October 6th - Old Stationers (AFA Cup) (Away) 13th - Alleyn Old Boys (League) (Home) 20th - Norseman (League) (Away) 27th - Bank of England (League) (Away)
November 3rd - Continetal Star (Surrey Intermediate Cup) (Home) 10th - South Bank Cuaco (AFA Surrey/Kent Intermediate Cup) (Away) (K/O 14.00) 17th - Weirside Rangers (League) (Away) 24th - Old Salesians (League) (Away)
December 1st - Old Latymerians (League) (Home) 8th - Crouch End Vampires (League) (Away)
January 5th - Old Finchleians (League) (Home) 12th - BB Eagles (League) (Away) (Postponed) 19th - Polytechnic (League) (Home) 26th - Alleyn Old Boys (League) (Away)
February 9th - Old Latymerians (League) (Away) 16th - Crouch End Vampires (League) (Home) 23rd - Norseman (League) (Home)
March 1st - BB Eagles (League) (Away) 8th - Old Salesians (League) (Home) 15th - Bank of England (League) (Home) 29th - Crouch End Vampires (League) (Away)
April 5th - Old Finchleians (League) (Away) 12th - Weirside Rangers (League) (Home) 15th - Polytechnic (League) (Home) (K/O 18.00)
Results for Season 2007 - 2008
29th March Merton 4 - 3 Crouch End Vampires Scorers: Carpenter, Woods 2, Lilley Report:The Squirrels scurry up north and bring the back the nuts… I sadly can’t write too much about the pre-match build up as I was in Kieran’s car singing along to his TomTom… which is a great invention but it definitely took us on a very scenic tour 20 to 3 we got there in nearly 2 hours… anyway as we drove past the huge cemetery adjacent to the ground it dawned on me that people must be dying to come to visit the very hospitable CEV’s… It was an important game for the two’s with our position far from secured in the division… There was a gale blowing, the obligatory rain it was like Transylvania in a hurricane… the pitch was a mud bath and the best bit was the showers were ice cold… vampires are bit funny about their water apparently… A slightly makeshift team set up kicking with the wind, we didn’t capitalize enough on our early opportunities that we created with their keeper making some important stops … CEV took the lead through a neat bit of play on the edge of the box which I got my hand to but it had enough power to take it in… I think I should have saved it. We equalized… Woody laid the ball through the middle to Luke who won the battle of the giants and calmly slotted home… half time was announced by the man put in charge of the Count! And we went in all square… the second half started with the Vampires on top and Kieran managed to make it two OGs in a row… this one wasn’t a top corner finish like his last but was just as efficient with a nonchalant bum flick into the opposite corner of the goal… leaving me stranded… they stretched the lead with a well worked move which resulted in a very neat finish with 20 mins to go… I was concerned it could get messy… but we kept going… My MOM Kieron Tiddy who played out of position at centre half and was guided by Lofty who’s speed (of thought) helped Kieron mark his man out of the game like he was his Grim Reaper… Woody, Mustard, Hailstone, Will and Glenn ran and ran and got their reward when Hailstone got inside there full back and pulled it back for Woody who finished well. We then were awarded a penalty after a rash tackle… Woody stepped up and stroked it home… giving their sprawling keeper a tempting touch on its way. With second on the clock… Glenn like a flash of lightning was too quick for their keeper and was up ended and we had the chance to take all the glory back home… Glenn this time stepped up and emphatically finished… it was like a stake through the vampire’s heart’s we had robbed them we all knew it… ( nb mr ackers and gash to be honest I don’t think I would of even got near that one) we won… they looked like lost souls at the final whistle… and trudged back to the changing room without to much hand shaking like zombies… I as ever I was keen to get on the road that place is spooky… was their casserole served from a cauldron?
15th March Merton 2 - 2 Bank of England (League) (Home) Scorers: Hailstone, Jones Report:
8th March Merton 0 - 1 Old Salesians Report:
1st March Merton 1 - 2 BB Eagles (league) (Away) Scorer: Martinez Report:
23rd February Merton 2 - 3 Norseman (League) (Home) Scorers: Cook 2 Report:
16th February Merton 2 - 1 Crounch End Vampires (League) (Home) Scorers: Hurl, Pearce Report: I’ve heard it said a referee you barely notice has had a good game; our referee has got first two paragraphs of my match report. In the upper reaches of football the refereeing team consists of a 4 man team who work together to minimise inconsistency and they even allow decisions to be looked at after the game in certain circumstances. Sadly in the SAL our referees are made to do the jobs of those 4 men on their own which can be very difficult times and have to use common sense and discretion. The referee has potential to be a good referee and his decision for our first goal to allow play to carry on for a returning non active player was spot on, but sadly at our level playing to the letter of the law based on just one person’s view can breed both inconsistency and frustration. The first goal came mid way through the half Dan Hurl finished well chipping the keeper from close range and our celebrations were muted as we came to terms with the goal being given. We battled through the rest of the half Gash riding a very heavy tackle and Paul Ansell getting scratched all over his torso by their big butch and obviously well manicured centre forward… weird. Barry NOTW went off with sore shins. We extended the lead in the second half Pearcey rising at the back post to head home a well flighted in swinging corner from Dan Hurl “I could score every week from there with that delivery”. They scored to make the closing stages a tense affair… in my final hour or should that be my final howler before handing over the gloves whilst on holiday their keepers long punt went over the top of the defence and I was left one on one with there player… I hesitated and made it too easy for him to dance round me… come or do something Wellsey!!! I was gutted, I felt I let the back four down; East, Pearce, Ansell and Gash played very well and I should have had my first clean sheet. We held on Shaun and Lofty kept us organised, Glenn, Mustard and Martinez worked tirelessly harassing their back four. Zoo was dismissed for a second book able for charging a free kick the ref claimed he went before the ball was kicked. Pearcey then got sent off straight red for a clumsy tackle not high and in the left back area outside the box with plenty of cover in the middle; this after Paul Ansell was grounded by what seemed like an elbow to the face. We won our fourth game on the spin undefeated in 5 a good habit… and I can’t tell you how big next weeks game against Norseman is 8 games left 2nd place is more than do-able, Paul put some dettol on those scratches you never know what those vampires have under there nails. The internal handbags towards the end were disappointing, but I the fact is I’ve gone for a 'who?' to Captain in 4 games… NOTW didn’t even know my name till last week, to keep my place and be handed the captaincy… was brilliant. See you a week on Saturday if selected. Wellsey.
9th February Merton 2 - 1 Old Latymerians (League) (Away) Scorers: Own Goal, Carpenter Report: The big Pre-match team news announced the return from self imposed “retirement” of Zoohaire and it was quite clear to see what he’d being doing with his time out of the game salad dodging!… his ball control was still there not quite so sure about his portion control. A strange match… The referee really wanted to play a part; I felt his approach was very rigid; he set his stool out before the game with him telling us what he wouldn’t tolerate… Our very early first goal… what I have appreciated over the years is Mike Mustard Reed’s art of getting hacked down he looks like he looks like he’s cleverly losing control of the ball then just manages to nick it away just as the defender comes in and “waller-a” free kick… the first one was a well worked free kick from Thommo rolling it into the stride of an overlapping Shauno… who’s shot was deflected in off their defender… Our second goal was again down to a Mustard chopping mid-way in their half, Shauno flighted it in from the left hand side Pearcey’s left volley nearly bent the cross bar and Ant Carpenter jumped …well stood straight and emphatically buried it with his head… 2 – 0… and cruising… I’m not used to so much press the trouble with goalkeeping is your always involved in the opposition’s goal so taking you back to 2002 Ronaldinho’s over hit free kick in the 2002 World Cup which left David Seaman flailing was the beginning of the end of his international career and as their right back’s back post flighted free kick was in the air heading towards the goal I was glancing at our defensive line a glance back and it was to late my fingers glanced the ball and next thing I was in the net with the ball… I threw a dramatic yelp but was embarrassed but got back up and started again… the clean sheet is coming gents… I like Tiddy’s tip on the next free kick “get the flight of the ball early” ha-ha yeah I dealt with the rest! The remainder of the game was a bit of a non-event in the footballing sense I was impressed with how we defended throughout… NOTW, Pearcey, Ant and Ansell made the rest of my afternoon easy, we did give away a few cheap free kicks, diving in instead of standing up… but we played the ball around well going forward… I thought Dan Hurl did well on the left when he came on and Lofty Mustard Tiddy and Shauno won the battle in the middle and Hailstone and Thommo got to the chances produced and with a bit more composure and on a different day would have taken. The referee tried his best to spoil the game flashing cards like they were going out of fashion, some pretty poor decisions in my eyes and strangely enough only aimed at us, Thommo was removed from proceedings for trying to discuss as only Thommo can, a booking given to Zoohaire for the ball hitting his hand as he looked the other way. I won’t let him spoil it we are now 4 games undefeated 10 points from 12 and within 3 points of second… a bit of focus keeping our organization and keep our positive team ethic going taking each game as it comes I can’t see us losing our rhythm…
26th January Merton 2 - 1 Alleyn Old Boys (League) (Away) Scorers: Hailstone, Tiddy Report:Quoting Havant and Waterlooville skipper Jamie Collins “I was marking Steven Gerrard on a corner singing you’ll never walk alone to him… he was just looked at me like I was an Alien” The art of distraction boys in it’s purest form… throwing an idea in the box, I reckon we should all go and see Barry’s tattooist… because it definitely distracted them on Sat… It looked too easy for Barry “NOTW” Hughes, he just shaded the man of the match and his display epitomized the team ethic on Sat… Now I love positivity… “why be negative” and it was racing through our TEAM on Saturday… working for each other and that togetherness got us the result… we had to dig in for periods and we worked very hard for each other and never stopped running, putting in our foot in where it was necessary and we dug out a result. With Pearcey out and Clowes away on his travels trying to find inner self we had to re-shuffle our defense… and as a keeper I was concerned… but Hughes, Ansell, Day, and Brooker were like a bank safe door in front of me… With an element of smash and grab about it with some robust tackles but we played a bit as well, Shauno’s Guile in the centre of the park was a perfect contrast for the hustle and bustle of Tiddy and Mustard, and Our goal came mid way through the half with a lethal counter attack Wellsey’s quick distribution out of his hands(one of his only straight ones) to Thommo who laid it on to Martinez who’s well flighted back post cross was met clinically in the air by “….H-H-H-HAAAILLLSTONE, GOAL.” A couple of good saves in the first half and we went in half time 1 up and were confident… Alleyn, equalized and even if it was somewhat dubiously… with the ball being taken off of Wellsey’s fist by a hand as he tried to punch clear, Neil Day swore blind it was a hand. GK Comment - “I didn’t see the hand but as the ball dropped in the net I felt like I’d approached the punch a bit John Inman I’m free-esque, but that was my only negative from my performance there keeper even said “I kept us in it” I’m loving the learning curve! I’m studying keeper behavior like a zoologist” We nicked the winner with 10mins to go + the 10mins injury time the ref added… a well flighted free kick was flicked on and 2 in 2 Tiddy was at the back post to volley home into the roof of the net left footed... JOB DONE! We’ve got to be excited and buzzing about things… and we can get better. 3 games undefeated… DWW, 3 points behind second place if we win our game in hand… nothing is impossible if we keep positive and hate losing…
5th January Merton 6 - 4 Old Finchleians (League) (Home) Scorers: Thomas 2, Day, Hailstone, Martinez, Tiddy Report: Merton seemed to shake off their lurking turkey the quicker with the deadlock broken in the first 5 minutes Mark Thomas’s well flighted corner was converted with a commanding header from Neil Day, Thomas himself then finished neatly from the edge of their box after 15 mins, leaving us feeling warm and content and with everyone cruising. Finchelians then came alive and it was a real baptism of fire for the reserves debutant goalkeeper Dan Wells fresh off the plane after signing on a game to game contract… Their nippy right winger latched on to a good pass after a bursting run from the centre of the park to finish (GK comment: “I went to ground to earlier, be big Wellsey”) 2 corners which we defended poorly were converted in similar fashion from point blank range(GK comment: “should I have come for the crosses? I’m not a vampire“) then a looping toe punt from outside the box left the debutant goalkeeper Wellsey trying to understand where the beauty/merits of being a goalkeeper were after conceding 4 in the first 30 mins… We then addressed the problem of them out numbering us in the centre of the park buy putting Barry “News of the World” Hughes in the centre of the park changing from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 system… with it instantly changing things and we nicked a 3rd just before the break through Hailstone stealing in from the right to finish well. We then kept it the same and went into the second half behind 4-3… we then were awarded a pen by the referee after the impressive Will Martinez was hacked down after being through one on one Thommo which was duely dispatched… their defence then went missing and chances were free flowing… and Will then got our noses in front after rounding there keeper and finishing from an acute angle…. We then made some changes… Barry “NOTW” Hughes off Loft on… Neil Day off Paul Ansell on… Hailstone off Kieron Tiddy on… Kieron Tiddy who mid way through the first half and had said we’ll win 6-4… was as you can imagine very keen to get on make sure it happen… after possibly our best move of the match Kieron finished coolly to give us a 2 goal edge… Wellsey (GK Comment: I will work on my kicking) then made a couple of saves to keep the advantage (GK comment: “must learn not to celebrate saves, it’s what you do”) and we held on. Finchelian’s were not the best we’ll face in the run in, but taking the positives we kept a clean sheet for 60mins defended well and could of scored many more, the beginning of a run… Love Big Nev.
1st December Merton 1 - 1 Old Latymerians Scorer: Own Goal Report:
24th November Merton 0 - 2 Old Salesians Report:
17th November Merton 1 - 3 Old Latymerians (League) (Home) Scorers: Report: Martinez
10th Noveber Merton 2 - 2 South Bank Cuaco Scorers: Reed, Ward Report:
3rd November Meron 2 - 4 Continental Stars (Surrey Inter Cup) (Home) Scorers: Hurle, Martinez Report:
27th October Merton 4 - 0 Bank of England (League) (Away) Scorers: Pearce 2, Martinez, Reed Report:Merton travelled the relatively short distance to the Bank of England, and were hoping to transfer the form of the Alleyn Old Boys match into this game.In the pre match team talk, a lot of time was invested into ensuring that we focused on keeping the ball and playing football.Merton started the game very well and put the home side under a lot of pressure, forcing a number of corners and free kicks that caused all sorts of problems.Darren Pearce created a good opportunity for Will Martinez but he was unable to deposit the ball into the net.It didn’t take long for Merton to take the lead with a Darren finish at the far post, credit to Chris Hailstone for a great corner.There were no further changes to the score line as we reached half time.In the second half, Will knocked the ball into the net with interest following another good cross from Chris.This goal gave us the insurance we needed, and we were able to stroke the ball around with a lot of freedom.The way we were playing, betting your mortgage on Merton taking all the points would have been a sensible bet.Darren notched himself another goal from another corner.Will played Mike Reed through and he lobbed the ball over the keeper to open his account for the season, but considering he will be 30 by the time he plays his next game, it could also be his last ever goal.The game finished 4-0 and there were some very good performances all round the pitch, the defence played very well, with Kieran East returning to the side after his loan spell with the 3s.The common phrase when dealing with investments is that past performance is no guarantee of future performance, and this has been very true of Merton recently, but if we can continue to perform this way for the remainder of the season, we should be able to give a good account of ourselves in the league and cup. Mike Reed
20th October Merton 0 - 4 Norseman (League) (Away) Report:
13th October Merton 1 - 0 Alleyn Old Boys (League) (Home) Scorers: Ward Report:
6th October Merton 3 - 5 Old Stationers (AFA Intermediate Cup) (Away) Scorers: Jones 2, martinez Report:
29th September Merton 1 - 4 Polytechnic (League) (Away) Scorer: Report:
22nd September Merton 1 - 1 BB Eagles (League) (Home) Scorer: Ward (pen) Report:
15th September Merton 2 - 1 (AET) H.A.C (Away) (AFA Cup) Scorers: Martinez, Pearce Report: ‘Arma Pacis Fulcra’ or ‘Armed strength for peace’ is the motto of the Honourable Artillery company. However it was Merton reserves that finished 120 minutes of football the stronger with the opposition reduced to peaceful surrender. A hot day and a ‘concrete’ pitch provided tough conditions for what was always going to be a tricky tie. The opening period confirmed this as HAC started positively taking the game to Merton. As the half wore on Merton’s midfield stamped their influence on the game playing smart possession football. Geordie and Shaun setting the platform that ultimately led to complete domination in this area. On 35 minutes Merton deservedly took the lead, Will Martinez heading bravely from 6 yards. Merton continued to press after the break keeping the opposition to a couple of half chances. It was then a surprise that HAC equalised from a corner, their left midfield substitute finishing well from a near post flick. After the goal the game became tight with few chances; conditions dictating an‘Azteca walking football’ approach to the game. Extra time saw more of the same but it was Merton who found the edge to take the lead on 100 minutes. Hailstones delivered a quality ball met strongly by a trademark Pearce header to effectively finish the game as a contest. Overall this was a disciplined and committed performance from the reserves against solid opposition. On the back of this victory the reserves should approach the 1st league outing full of confidence. Kieron Tiddy
Quoting Havant and Waterlooville skipper Jamie Collins “I was marking Steven Gerrard on a corner singing you’ll never walk alone to him… he was just looked at me like I was an Alien” The art of distraction boys in it’s purest form… throwing an idea in the box, I reckon we should all go and see Barry’s tattooist… because it definitely distracted them on Sat…