Again I have the pleasure of writing another match report due to this stupid rule someone (me) made about the dick of the day writing them! However I don’t mind getting dick of the day when actually I got it for taking one (not a dick) for the team. The oppo broke and I had a choice … let him go and risk a dangerous attack or protect my back four and absolutely chop the fella in two …… I didn’t need to think twice about that. The ref thought it was a yellow but as he ran towards me clutching his top pocket he realised (unlike my team mates) I had very little option
but to do what I did and instead said “calm down a little”. The vote was closely contested though with Glenn who received a few votes for not being able to use google maps correctly. In fact the votes stood at 3/3 until Dan who was looking for his lost keys (which in hindsight very few of us actually helped with the search) entered the bar with roars of “have you voted yet?” Coming from the crowd of blood thirsty boars who were clearly waiting for an outright Dick! Dan at this point could not give a flying **** about who had won/lost the vote quickly jotted down two names and cited me for the above mentioned tackle. (Which again I had no choice over, was protecting my team, didn’t get booked for and stopped a very dangerous attack. But I won’t say anything, a vote is a vote and I respect that. I respect it a lot!!!) Back to the actual match report…. It was a long trip north for Merton 3s but with great hope. With everyone finding their way to the ground pretty easily except for Glen (who continues to have trouble with modern technology and the concept of Google Maps). The lads were eager to ensure the long trip north would not be a waste of time. With some boars having a round trip of more than 100 miles this certainly was a need to take some points Home kind of day. We knew instantly we would have no excuses today as the surface was beautiful and we had pride of place on pitch 1 directly outside the clubhouse. We started with a solid looking 4-4-2 formation but soon found ourselves overrun in the middle of the park. Their three in the middle took control of the game and we were immediately put under pressure. We couldn’t find our feet and with a lot of hectic passing, long balls and scrappy tackling the oppo sensed early on that we were a bit weary from our long journey. We were put under immense pressure with a distinct lack of possession early on but the oppo lacked any significantly dangerous fire power and our bodies were put on the line to sniff out and advert an early goal. After about 20 minutes a free kick was given just forward of the left back position, a delightful cross
picked out a player round the back post who rose high and above the defender(me) to powerfully head home the opener.
A quick formation change moving to more of a 4-5-1 formation really helped us get our confidence back. We started moving the ball quicker and using Denys who lead the line immensely all game and Glenn looked a lot more comfortable and dangerous out on the right. We started to play some football and test the goalie and net behind the goal with a few pop shots. The most significant effort was a free kick pushed over the bar from Glenn which two yards either side would have been a beauty. The team were playing better but there was no doubt the oppo were pushing for a second. Again a few half chances fell their way but resolute heart on your sleeve type defending generally doing the job. Just on the stroke of half time another dangerous attack left their striker 1v1 with our keeper Dan who quickly came off his line to close down the angle and make himself big, the striker under pressure hit it hard straight into Dan’s face and deflected wide for a corner. It was a superb stop by Dan’s face which his brain, arms and body had absolutely no idea about. The half-time chat was about work rate, second balls and relaxing on the ball a little. A straight swap with Andy coming on for Jordan the team set up to continue their 4-5-1 formation. This was a totally different start to the half, we took the game to Owens straight away and pushed a little higher up the pitch. With high pressure Owens started to lose the ball on a regular basis and with Andy proving to be a real handful Merton started to dominate the game.
A wayward through ball left Vincenzo with time to clear up… he took a look up and saw Glenn on the right hand side and played a delightful ball over the left backs head into Glenn’s stride. Glenn immediately sensed a goal and rounded the keeper to draw level. The young side of Owens lost their head a little at this point and we continued to grow in confidence. Dan in goal was plucking balls out of the air at every opportunity and we were really using our wide men well. With Iain being dogged and oozing class in the middle we looked firmly on top. Once again Glenn pealed off the left back (who by this point must have wanted the game to end) and latched onto another peach of a ball from Dan. The keeper came steaming out trying to replicate Dan’s first half save only for Glenn to cooly lift it over him and finishing sweetly. 2-1 up! Confidence was high and the second sub was made with Fitz coming in for a straight swap for Me. There was some debate as who should come off with Darcys name being mentioned but an executive decision was made and thank god we did…..After another few promising attacks and solid defending we got a free kick on the right, this was beautifully swung in by Dan and met by Darcy who rose like a salmon to cushion header the ball as slow as possible across the goal onto the post and in, some say shit goal and possibly. The first time ever a dotd vote given to a player for scoring a goal! 3-1… Now to see out the game. OO knew now they had to up their game and started to exert pressure however the defence stood firm until 15 mins to go when their striker danced a merry jig through the defence and slotted home. Maybe we should have defended better, maybe it was a good goal. Nonetheless it was backs to the wall stuff, with periods of dangerous play always threatening OO and pushing to kill the game again we managed to secure a deserved three points. A great result with wild celebrations with the winners song being played in the shoe box changing room which all enjoyed! A well deserved Man of the Match to Glenn, but there were also other top performances from Both Dans, Denys, Andy and Iain all had 8/10 performances. Dick of the day??? You having a laugh? You jesters
 
MAN OF THE MATCH: Glenn
DICK OF THE DAY: Neal
Posted in Match Reports 3s