18th April Merton 2 - 0 Bank Of England (League) (Home) Scorers: Mason, Meggs T Report:
21st March Merton 2 - 4 Lloyds TSB (League) (Home) Scorers: Murphy S, Magini Report:
14th March Merton 1 - 1 & 1 - 0 Lloyds TSB (Double Header) (League) Scorers: Quinlan, Orabator Report: Top of the table double banker clash meant we were up for tough time again. We started well and took the lead through a fine strike from Martin Quinlan playing in the unfamiliar role of a striker for only the second or third time this season. The lead only lasted about 5 mins as I allowed a very speculative shot to bounce about 10 times before nestling in the corner of our net (sorry guys I still can’t explain it any better). Anyway it got worse for me I then headed over the bar from 2 yards out while pretty much unchallenged. The rest of the first game was pretty even and ended one a piece. The second game started much the same for us we pushed forward for an opening and defended well. Both sides had a few half chances then Johnny O smashed one in from a knocked down corner by Rob Knott, Lloyds complained the ball had not crossed but the ref was well placed to see it had crossed the line by at least meter. Lloyds threw everything at us after that and we managed to hold them out for the final whistle. It was great to have a neutral ref that controlled the game. Big thanks to everyone for being so adaptable and considerate of the circumstances, thanks also to Bas, Peter, Zeph and Johnny O for their help. Its Lloyds again this week their 8’s that’s 5 games against Lloyds in the last three weekends.
28th February Merton 2 - 2 & 1 - 5 Old Wilsonians (Double Header) (League) (Away/Home) Scorers: Reports:
31st January Merton 0 - 1 Bank of England (League) (Away) Report:
24th January Merton 6 - 3 Old Wilsonians (League) (Away) Scorers: Mason 2, Murphy J, Murphy S 2, Quinlan Report:
17th January Merton 3 - 2 Alleyn Old Boys (League) (Away) Scorers: Murphy S 3 Report:
3rd January Merton 4 - 3 Bank of England (League) (Away) Scorers: Murphy S, mason Report: First game of the New Year saw us looking forward to a game at BOE and after 45 mins we wished it had been cancelled. We found ourselves 3-0 down and struggling to get acquainted with a slightly frozen pitch. We only created a few half chances in the first period and seemed to be competing reasonably well when bank scored there 3 goals in quick succession towards the back end of the first half which left us feeling a bit jaded. The spirit within the team was powerful at the break and everyone collectively agreed it wasn’t good enough and that we needed to respond quickly in the second period. Some thoughtful advice from the manager left us feeling we were victims of our making rather than a great performance from BOE. The second half turned out to be a great come back from the team as we romped home deservedly 4 -3 winners. Great second half performances from many but most notably Jim who rattled the bar twice and Simon who got a hatrick. Well now that we have that blip out of the way it’s got to be back to normal service. MOM Simon Murphy
20th December Merton 4 - 0 Aaleyn Old Boys (League) (Home) Scorers: Gridley 3, Murphy S Report:
6th December Merton 3 - 0 BB Eagles (League) (Away) Scorers: Loughran, Bas, Quinlain Report: Not a great start travelling with the bare eleven to play the top of the league. The first half was just about evens although we felt we should have done better and where not using all of our strengths. I should have put the team 1 up but put the ball over from only 8 yards out. Half time saw some serious debate about how we all felt confident good things were to follow. Shortly after the restart we took the lead with a wonderful strike from stand in left back Bas. The forwards were now running their back line ragged and we soon forced another goal through stand in centre forward Rob "the lightning" Loughran. BB Eagles threw caution to the wind and brought on their 3rd sub and put him up front we had to defend tightly as a unit. Steve Philpott went down as though he had been shot by a sniper and was forced to retire. We reshuffled the 10 to counter his absence with Gridley fitting in to right back with ease. We kept Rob "the lightning" up front on his own and got the ball up to him at every opportunity. Our third came with a wonderful bit of work from the Quin and he slotted the ball home with the wonderful confidence of a craftsman performing his art. And then Philpott made a miraculous recovery and came back on for final 10 mins (bullet still attached we feel). It was a great performance by a great bunch of guys well done to everyone.
29th November Merton 6 - 0 Old Wilsonians (League) (Away) Scorers: Murphy S 3, Knott, Gridley 2 Report:
15th November Merton 4 - 4 Old Wilsonians (League) (Home) Scorers: Gridley, Quinlan 2, Thompson Report:
11th October Merton 2 - 0 Old Wilsonians 9 (League) (Home) Scorers: Sales, Mason Report:
4th October Merton 2 - 2 BB Eagles (League) (Away) Scorers: S Murphy 2 Report:
20th September Merton 1 - 4 Lloyds TSB (League) (Away) Scorer: Sales Report: Despite being short of four or five regulars from last year we still managed to bring a strong team to this our first proper game of the new season.The new line up did take a long time to settle down and meant we were under pressure from the word go, this was not helped by some unsympathetic referying decisions which meant that on occassions our disapline was not good enough and this cost us in terms of our abilty to maintain possesion.Our effort and commitment was beyond question though and we felt that we could have reached half time on level pegging instead a goal down.In the second half we battled very hard to get back on equal terms but the game was lost on account of a terrible attempted pass by yours truely [sorry lads ] the chance was gratefuly taken after that it was very difficult for us but we did not give up and got a concilation goal through some neat football finished off nicely by Steve Sales.
MATCH REPORTS 2007 - 2008
15th March Merton 1 - 1 Old Actonians (League) (Home) Scorers: Report: This week saw the arrival of Old Actonians to Joseph Hood. After opening the season with a 6 – 0 win away to the same opposition we thought we were in for an easy game……..oh how we were wrong!! Both teams started sloppy, passes being wasted and chances not being taken. Old Actonians had a few additions to the squad that played us in September but the strength in our squad should have pulled us through and clinched the 3 points needed in order to keep tabs on West Wickham for 2nd place in order to gain promotion. It was Old Actonains who took the lead after only 5 minutes (maybe less), a long ball from one of the back for was watched by our back four while the Old Actonians striker took advantage and knocked the ball past Lee with ease. The team talk at half time was pleasant due to the fact that for the first time this season there was no arguing, well done lads!!!!! Ha ha Midway through the second half we introduced Steven Hollands onto the field to replace Kasper. It seemed to be a blessing in disguise. I didn’t see it but heard the cheers. Our next game is a must win away to Kew in 2 weeks, so that we don’t all get fat by the amount of chocolate we eat over the easter break we have a fixture against the youths on Good Friday. FINAL SCORE: 1 – 1 MoM: Nobody, a disappointing performance from everyone. We need to work harder and make our chances count.
8th March Merton 4 - 0 Polytechnic (League) (Away) Scorers: Wish, Jennings, D'Andrea, Hall Report: This week saw the arrival of Polytechnic 7s to Tudor Drive. After a disappointing and shocking loss in the away leg earlier on in the season we knew we had to gain the 3 points if we are to stay on West Wickham’s heels and hope for promotion. West Wickham however didn’t help themselves, losing 3 – 1 to runaway leaders and SAL and AFA Cup finalists Kew. Unlike the other games that have taken place this season I managed to watch the game from a different perspective due to the fact that im out for the remainder of the season with a broken collar bone. We started the game well making Poly chase for the ball. With Richard and Alex D’Andrea at the centre of the defence there way no way Poly were ever going to break through. We took advantage of the possession we had and found the back of the net 10 minutes in. A sublime through ball by Shaun McCulloch finding Dan Hall who calmly lobbed the keeper but only to see it come back off the ball. Clive junior was there to head home the rebound. 1-0. We went 2 – 0 up shortly after, Mark latching onto a defensive clearance to again loop the ball over the out rushing keeper. The Poly defence should have dealt with it before Mark but his pace out done them. It was 3-0 just before half time; a kick from Lee (out of hands by the way!) fooled the keeper who could only tip it over the bar for a corner. Alex D’Andrea showed what a threat he is by heading in his 2nd goal in as many games and his 3rd of the season. After the break we seemed to die down a bit, im not shore if it was tiredness showing of the fact that the guys felt they could walk it into the net. We did however manage to make it 4 – 0 15 minutes after the interval when Dan Hall tapped in from 2 yards after the Poly keeper and defender collided. The only downfall from the game was Richard Stevens coming off injured after just 5 minutes with a recurrence of an ankle injury picked up early in the season. FINAL SCORE: 4 – 0 MoM: Mark Jennings
1st March Merton 4 - 1 Polytechnic (League) (Away) Scorers: Report:
23rd February Merton 4 -1 Old Westminster Citz (League) (Away) Scorers: Report:
16th February Merton 4 - 3 Civil Service (League) (Away) Scorers: Ackermann, Scott 3 Report: The weather was great the turnout was not. When you only have 9 men from the whole game hopes of even a point looked bad, but against a Service side that was bottom could we achieve the near impossible ? The game started brightly with Dan Hall hitting the crossbar from the edge of the box drive. Kasper and Scott with the aid of the rest of a team then put on a show to be proud of with Scott latching on to anything played into the box and showing some expert finishing to bag a hat-trick. Kasper was holding off up to three players at a time and picking the passes. Aaron then side footed the ball home from close range to end the half 4-0 to the Merton. The second half went slightly different with Kasper and Scott picking up injuries and Service packing the box with players meaning they got 3 back. Some great defending by all the team and some heroic play by Dan Outred’s back on the goal line meant the points were safe. Well done lads just think what we could do with 11 men a few subs??
Dan Leaver
9th February Merton 0 - 2 Civil Service (League) (Away) Report: This week saw us travel to Chiswick for our first game in about 8 weeks. Even though a few players let us down we still felt we have the quality to bring home 3 points and show that we are still pushing for a promotion place. Both teams held a minute’s silence before KO to pay our respect to the OWCs player who unfortunately passed away during their game at home to West Wickham on 5th January. Civil Service stated the better side, passing the ball around with ease. However hard we tried we couldn’t get into the game. Civil Serviced managed to capitalise on the poor play in the middle of the park by our midfielder to race through and nutmeg Lee 10 minutes before the interval. The second period stated just as bad, it seems as thought the team talk from the gaffer didn’t seem to sink in (probably had something to do with all the arguing that was taking place). We thought the substitutions would help due to the fact that they had fresh legs but it didn’t seem to change the way the game went. Civil Services against pounced on a loose ball after a poor piece of defending to go 2 up. If we have any chance of gaining promotion this season we need to start winning games. Arguing needs to STOP!!! Let the football do the talking. Next week we take on the other Civil Service, lets hope that our dip in form has now come to an end and we can get back to winning ways. FINAL SCORE: 2 – 0 MoM: Richard Stevens
24th November Merton 5 - 1 Civil Service 8 (League) (Home) Scorers: Hall 2, Mark 2, Bundy Report: After a mix up of what pitch we were playing on Civil Service and the ref finally turned up at Tudor Drive 15 minutes before the scheduled KO time. We started the game the better side playing the football that we knew we were capable of, this showed when we went 2 – 0 up early on. Kasper grabbed the first with a neat finish into the bottom left hand corner after a great through ball by Dan Hall, Dan managed to grab the next one after there was a mix up with the Civil Service keeper. For somehow fell to pieces leading up to the interval, Civil Service managed to pull one back after the capitalised on a throw, Dan Outred attempted the clearance but his header found the back of the net to his amazement. That’s how it remained up until the break. The second half was a much better performance than the first, we managed to maintain good play throughout and in the process were able to bag another 3 goals with Kasper and Dan adding another one each and Jamie capping a great performance off with a goal of his own, this after he had previously hit the bar (keeper touching it onto the bar) from a great freekick. The Man of the Match award goes to Jamie but Lee came a close second. Goals: Mark (2), Hall (2), Bundy Edward Plaistow
17th November Merton 1 - 2 Kew Association (SAL Intermediate Novets Cup) (Away) Scorer: McCulloch Report: This week saw us travel to Kew to face their sixth team in the SAL Cup 2nd Round hoping to build on the 1st Round victory by making it to the 3rd. We started with Sean McCullough in goal with Lee taking up the left midfield position due to the unavailability of Steven Holland’s. We also gave two youth players, Jamie Bundy and David Lundy a run out. Kew started brightly, their passing game and awareness was better then ours.They capitalised on this and took the lead 15 minutes in, their forward sending a looping header over Sean after their left midfielder was allowed all the time in the world to deliver a overhead kick back into the box. After conceding the first goal we switched things round by putting Lee back in goal with Sean replacing him on the left wing. We managed to match Kew for about 15 minutes before they managed to make it 2-0, our defence got confused and allowed the furthest Kew player forward to wrong foot Lenners and slide the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Going into the break with are heads down wasn’t a good idea but the team talk seemed to help. We came out for the second half which the belief that we could actually win this game. We had a much better half in the second period apart from the 3 bookings that we picked up, Alex, Luke and Richard getting cautioned for minor offences. We grabbed a consolation with 10 minutes to go, Dan Hall finding Sean with a defence splitting pass and Sean lifting the ball calmly over the out rushing keeper. The match finished 2-1 Kew but we knew that it was our own fault (maybe the referees too!); everybody apart from maybe 1 or 2 will be fighting for their places next week at home to Civil Service 8s. Edward Plaistow
10th November Merton 3 - 7 Old Wilsonians (League) (Home) Scorers: Lenihan, O.G. Report: This week saw the arrival of the AFA Cup holders, Norsemen to Joseph Hood. We thought the game would never get under way as the ref failed to show but the fours allowed us to have theirs. We got off to the worst start possible, conceding 3 goals in the first 15 minutes. We had a 5 minute spell where we managed to get on top of them and play the football we knew we could, however they managed to bag another 2 before the interval. The second half stated just as bad with us conceding another 2 goals early in. As a result of this we knew we had to change things round, Dan Hall, our centre back moved up front to support Mark, Sean replaced him at centre back and Dan Outred cam on for Luke. We managed pulled one back when Tom delivered a ball into the opponents box and it went in off the defenders head, however they then managed to make it 7-1 shortly after and then we pulled another back. After conceding the 7th goal Lee decided that he wanted to come out of goal and show the other players how to actually play football, he had the kind of 'If you want a job done do it yourself' attitude. With this he managed to head home a corner from Tom in the last minute. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we need to learn that if we get our heads in the game and play as a team we can defeat the best. Lets just hope we managed to make the 3rd round of the SAL Cup when we meet Kew 6s away next. Edward Plaistow
3rd November Merton 4 - 2 Old Westminster Citz (League) (Home) Scorers: Dandrea, Hall, Mark 2 Report: Its was OWCs turn to travel to Joseph Hood this weekend in a game we knew was going to be tough, very tough after last seasons double header at their place. KO was delayed by 15 minutes as the visitors were waiting on a few of their guys to turn up, this was winding everyone up including the ref who informed them that if the had at least 8 players they could start the game. We started the better them and made the 3 man advantage count with Sean finding free space down the right but failing to deliver the prefect cross for the forwards. Things got worse for OWCs after 15 minutes as one of their players went off injured, meaning they were now playing with 7 men. However, they took the lead after some aweful defending. Thats how it stayed until half time. The team talk that Clive game at the interval seemed to work as we started playing the football that we knew we were capable of and took advantage of it. Dan Hall poked in after a Luke corner scrapped the near post. As soon as we bagged the equaliser they had another 3 players turn up, now we were playing 11-a-side. We didnt let this bother us and were still able to continue playing good football. Kasper put us 2-1 up after a great run, twisting through 4 or 5 OWCs players which ended with a 25 yard drive finding the top right hand corner. Alex made it 3-1 5 minutes later with another great run and a strikers finish, chipping the ball over the outrushing goalkeeper. Then we added a forth, Kasper with his second of the game, poking the ball under the keeping after yet anther great run. OWCs did manage to grab a consolation after their forward side footed past Lee to make it 4 - 2. This second half performance gives us confidence going into the AFA Cup game against the holders next week. Edward Plaistow
27th October Merton 3 - 0 Old Wilsonians (League) (Away) Scorers: Whiteoak 2, Freestone Report: This week saw us travel to West Wickham to face Old Wilsonians 7s who struggling to make it off the bottom of the table. We had to travel without our regular goalkeeper, Lee as he had to serve a one match ban for his yellow card picked up against one of the Polys earlier in the season, meaning...it was down to yours truly to deputise, or at least try. The pitch was diabolical, both teams seemed to find it hard getting into their stride but we gradually took the upper hand. Luke Freestone managed to get on the end of Gareth’s cross-shot, finding the bottom left hand corner in the process. Gareth himself found the net shortly after, volleying sweetly into the top left hand corner leaving the keeper with no chance. The second half was pretty much the same with us finding our rhythm and not allowing Old Wilsonians into the game. Gareth made sure of it on the hour mark when he managed to connect with a miss-hit from Dan Outred. If the pitch was in better condition than it was we could have probably made it into double figures for the first time this season with the amount of chances we created, unfortunately we was unable to. Now we look forward to the visit of Old Westminster Citizens to Joseph Hood for what should be an evenly matched game.
20th October Merton 4 - 3 Old Parkonians (SAL Junior Novets Cup) (Home) Scorers: Freestone, Hall 2 , Whiteoak Report:
13th October Merton 2 - 0 Polytechnic 8 (League) (Home) Scorers: Leaver M, Jennings Report:
6th October Merton 0 - 3 West Wickham (League) (Away) Report:
29th September Merton 2 - 3 Polytechnic 7 (League) (Away) Scorers: Whiteoak, Chappell Report: We fielded a weakened team due to regulars missing and 2 late no shows, Poly must have thought it was christmas with 3 gifted goals in the first half hour. We then came to our senses and took control, we replied with goals from Gareth Whiteoak and Mark Chappell, but due to bad finishing and a perfectly good goal being disallowed we came home with nothing. Every season you get a day like this, we must try to make this the only one!! Clive Roberts22nd September Merton 6 - 0 Old Actonians (Away) (League) Scorers: Freestone, Mark, Stevens, Varney, Whiteoak 2 Report: This was the first game of the season and all we wanted was to get 3 points on the board. Actonians allowed us to play the football we were unable to manage in any of our pre-season fixtures, fast flowing with good passing. We took the lead 15 minutes in after a defence slitting pass from Dan Hall allowed Gareth to break free and slide the ball past the outrushing keeper, we grabbed a second shortly after when Kasper managed to pounce on a scramble in the box. At half time we thought to ourselves that we are playing well but we can still play better, we discussed what needed to be done to improve our game and we stuck at it. 10 minutes into the second half Luke managed to score from a tight angle before Gareth added another to his tally. A thumping drive from Tom and a header from Richard also added to the tally of a scoreline that we thought would take us top of the league if it wasn’t for OWC 8s thrashing Old Wilsonians 10-2. If we perform like this next week Polytechnic 7s will have to fight hard in order to get something out of the game.
