Year: 2018

Merton 3s vs Kew Association

 

Another Saturday rolls around and once again Merton 3s are in action. Unlike the last 75 weeks this week we are away from home in Ham, close to Richmond.

This week it is a 1pm meet for a 2pm kick off however one of the 4 Sam’s, (annoying I know) goalie Sam decided to arrive at 12pm shortly after feeding his rabbit. His early arrival makes him the first person in the history of Merton to arrive on match day earlier than Mustard. As he likes to let you know Mustard lives in Essex which is very far away from most grounds so his early arrivals are spectacular. 1pm quickly approaches and everyone is present apart from Joe and Aaron (shock) to be fair to Aaron he did decide to walk a marathon to get here.

Once all the people on time had arrived we decide to make our way to the changing rooms. We are greeted by a lovely lady who shows us to changing room 6. Kew Association must of seen and heard Vincenzo’s dives in previous weeks as the changing room had ‘women’ written on it.

Changing room entered, food based music on (apart from Joe’s strange choice of Half the World away which I’m not sure has anything to do with food) kit bag in the centre of the room. The scene is set. Once the kit bag is placed, the lads like a bunch of wild animals start rummaging through to get their favourite numbers. Britney spots his medium, which is very important as mediums are rarer than a smile from Iain, and he jumps to grab it. Mario is extremely disheartened as we don’t have his number 8, we do however have multiple duplicates of numbers.

Once we have all changed with the aroma of deep heat in the air Fitz sits us all down to give us the line-up and team talk. As Fitz wasn’t there the previous week he has some help from assistants Iain and Mustard. The line-up he has decided is going to be:

                                                                                Sam S-R

                                                Sam K     Mustard                 Vin          Ryan

Sam SL                    Lofty

                                                                                Mario

                                                Nathen                   Fitz                          Britney

Bench: Iain, Joe and Aaron

The decided line up was set and it looks a strong line up. Britney is back after a near career threatening injury, Mustard making his debut at CB and Mario back after taking a few weeks off to get married. The bench also looked very dangerous with some brilliant options to bring on if needed (which they were). Team talk was underway and the importance of the wingers were paramount as they were required to defend from the front and attack there fullbacks. Mario was decided to be the further forward of the midfield 3 to back up the forward 3.

With the team talk done we started to make the trek to the pitch. After walking through supermarket chain Iceland slaughter house we arrived at the pitch and to our surprise, hidden amongst the horses and trees was an extremely nice pitch. After the ordinary warm up and a few terrible shots at the goal kick off was here and we were raring to go, all wanting our first win of the season.

Kick off. Merton started the better of the sides with a couple of chances falling our way. A run from Nathen that started down the right and ended with him cutting in and getting into the box, he should of done much better with his shot but there was a slight nudge in the back which seemed to put him off. Another chance fell our way this time with Britney bursting down the left and trying to cut a ball back to Fitz on the edge of the box but it was cut out by a brilliant slide tackle. Merton were creating problems on the wings with the pace and trickery but allegedly weren’t doing enough defensively which the attackers didn’t agree with.

After all the early pressure from Merton we once again went 1-0 down after a pot shot from about 30 yards. The Kew attackers waltzed through our midfield to strike a shot down the centre of the goal and with Merton goalie Sam on the edge of his area for some reason the shot sailed over him. Another attack shortly after put Kew 2-0 up. 2 chances, 2 goals. This is becoming a far too regular occurrence for Merton 3s.

2-0 down and a big moment happens. A moment that people are lying about. Chinese whispers is a vicious game. The ball is in midfield with Mario, Fitz and Britney are busting a gut to get through on goal. Mario plays a lovely ball through to Fitz with the goalie and defender fast approaching him he goes for the chip over the goalie. It’s on target, trickling towards the goal but Britney with his eyes like a hawk notices a defender running back to get the clearance of the line (which he would have succeeded in) so he sprints towards the line up to try knock the ball in. The moment of truth. Britney jumps with the finesse of a young Chinese gymnast but the defender who is about 2 foot taller than Britney does his best Conor McGregor impression and elbows him viciously in the back. Britney now off balance, knowing he isn’t going to make the header, throws a hand at it. Slightly brushing his hand the ball goes in the net. The ref saw. Goal didn’t stand. Robbery. Should have been a penalty but instead he gets voted D.O.T.D.

The rest of the first half fizzled out with not much else happening. The early threat from the wingers was gone and we no longer had a foothold in the game. Late on in the first half Aaron came on for Nathen with Joe coming on for Britney.

The second half started and after some stern words and finger pointing from everyone we were raring to go.

3-0

4-0 (offside)

The second half had not started like the first half with Kew pressuring us. However for some reason going 4-0 down made us a different team. A formation change from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 worked wonders with Nathen and Sam coming on for Mario and Fitz in CM and ST respectively.

A free kick won by Britney about 40 yards out, a smart quick free kick from Sam SL sent Vin through to chip a wonderful goal over the goalkeeper. 1 goal 3 to go. Vin was no doubt the star man in this second half with his marauding runs out of defence working wonders. He consistently fed Sam and Aaron up front who were getting joy out of there defenders. Joe Vaughn with some great tenacity in the middle kept winning the ball back for us. A special mention to Nathen who done his best Phil Jones impression by throwing his head on a ball that was on the floor. With about 20 minutes to go Iain came on for Mustard at CB.

4-2. A lovely header from Sam K goes into the top corner and the comeback was well and truly on.

4-3. Aaron is sent through by one of aforementioned Vin’s marauding run. He is offside but in keeping with the refs performance he didn’t see it. Merton were now one goal behind with about 5 minutes to go.

Last 5 minutes and Merton had all the possession but no real chances. Iain’s long throws were creating pandemonium in the opposition box but we couldn’t get the slight bit of luck we needed A couple of free kicks were won but none came to anything.. A couple free kicks also weren’t given most notably in the last couple of minutes, Britney was sandwiched but nothing given. Kew dug in well to hold off from a spirited second half performance from the lads.

Another disappointing Saturday for Merton 3s. However with a very new squad and a lot of summer transfers we are starting to gel and are looking better every game with the results soon to come.

Kew Association 4 – 3 Merton

Merton Under 10s vs Mitcham Park FC

 

14^TH October 2018 – Under 10s report

 

It was Merton’s third home match of the season and most of the parents in attendance were glad that that the early morning rain had stopped. The conditions were pretty ideal for football and so it proved. Kicking down the slope from right to left Merton started brightly. Inside 3 minutes, Percy passed to Maxwell and then Maxwell found Louis with a pass to the right. The pair of them were advancing towards the Mitcham goal. Louis returned the ball to Maxwell. Maxwell passed to Louis again and Louis returned it to Maxwell. Maxwell struck a powerful shot to the bottom left hand corner of the Mitcham goal. It went in! Three minutes on the clock.

 

One nil to Merton

 

Merton’s early goal and great start to the game led to a period of dominance; dominance of possession, of thought and action. Merton were quicker to the ball and their desire was stronger. They created so many chances. After 7 minutes, Dave, who was being productive on the left, whipped in a cross that Louis headed onto Mitcham’s back post.

 

Further chances were created by Merton, Dave had four separate attempts on goal after good approach work on the left. There was only one word for what Mitcham Park were facing – onslaught.  Merton should have converted more of their chances. At this stage, if it had been a boxing match Mitcham’s Corner Man would have thrown the towel in.

 

Mitcham Park were only able to make occasional forays into the Merton penalty area and when they did Max was equal to the task. However, Mitcham Park were still in the game because the score remained at 1 nil.

 

With 17 minutes gone, Faris made an excellent diagonal pass between the Mitcham centre pack and left back for Rio to run onto. It was perhaps the pass of the game. Rio met the ball full on but his first-time shot blazed over the bar. Was this to be one of those games when Merton would rue their missed chances?

 

Twenty minutes gone, good work from Joe; he wins a tackle, cuts inside and threads a lovely ball to Faris. Faris is heading towards goal and shoots but his shot is blocked.

 

The referee, who had been very good at letting the game flow, blew for half-time. Amazingly it was still only one nil to Merton.

 

The stand in coaching partnership of Stu and Roy encouraged Merton to keep Mitcham under pressure as the second half commenced. Merton renewed their onslaught and created more chances. Merton were now kicking up the slope from left to right. Good work from Faris and a cross to the back post. Joe met it well but his shot went just over the bar.

 

Ten minutes into the second half, the ball breaks to Rio outside of the Mitcham penalty area. He controls the ball and shoots to the top middle of the goal. It’s a great shot and goes in above the outstretched arms of the Mitcham keeper.

 

Two nil to Merton.

 

The second goal produced two different reactions from the teams. Merton relaxed a little feeling that the game was over whereas Mitcham Park upped their intensity and desire. Mitcham wanted to give a better account of themselves. Merton still had most of the possession but Mitcham were looking more dangerous on the counterattack.

 

This was the best period of the game for Mitcham. After good approach work Mitcham’s striker had a good shot on goal. Max saved it and appeared to have the ball in both hands. The Mitcham striker tackled Max, the ball was spilled and then bundled into the goal by Mitcham.

 

Two – one to Merton.

 

The parents of the Mitcham players were now in full voice, spurring on their boys. A comfortable game was becoming less comfortable for Merton. Some of Merton’s goal mouth drama was of their own making but Mitcham were now putting them under pressure.  There was some resolute defending by Harry, Joe, Ollie and Max but Mitcham were not to be denied. A shot from inside Merton’s penalty area to the bottom right of the goal proved successful. It went in!

 

Two all!

 

Wow! How did we get to this point? In the first half it was Easy Like Sunday Morning for Merton but if Merton were to win now they would need to go back up the gears and create a grandstand finish. With only 6 minutes left to play, they were able to do just that. Urged on by watching parents Merton increased their intensity, Maxwell created some space and let fly with a powerful shot to the bottom left of the goal. The Mitcham keeper got a hand to it. The ball was spinning agonisingly over the line. Was it completely over the line? Would the keeper recover his position and clear it? Dave slid in to make sure and poke the ball completely over the line.  A Video Assistant Referee (VAR) would have cleared up who scored but it may be a while before VAR is introduced at Joseph Hood Rec, the important point to remember is that it was a Merton goal!

 

3 -2 to Merton         

 

This was a great response from Merton and they were well worth their lead. Within 1 minute of the re-start, the ball broke to Louis who fired in a powerful shot that Mitcham’s keeper was unable to save. The ball went into the centre of the goal!

 

4-2 to Merton

 

Two quick-fire goals in 2 minutes put the result beyond doubt. The last few minutes were relatively uneventful and then the referee blew the full-time whistle. 

 

Joe was awarded Man of the Match.   

 

Well done again, boys! 

 

Let’s keep it going for Match Day 7 after Half Term      

Author: Mike Pitt

 

Merton 3s Vs Actonian’s

 

Game day, rain day.  With no win’s yet the 3s were ready and motivated to go out and get some points and with NEIL DAVIDSON back in the middle we looked to have a solid team.

 

The game kicked off and very early a simple ball over the top for Actonian’s left Merton 1-0 down. Merton pressed forwards with a few chances lending to a corner, Nathen took it whipping a ball in with a Actonian’s player heading the ball goalward and the ball being knocked in by Sam (Blonde). The game started to get heated as Mustard fouled a player jumping for a ball as all hell broke loss. Actonian’s  #12 who can only be described as a pitball on steroids then retaliated but taking joe out from behind in a tackle that earned him a yellow (should have been a red). The game continued and the ref continued to give out cards like a horny teen on valentine’s day.

 

The 2^nd half and both teams not really having many chances until a Actonian’s move sees a player just outside the box who dropped a shoulder sending Mike to the shops for some tea and biscuits leaving him free too shoot, Actonian’s 2-1. Merton pushed back with Ryan send a ball into the box which was knocked in by Adam leaving Billy to head the ball home for a simple finish, 2-2. A few players needing to go off injured and the lack of subs left Merton struggling for the last 10 and it showed as Actonian’s managed to break through and get a winner in the last 5. 3-2

 

MOTM-Neil.

DOTD-Billy.

Match Report

HSBC 6s v Merton 6s

 

What miserable day.. arriving at the ground after the best part of a 2-hour drive, the heavens opened with a cold, monsoon of a down pour. The excellent facilities of HSBC ground were a warm welcome as the rest of the mob turn up relativity on time… except one… but more on that later!

Sod it… more on that now!

With the teams warmed up and soaked from the relentless driving rain, the Ref called for the captains to approach the centre circle…  the 6s are still doing there team selection, with the manager stalling, waiting on his number 2 (No reference to ‘poo’) to arrive, after being assured with many… many.. many… many texts that he will be there… however, we wait!

Starting in goal, is Mr Majestic himself, the glove man… Martin ‘I don’t get Lobbed anymore’ Quinny (who was on time), starting left back is Luke Newman (who was on time), on loan from the 4s due to 5s not having a game and stepping up in class to the 6s! centre pairing of Tom J (who was on time) and Joe ‘Glass Toes’ Diss (who was on time), with Darren A(who was on time) , also on loan from the 5s, but wait… who’s that in the distances.. running over with a woolly hoodie pulled over his head to hide the shame of turning up with minutes to go… the jeans and hob nail boots, looking like a Chelsea fan from the 70s! why it’s the Merton 6s number 2 (still no reference to ‘poo’), the lovable Mr Burchell… the cries of “Im here, Im here…” echo around the park as he splashes through yet another puddle.

We continue with the selection, Midfield Chris O (who was on time) on the left, Lynden(who was on time)  and Steve H (who was on time) Centre respectively, Andrew D (who was on time) on the right, leaving David G (who was not only on time, but also picked up 3 players, the kit, pumped the balls up and walked his dogs very early in the morning in anticipation at arriving at a ground…. On time!) and Peter O.A (Did I mention, he was on time)… Up Front. Arron A (who was on time) starts on the bench, as he doesn’t like playing football! Team selected… but there’s a whimper coming from near the kit bag… a small grown man is crying “I want to Play”

As the (what looks like tears) water rolls down the smooth bald face of the M6s number 2… the shrieks of ‘I drove 4 hours to get here…’ ring out as he fumbles around looking for some shorts… Not amused, Darren A is sacrificed, and is set the task of looking for the dummy that was spat!

Finally, we kick off… and not a moment too soon, the early exchanges are even and M6s look quite composed on the ball, but a cutting through ball exposes the centre back and H6s go 1-0 with a good finish.

H6s do seem more composed on the ball, the passing is more crisp and direct, where’s M6s seem to be trying too hard to level the game. David and Peter get a couple of good long distant shots off, that don’t trouble the keeper. All the pressure and no gain, H6s take control and push the M6s back in there half, good defending gives H6s a corner. Not sure if it was the driving rain or the greasy pitch, but as the corner comes in, Lynden is unfortunate to see his splice kick sail in to the corner to give H6s 2-0 lead, (and we shall not mention that he almost bagged another, in similar fashion, soon after, but was lucky this time MQ was in the way!… O wait… sorry!!)

Still from kick off, M6s press once again, Andrew on the right has been leading the way in defending as well as attacking, speeding down the line to link play, although it’s a funny site to see on one occasion, the ball getting stuck in a puddle and 3 grown men splashing around trying to clear it (none of which are Steve B, who excels at playing in puddles!)  

The old sucker punch once again, M6s looking to take control of the game are undone once again from their own attack, seeing the ball retuned with interest, MQ could not do anything about the third as he can only watch as the ball is smashed into the net from inside the box.

Still not deterred, M6s on the attack, Chris getting some joy down the left, curls a great ball forward but just in front of David, who is just yards away. The ball is collected out wide by the H6s defender, his unaware that Peter is closing fast, and with a long leg, steals the ball with a well-timed tackle. With speed Pete is back up and swinging a low powerful cross over, which David just needs to ‘dink over the advancing keeper and in off the far post for a 3-1 score line

With the game coming to half time, M6s are on top but can’t make it count, With the rain still pouring the half time chat is to keep going, the need of a bit of luck is required and not all bad! Arron comes on for Lynden to stem the flow of shots at the wrong end, and Joe for Darren A

After a good start by M6s, H6s bagged a 4^th and from there on, M6s seem to find everything went against them, a elbow on Arron goes unnoticed, as did a clear elbow in the face of David, in the box, but them the Ref was merely a week older than god himself, but still 20 years younger than our own MQ! 4 becomes 5 as HSBC casually run out worthy winners, the final whistle can’t come quick enough as the sodden M6s still look for their first win in all competitions.

Next week home game is against a good Civ 7 side, who have lost only once in the opening 4 games, so another tough game for the Merton 6s

MOTM: A split decision awarded to Andrew Dodson for the excellent work and lifeguarding skills in and around the puddles on the right wing

DOTD: Joint winners, but in 2^nd place is Lynden for crimes against his own keeper, and to Steve Burchell, I might be wrong, but I think he turned up a tad late!

 

Team: Martin Q, Darren A, Joe D, Tom J, Luke , Chri O, Steve H, Lynden C, Andrew D, David G ©, Peter O.A, Arron A, Steve B

Whitton Wanderers Falcons U10s 3 – Merton U10s 0 – Sunday 6^th October 2018

Merton U10s fell to their first defeat of the season in a sun-drenched match which threw up a surprise result where Merton had the lion’s share of the play and an avalanche of chances.

After an early start for the mini trek over to Hounslow for this early kick off the crowds were anticipating another Merton performance and win which would never arrive.  The first half got underway and Merton showed signs of their endeavour as they repeatedly broke forwards in numbers only to miss their opportunities to put the ball in the net.  Whitton’s keeper was very able and handled well but when Merton could have finished off their breaks they would often shoot wide, at the keeper or fail to connect their final pass.  This was to be the pattern of much of the game.

As Whitton grew into the game Max was forced into some stops and displayed some excellent handling as further evidence of his ongoing development between the sticks.  At the other end of the pitch Merton were getting a few corners from last ditch clearances yet could simply not convert from any of the positions they grafted so hard to create.  Lots of huffing and puffing but too many players seemed to lack that final bit of quality to seal the deal.

The second half started as the first ended with nearly goals from Merton and Whitton looking sharp on the break with pace and power out wide requiring some good work from the ever-reliable Harry and Ollie.  Neal tried to change things up and move players around.  Farris had worked hard but not had any service up front until now and suddenly burst into life with some good wide play only to see his chance go begging like all those before.

After 10 mins Merton played the ball out from the back without enough care and Whitton got hold of it and fired a great effort on goal which Max did superbly to push around the post.

Then followed a strong win of the ball by Louis in his own half, he played in Rio who passed to Farris and again Whitton got a toe on the ball to snuff out the danger.

As Whitton lumped the ball forwards high in the air Harry controlled it with one deft touch, leading to applause from his adoring fans on the side-lines.  No sooner had he put the ball just where he wanted it that his forward pass went straight to a Whitton mid-fielder, leading to the kind of sharp analysis from his old man we have become used to. 

Merton continued to boss the game and the number of shots reflected that.

Pressure from the midfield on every goal kick was causing issues for Whitton.  The latest effort led to Merton midfield winning the ball and Percy had a shot just but it was just wide. Again!

Surely Merton would not throw this game away after having so many chances?

More continued pressing to win the ball succeeded repeatedly and shots were often the end result.  But the ball would not go in the net.  A number were from distance and a little more patience might have helped.

Dave went on a good run, exchanging the ball with Joe and his shot hit the post.  More ball was won from Merton pressing hard and the latest effort led to a tidy bit of play from Louis to cross the ball for Dave to shoot again and this was yet another post.  Another break, another shot gone begging, this time from Percy. 

As the game wore to a close there was a muddle up in the Merton defence leading to a soft Whitton goal.  To add insult to injury this followed immediately after a great save on the line from a combo of Louis and Max. 

Merton heads started to drop but another good run and one-two with Farris led to Dave having a shot but the Whitton keeper was equal to it.

Another Merton corner and Farris was free on goal but pulled the ball just wide. Amazing. “We could play all day and won’t score” said Dan. Wise words.

In a subsequent Whitton break they had 3 on 1 which led to Ollie making a very smart challenge.

Suddenly another Merton foray and they made it 2-0. Merton were clearly gutted.  This was becoming a lesson in how you can lose when you deserve much better.

Another bit of pressure and another Whitton goal despite hard chasing from Merton. How did this end up 3-0?   As the game wore to its end Merton still pushed for their reward.  Louis made a twisting run and was fouled on the edge of the Whitton box.  He took the free kick and put it over bar.

Game over. The boys knew they let this get away.

Ollie and Harry were jointly awarded Man of the Match.  Lots of learning to pick out of this one.  On the upside lots of good football despite the lack of reward.

Merton 4s 2 v 0 Merton 5s (from the 5s perspective)
It is fair to say that this game had been highly anticipated, and the 5s entered it with an air of optimism despite recent performances, with the pressure off being expected to lose as the lower team. In truth, the game was and will be somewhat defined by what came before it but a few points are as follows:
–
With players turning up late due to severe delays on the trains, we arrived sporadically which affected our focus.
–
Being asked to donate a player to the 4s was a matter that took a lot of concentration away from our players on that game, and that showed throughout the game.
–
Despite these 2 factors, the team battled extremely well, and had some real opportunities in stages to score, which could have changed the game.
–
There were a few minor shouts that went against us including one dubious offside which may have seen Pete run through on goal, and one handball in the box which could have gone either way.
–
The difference between the teams was that the 4s had more composure in attacking positions and those little strokes of quality in front of goal that we just lacked on the day.
The 5s can be very proud of the performance; it was a close game and the effort was surely there. We have a week off but next game becomes imperative if we are going to demonstrate that we have the ability to play in this league, which I know we do as a team.
MOTM: Scott
DOTD: Pete

Merton 4s 2 v 0 Merton 5s (from the 4s perspective)
Following last week’s disappointing exit in the AFA Cup, it was back to League action for the 4s. This week however wasn’t just any league fixture, it pinned the 5s against the 4s. Not only three points up for grabs but bragging rights too.
Numbers were scarce in respect of the 4s, with only 11 players available. The 5s however arrived with 13. One of whom was approached to switch sides for the day. An offer that was declined without hesitation. In order to ensure that we had back uponthe pitch, Luke Newman, the 5s Manager, agreed to get kitted up and come on if required.
Due to the personnel available to us, we lined up in a 4-4-2 formation. Kieran Lee taken his usual slot between the sticks. The back four from right to left consisted of John Gridley, Dan Gridley, Joe Plumridge and myself. In the middle of the pack, again from right to left was, Marcus Perkins, Roman Bilivitskiy, Mo Chouikhi and Callum Fisher. Leading the line was Dom Plumridge and Denys Zhurbiy.
There was nothing to separate either side in the first 20 minutes. It was after 20 minutes that the 4s, wearing all yellow, wereable to get a foothold on the game and overpower the 5s, wearing blue shirts and shorts with pink socks, in all areas of the field.
It was also around this time that Luke had to unfortunately get kitted up in yellow to replace Marcus. I have to commend the professionalism Luke showed. You wouldn’t blame him for coming on and making a few ‘mistakes’ to give the 5s an advantage, given that he is the Manager, however this was not the case. He put the effort in that was asked of him and stood out as one of the best performers on the day.
Getting a foothold in the game allowed us to play the passing game we knew that we were capable off. Our dominance paid off when Dom managed to score from with an overhead kick albeit from a standing position. Denys awarded the assist with a header from Johns throw in.
The talk at half time as a positive one, we just had to go back out there and put the same effort in as we did in the first half.
From the first whistle to initiate the start of the second period, the 4s were in control as the 5s were getting frustrated thata few decisions (offsides and handballs in particular) were going against them.

With 20 minutes to go, Denys doubled our advantage. His effort beating, assisted by Dom, beating Chappell at the near post.
As the clocked ticked down, the 5s had a sniff of goal when Dulanie was played through for a one-on-one. His tame shot however was comfortably held by Kieran.
This was a massive win and one that hopefully kick-starts our league campaign. Four points after two games is a decent return.
Next week we welcome City of London Reserves to Joseph Hood. We need to ensure that we go into the game as we finished this one. If we do, another three points are surely guaranteed!
SCORER(S): Dom Plumridge, Denys Zhurbiy
MOTM: Mo Chouikhi
DOTD: Kieran Lee
LINE-UP: Kieran Lee (GK), John Gridley, Dan Gridley, Joe Plumridge, Edward Plaistow (Capt.), Marcus Perkins (Luke Newman), Mo Chouikhi, Roman Bilivitskiy, Callum Fisher, Denys Zhurbiy, Dom Plumridge

Bank of England 2 v 1 Merton 2s
High-quality game of football in the autumn sunshine was what Bank’s manicured pitch demanded. Merton and the hosts delivered.
Sherbs was superb in goal, saving from point-blank range shortly after Bank took an early lead. His athleticism and bravery keptTeam Handsome in it when their concentration was absent.
When it was, Merton were fast and fluid. A Conor throw-in found noble Ryan Noble-Gresty down the right channel, just inside the area. Gresty turned his man and dinked a perfect ball to the far post, where Ackers cushioned home one of the easier goals ofhis Merton career.
Cookie and man of the match Jack were superb as a centre-back combo. Conor and Ciaran were excellent either side of them. In midfield, it was Glenn’s introduction that really began to turn the tide in Merton’s favour. His pace caused any number of problems for Bank. But a second goal would not come before the half.
Bank scored again shortly after the break. Debutant Joe put in a fleet-footed and bright showing on his Merton debut. Dan Rist’spassing was, as ever, top notch.
The ref did his best to spoil a great game of football. He seemed, oddly, much more interested in giving Bank soft free-kicks than he did nailed-on penalties for Merton. That peculiar inconsistency remained a pattern throughout. He even booked Wilgo for asking him about it –but not Bank’s left-back for spear-tackling Joe (an illegal action in rugby, let alone football).
LINE-UP: Sherbs, Conor, Ciaran, Jack, Cookie, Dan Rist, Niall Kelly, Wilgo, Gresty, DQ, Ackers. Subs: Glenn, Joe

Old Sedcopians 3s vs. Merton 4s
AFA Minor Cup, Preliminary Round
Saturday 22^nd September 2018

In order to ensure our passage to the First Round of the AFA Minor Cup, we were tasked with taking on Old Sedcopians 3s of the Amateur Football Combination in New Eltham. The travel distance to New Eltham wasn’t that far however the roads you had to take to get there, unless you select the M25 route, made it seem that way.

 

As a result of the travel time, the first challenge was ensuring that we had enough players in attendance at the time of kick off. Fortunately out of our squad of thirteen, only Lewis Riches and Adam Lynch were running late. The former arriving fifteen minutes after kick off with the latter arriving as the half time whistle sounded.

 

Due to Adam’s late arrival, Denys Zhurbiy temporarily sat alongside Joe Plumridge at centre back, John Gridley took his usual right back spot and I slotted into my usual position at left back.

 

In the middle of the park we had Roman Bilivitskiy and Tyrone Fuller with Callum Fisher and Mo Chouikhi supporting them on the flanks with Mario Del Prestito playing just behind Nick Englefield up top.

 

The match started with high intensity from both sides however it was the hosts that were carving out the better opportunities. One attempt in particular striking the bar early on. Old Sedcopians started to overpower our midfield 20 minutes in and it was around this time that they took the lead. How? I hear you ask….I can’t remember fortunately. What I can remember though is that one soon became two and we were staring defeat in the eyes even before the half had come to an end. We did create one chance that should have been converted, Lewis, who has come on to replace Mo, used his pace to get behind the left back but his effort from Callum’s cross was blazed high and wide. 2- 0 to the host at the break.

 

We knew that if we were to get back in the game in the second half that we had to strengthen up the midfield. In order to do so, Adam can on in place of Tyrone to partner Joe at the back, Mario dropped back into the middle of the park alongside Roman and Denys partnered Nick up front.

 

These changes seemed to spark us into gear, it wasn’t long before we were bossing possession and creating chances that with a little more composure would have probably found the back of the net. I can’t decide whether we created more chances than there were balls that were lost over the fence and we created quite a few chances! I think the balls over the fence clinch it though.

 

The effort we were putting in was finally rewarded when Callum’s cut back, following a Messiesque run, was converted by Roman. Our opposition were clinging on to their lead and they knew that they had to switch back on.

 

The momentum however remained with yellow shirts outnumbering purple ones at every attack we had. One of these said attacks resulted in a corner from the left. Mario’s out swinging delivery connecting to Denys’s forehead to bring the game level. The momentum had definitely remained with Merton and our hosts were nervous! However they had nothing to be nervous about in the end…..we were able to add to our tally and they were able to grab the winner 10 minutes from time. A square ball across the six yard box tapped in at the back post.

 

Cue to final whistle and a cheer of relief from Old Sedcopians.

 

Once against, each and every player that pulled on that yellow shirt left everything out on the pitch. If we continue like this, results will come and we will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

Next week it’s a Merton Derby when we take on the 5s hoping to leapfrog them in the table.

 

FINAL SCORE: Old Sedcopians 3 – 2 Merton 4s
SCORER(S): Dom Plumridge (2) and Jonas Cabrera
MOTM: Callum Fisher – A solid performance once again. Doesn’t look out of place.

DOTD: Adam Lynch – Nobody deserves it however if it has to be awarded to somebody it goes to the person who turned up nearly 2 hours late.

STARTING LINE-UP: Kieran Lee (GK), John Gridley, Joe Plumridge, Denys Zhurbiy, Edward Plaistow (Capt.), Mohamed Chouikhi (Lewis Riches), Roman Bilivitskiy, Tyrone Fisher (Adam Lynch), Callum Fisher, Mario Del Prestito, Nick Englefield 

Merton 3s vs Carashalton 3s

Saturday rolled around once again and the 3s were looking to pick up their first win of the season. The opposition were the notoriously tough Carshalton and everyone was aware it was going to be a hard match in which preparation before the game would be key to get everyone prepared. Luckily everyone in the team had been briefed the week before by Mustard about the importance of turning up on time and how it would help turnaround our wayward start to the season. Iain sent out a message in the group chat about turning up early to support the lower teams in the club, so there was no possibility of anyone turning up late today surely?! How wrong that turned out to be! Not long after midday the first worrying text arrived from Billy who informed us that his train was cancelled and the next was not until near 1pm. One player late is not that much of an issue and it wouldn’t be a drastic problem… if not for the fact that off the football field Billy, Britney and Nathan are rarely seen more than a metre apart from one another! (You really do have to feel sorry for the ladies in their lives) So the three musketeers were late and stranded, fortunately Vin swooped in to save the day and get them to the Hood. The late brigade didn’t stop there though with Joe also suffering from his train arriving late, which makes a change from himself as he normally arrives too soon (According to his Mrs). With the team arriving in dribs and drabs the biggest shock of the day happened, Aaron Byrne arrived only 10 minutes late! A massive congratulations to him on his struggle of living so much further away from the hood than the rest of us and also his daily battle with the concept of time. With the playlist of Reality TV booming out in the background and with Alexandra Burke’s ‘Hallelujah’ in the mix how could the team not be motivated for this massive cup game!

Anyway onto the football! The boars were looking to build upon their fantastic end to the game last week and starting with a strong lineup of Iain in goal after his De Gea-esque performance last week (De Gea during the World Cup that is), in front of him a pacey back 4 of Mustard at right back, a returning centre-back pairing of Vin and Adam, with Ryan at left back. In the middle of the park we had Sam, Lofty and Joe which followed on from the pacey theme shown in the back four… Then up top that left Billy, Aaron and Britney, a relatively slow front three in comparison to the rest of the team. With Fitz and Nathan on the bench we had the perfect combination of pace, power, youth and Fitz was also there. (Please don’t bench me!)  With the Carshalton players bringing down all their family and friends to support we were playing in front of a sellout crowd as the game got underway. The boars started the livelier of the two teams and picking up from the energy and fight we were showing last week, we largely dominated the opening proceedings although we were struggling to make the ball stick up top with Billy and Britney opting to flick the ball on instead of controlling it. The midfield was a good battle which we were largely winning as they only had one real threat who we were managing to keep quiet. With Adam and Vin dominating in the air there were not many chances of note in the first half. The one stand out moment being when we were heartlessly denied a penalty by the ref after Aaron was played through and beat the keeper to the ball but was caught by the keeper in the process, yet the ref allowed play to carry on! Nobody ask Aaron about this in the future though as he will point out the tiny mark on his leg where the keeper brushed his thigh. Half time rolled around and for once the boars were going into halftime with a clean sheet and a goal less game so far! The team talk was asking for generally more of the same and the team went out into the second half unchanged. Again the boars were dominating from the start and set pieces were aplenty with the number of fouls Carshalton were giving away. We won a corner and Adam went up to take it, whipping in a lovely ball from the right, Lofty winning the flick on at the near post and the ball ping-ponged all over the place before falling to the feet of Aaron Byrne who volleyed the ball into the ground and it bounced up and came back off the bar! So close to making it a deserved 1-0 to Merton. It was clear their centre backs didn’t like it in the air and Iain’s kick were causing them plenty of problems. We were pushing them further and further into their own half when we won a freekick on the right hand side of the box. Adam again whipped it in with his left foot and again the ball was bouncing around the box before falling to Aaron again! This time he made no mistake and with his left foot buried the ball into the bottom corner! 1-0 to the boars! Unfortunately this goal seemed to light a spark in Carshalton, they came out fighting and we were firmly on the back foot. Wave after wave of attack came with Merton resisting every single one of them. Until disaster struck! A Carshalton corner whipped in was headed back across at the back post, their player toe poked the ball on the six yard towards goal…

The following is a completely unbiased and accurate description of the events that unfolded.

Ryan, who was on the post, sensed the danger and in a desperate bid to prevent his team from going behind threw his leg in front of the ball in a split second reaction! He did all he could given the circumstances and did the unimaginable and managed to make contact with the ball, which was already heading firmly for the back of the net. (From his perspective) Unfortunately the contact was off his shin and the ball found the back of the net anyway, but the heroic attempt to stop it did not receive the adulation it deserved and was met with comments like ‘Shocking own-goal’ which we will get to after the football.

So it was 1-1 and Merton’s lead was shattered. The remainder of the game was all Merton once again with them throwing everything forward. A good interchange on the left between Nathan and Ryan, who was determined to make up for his earlier ‘mistake’, lead to Ryan firing a delightful ball across the face of the six yard box that alluded everyone and went out for a goal kick. Merton launched attack after attack but no goal came and the 90 minutes were up.  Extra time was to follow! The team had given there all and there were some tired legs out there and to make things worse the water bottles were all empty! Water was scarce and what little we had was being shared out amongst the team.

We interrupt this match report to launch an urgent appeal, for just £20 a month you can help provide clean fresh drinking water for Merton 3s at all their games. In this tough climate, playing football is becoming more and more difficult and clean water is hard to come by, please give what you can and help keep your football team hydrated. Thank you.

Extra time kicked off and the boars were raring to go. With tired legs the game became very end to end with chances a plenty for both sides. Neither could take advantage though, the best chance came from a Merton counter attack Nathan ran onto a ball on the left wing and found Ryan on the edge of the box supporting him. Ryan dropped the shoulder and got the ball onto his right and unleashed a venomous shot that was curling and seemed destined for the bottom corner, could this be his redemption?! Unfortunately not as the Carshalton keeper somehow produced an incredible save and tipped it just around the post! The pressure was growing though and Merton seemed due a goal, with us winning a freekick just in the Carshalton half could this be our chance? The delivery couldn’t beat the first man and the ball fell to a Carshalton player who started a counter. With a ball played over the top their quick winger got there first and was baring down on goal. The defence desperately tried to keep up to no avail and their winger played the ball past Iain to their striker who was the only player in the six yard box and was clearly offside… Not according to the ref as he pointed to the centre circle and the boars were 2-1 down completely against the run of play.

The team went all out attack in an attempt to just nick a goal to keep us in the game, however Carshalton defended resolutely and the goal was not forthcoming, meaning we again were beaten by just the one goal! The positive signs of improvement were there again though, with the front three gelling well and the fight and desire being shown by every player if we continue in this form the win must surely be on its way! In the bar afterwards the man of the match votes and dick of the day nominations were being cast. MOTM was a clear winner with Adam dominating everything in the air and on the ground as well as proving himself as a fantastic set piece taker. DOTD was also a runaway with Ryan being brutally victimised and blamed for his apparent ‘Own goal’, although Joe did give him a run for his money with votes in such as not being able to play a pass. However it wasn’t enough to save Ryan from gracefully necking a pint and claiming the honour of writing the match report. Hopefully that’s the last time this season and I apologise to those I did not offend, I will do my best should there be a next time! Onto next week where we will pick up our first win of the season!

Squad: Iain, Mustard, Vin, Adam, Ryan, Sam, Lofty, Joe, Britney, Billy, Aaron #

Subs: Fitz, Nathan

MOTM: Adam

DOTD: Ryan