the target missed. It only took ten minutes to open the scoring with Anderson making the most of an error from Sheerwater keeper, Fabio Suarez who cleared but it went straight to Anderson who drove into the penalty area and found the bottom corner. The pressure continued and a rare lapse from Liam Avery on twenty-eight minutes saw his pass out go straight to Banks and his pass put Adeybayo through and his finish was top quality giving Suarez no chance. Five minutes later Adebayo made it three and doubled his tally. A low driven cross from the right saw Adebayo slide in and score in off the bar. In the process both he and Suarez got injured and both received lengthy treatment before carrying on.

Sheerwater found a bit of rhythm by this time and put a couple of moves together and from a free-kick Theo White forced James Smith in to a tip over save. Harvey Valter did well inside the box but was forced wide and his goal-bound effort was blocked by Jake Henry. Balham got back on top and on thirty-nine minutes Adebayo completed his hat-trick. Matt Bryant tripped Hedges inside the area and from the resultant penalty, Adebayo found the top corner.

The second half saw Balham on top but Sheerwater were more competitive and tightened up at the back restricting the hosts to only a couple of decent chances. Suarez made a fine save down at his near post. Bryant blocked a low effort and Avery was dominant in the air. At the other end Sheerwater had some joy winning a few corners but Balham defended well. Valter worked hard but was lacking support at vital times. White jinked inside and got a shot off but it didn’t trouble Smith.

It finished 4-0 and then Balham had an agonising wait as Sandhurst were still playing at Jersey Bulls. Eventually the final whistle sounded and Jersey won 1-0. With Chipstead winning at Abbey Rangers the celebrations began with Balham surviving at the expense of Sandhurst Town.

All in all it has been a pleasing season for Sheerwater with a comfortable mid-table finish and every reason to be optimistic going in to next season.