Month: March 2015

Merton FC U-11s’ made hard work of beating lowlySCR Colts.
Numerous chances went begging and both post and bar were hit before Merton finally took the lead. Kieran picked up the ball on the right hand side and using his electric pace and surged past 2 defenders before rifling the ball into the roof of the net with his right foot. Illane, Deveonte and Thomas all had shots well saved, leaving the score at 1-0 at the break.
Further chances were missed at the start of the second half and this seemed to give SCR renewed hope and they equalised from close range following a defensive mix up. Rather than deflate the team, this seemed to inspire Merton and they retook the lead with a brilliant individual effort from Devonte, he waltzed past 3 players before slotting the ball past the on-rushing goalkeeper.
The 3 points were clinched when Nikoy intercepted a goal-kick and rifled the ball into the corner.
Man of the Match: Thomas Meredith for his excellent passing and link up play

MERTON FC U8S 3-1 SHEEN LIONS U8S
A sunny but chilly morning in sheen saw two closely matched teams battling away on a muddy pitch.
Both teams played a tight 1st quarter which Merton just edged to lead 1-0 with a well taken goal. In the second quarter it was great defending by both teams resulting in no goals the third quarter saw Merton play back to there passing best which saw them score a second goal with a great move and superb top corner finish.Great all round defending again saw the game out at 2-0 to Merton.
Man of the Match: Miller with an all round
energetic display.

 

FACT FILE

TEAM: 3XI / 4XI

POSITION: Right Back/Right Midfield

BIRTH DATE: 20/02/1980

BIRTH PLACE: Ecuador

CLUBS: Tigres JV (South American league in London)

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RAPID FIRE

Player of the season (so far): Eden Hazard

Childhood Team: FC Barcelona

Favourite team outside the UK: LDU Quito (Ecuadorian team that played 2008 FIFA Club World Cup Final)

Childhood Hero: Diego Maradona

Favourite Food: Spanish Tapas

Favourite Drink: Sparkling Water

Favourite Band: Muse

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INTERVIEW WITH RICARDO IGLESIAS

1. Tell us who is Ricardo outside of the club. What do you do, how would you describe yourself?

I consider myself a friendly person, committed to the beautiful game of Football and a proud new father of a 11 month baby called Ethan who hopefully would join Merton in a few years. I do work as an Account Manager for a Cleaning and Security company in London.

2. How did you end up at Merton FC?

Through a work client Peter Heyne who was involved in training at Merton FC in 2009.

3. What was your best moment in your MFC career till now?

I would say my first goal scored for Merton but to be honest I hardly remember it now, there is a bit of a best moment in every game I play for the club as I enjoy playing for Merton.

4. If you could play for a professional team, which would be it and why?

Crystal Palace, I live near the Stadium and I have gone to a few matches the atmosphere there is fantastic and although I always liked Manchester United I would feel honoured to play for the Eagles.

5. Do you have any pre-match rituals or superstitions?

Just a prayer before the match for a free injury match, and the victory of course lol.

6. Lastly, share us your thoughts for the rest of the season.

Pick up points in all games as possible and also hoping that more players commit with the club to have full squads through out the teams.

I was told it was tough going to Winchmore Hill and getting a result. I didn’t count on that meaning a tediously slow journey through the City turning into road works at every turn. Woody now understands the point of meet times!!

When we finally arrived, with Van purple with pain as he needed a wee wee, we found a pitch in very good condition despite the rain during the week.

With a few absentees we drafted in the club’s three top scorers, Will Taylor, Rayner and Big Jase. Left wing, left back and the bench probably weren’t where they thought their goals would get them, but that’s life. Even with the reshuffled pack we got off to a very good start and created a couple of half chances and generally controlled midfield. Winchmore Hill looked dangerous upfront though with a very clever centre forward and a quick, tricky winger who when he wasn’t falling over in the area with no one near him was their main source of danger. His quick feet and the wet pitch meant a number of Merton defenders ending up on their backsides. From one such episode a good ball was played across the box and put in at the back post. The rest of the half was reasonably even but Angus was definitely the busier keeper and pulled off a couple of very good saves.

We regrouped at half time, bringing on Jase for the injured Woody, and worked out a plan to snuff out their danger. With this we started the second half strongly and soon equalised through a drilled, Will Taylor effort, from just inside the area. We had two or three more good changes and again generally looked good, containing their danger men. With 15 minutes to go we conceded a free kick, midway into our half, and their centre forward scored a very good header from the resulting delivery. This galvanised us again and driven forward by Al G, captain for the day, we pushed for the equaliser. We were denied a stone wall penalty as Ackers turned his man and was brought down and then as we pushed on, gaps were left and they scored a third with minutes to go.

The score line suggests we were well beaten by a promotion hopeful but the performance told a different story. So, lots of positives to take into next week and more proof that we’re in the right league and just need a bit more luck.

TEAM: Angus (GK), Al G, Rat, Browner, Rayner, Will Low, Woody (Big Jase 44 (time he came on, not

Last weeks 7-goal demolition of Southgate Olympic was always going to be a tough act to follow, and the 3s duly provided a battling 1-1 draw in Ewell by way of a comedown.

All 4 of the 2014/2015 Merton 3rd XI roster turned out for this one, leaving just 10 ‘guest’ players to bring the matchday squad up to a season-high 14. Unfamiliarity was to be expected, and bearing this in mind Merton did well to weather the early storm from a fresh-faced Old Salesians team who knocked the £2 Sports Direct ball nicely across the enormous, largely grassless pitch. Crossbars were rattled, corners nodded over and chances snuffed out by some committed defending, but Smithy’s goal remained unbreached. Then Merton got hold of the ball and started to look like the side that had scored at will 7 days ago.

The pressure grew until a nice move down the right saw Adam cut into the box, skip past a couple of limp challenges and fire the ball into the net. Surely Merton would now kick on and put the game away… or not. After the first of several questionable offside calls (more on that later) denied Liam a clear run in on the keeper, a counter attack the other way ended up with a crunching tackle in the Merton box, nowhere near the ball. Penalty awarded and duly dispatched to make it 1-1 going into the break.

If the first half was largely incident-free, the second was eminently forgettable. Merton were starved of the ball and defended tightly but had the referee to thank for waving away a couple of “marginal” penalty shouts on Darcy that were later described by the player himself as “stone wall”.

No sooner had they been written, the thank you cards were ripped up by the Merton management as the referee robbed them of a late winner on a dodgy offside call. The ball was rolled into DQ up top, whose touch deserted him to such a degree that he missed it completely, leaving Adam to jog on to it unopposed from his own half and begin the long run in on goal. Just as he arrived at the box (about 5 minutes later) the whistle was blown for offside. The final whistle wasn’t far behind and both sides trudged off happy to settle for a point apiece.

That’s 4 points from 2 away games for Merton – always a welcome return. Thanks as always to those who answered the call to arms this week, notably Kev who played the Manuel Neuer sweeper-keeper role with aplomb and Chris Outred who repelled everything thrown at him down the left flank. Here’s hoping these 2 games will herald a turnaround in our season as we move away from ‘relegation dogfight’ territory towards mid-table mediocrity.

 

1st team had an early 12.15 kick off at the 3G pitch at Tooting and Mitcham against Nottsborough losing 2 – 6.  The 2s drew 1 – 1 away to Polytechnic.

The 3s and 5s game was called off due to pitch conditions at the Hood.

The 4s played West Wickham away, losing 1 – 6 and the 6s play Old Wilsonians 9 away beating them 2 – 0.