Category: Match Reports 7s

Merton 2-2 Old Blues

 

After getting their first win of the season, the still adjusting 7s welcomed Old Blues at home. Playing on a more familiar pitch, Merton lined up in the classic 4-4-2 whereas Old Blues went for the newly fashionable 3-5-2. They had obviously watched some MNF and fancied themselves as tactical geniuses.

 

A bright start from Merton bought an early corner from which Adam B nodded just over, and the Old Blues seeing they would be exploited out wide, switched to the 4-4-2 to match up to Merton. This paid immediate dividends, the Blues picked up the ball between Noor and Dobson and with the Merton back 4 out of shape drove through and slotted it past stand in keeper Martin and the Old Blues had an early 1-0 lead.
For the next half-hour the 7s were under the cosh, the blues dominated possession of the ball and managed to force a few decent chances. Around the 20 minute mark, the away sides big man up top found himself one on one with Martin who made a brilliant one handed save, down low to his left to deny the Blues from extending their lead. Threatening further from a series of corners and free kicks whipped into the box, Merton managed to gain some control towards the end of the half.

Steve and Adam B started to impose themselves on the whiny number 8 of Old Blues and the 7s managed to create a few chances for themselves. After some pinball in the box the ball dropped to Noor, presenting him with the chance to put Merton back on level terms but he skewed his shot just wide. Soon the pressure became too much, with a through ball from Steve to Adam E who burst down the right flank and instead of shooting, opted to dink a ball across the 6-yard area. The keeper palmed it into the sky, with the ball dropping inches away from the goal line, Noor confidently chested it in to make up for his earlier miss. 1-1.

A crunching tackle by Tom R on the whiny number 8 of Old Blues was a particular highlight of the half and with Malcolm dropping back to add numbers to the midfield, Merton ended the half well with a bit more control.

Nathan entered the fray for the second half, tasked with keeping the number 8 quiet, he did a great job and this set Merton up well to be more competitive in the second half. There were few chances for either side in the second half with Martin dominating the box at corners and free kicks (a true jack of all trades!) and Merton doing well down the wings with the full backs pushing forward where possible.

Unfortunately the Blues regained the lead midway through the second half, the right winger played a lovely deep cross into the box which Josh managed to get a head on with the blues captain waiting to pounce behind. But the header diverted the ball back into the mixer, which Martin didn’t manage to claim and after a small scramble the ball was at the feet of their captain who couldn’t miss from 2 yards. 2-1 to the Old Blues.

Merton didn’t let their heads drop and thought they were going to draw level when Josh intercepted a pass out from the back, and with the opposition back 4 out of position, played a lovely though ball to Scott which left him one on one with the keeper, unfortunately Scott’s shot was saved (apparently, the ref gave a goal kick…) and it was still 2-1 to the blues.

The 7s were getting closer and finally managed to get make a chance count when Adam E found some space on the right after some good work and picked a lovely pass to find the other Adam in the box, he smashed home and it was 2-2 with 10 minutes left! The Blues hit the post with a lovely effort from outside the box but really there seemed like there would only be one winner with most of the chances falling to Merton at the end of the game. However they couldn’t find the goal they needed and 2 all seemed like a fair result after a good game all round, onwards and upwards for the 7s. Starting XI: Martin (GK), Josh K-H, Dan A (C), Tom R, Dobson, Adam E, Steve, Adam B, Noor, Malcom and Scott

Bench: Jon and Nathan

Man of the Match: A close call but, Josh K-H for his marauding runs from full-back as well as tenacious defending. England’s answer to Dani Alves?

Dick of the Day: Again hard to call anyone out but Jack Taylor for not showing up and (as far as these reporters know) not telling us why, we miss his big beard

 

Merton 8 – 3 Alleyn Old Boys

 

Striding out onto the spacious 1s pitch for what will probably be the only time, the Merton 7s were ready to face Alleyns Old Boys. News had filtered to us that that Alleyns had only manged to get 9 players down to face the mighty 7s, as such the 7s were feeling confident about the prospect of getting a first league win of the season.
Starting out in a classic 4-4-2, Merton took a few minutes to adjust to the understandably strange 4-3-1 (or was it 3-4-1!) of Alleyns. Getting the ball out to the wings where Merton could stretch the 9 man Alleyns seemed to be the go to move. One early move saw Glory collect the ball and play it across to Dobson who slid it into the feet of Malcolm; he kept his composure and fired home low past the keeper. 1-0 Merton.

Buoyed by this early goal Merton began to the press the opposition, knowing their options were limited.  After some further pressure, Glory collected the ball on the left wing, spinning past the right back, he quickly ran across the back-line before firing past the keeper low into the corner a brilliant solo effort, Merton had doubled their lead! Two quickly became three when Dobson collected a simple ball through the middle, beating the keeper at the second attempt. Merton were 3 up and making their numerical advantage count.
At this point Merton were nonchalantly passing the ball about, sensing an easy afternoon. However a simple ball over the top, leading the injured Lenners to shout for the ball only to get into a mix up with the centre back and striker for Alleyns. The striker profiting from this mix up to slot home. 3-1.

Merton were then again caught cold when the Alleyns big number 9 picked up the ball in between the midfield and defence running at the defences before curling the ball into the goal from outside the box with a wonder strike. 3-2. Things were now a lot more tense and soon after, another Alleyns player had turned up leading to them now boasting 10 players, surely they couldn’t let this one slip! The game becoming a lot more even before the referee blew for half-time.
A couple of changes were made to freshen up the side with Nathan and Jon replacing Tom and Dobson. Merton looked to have restarted with a renewed composure to their game, spreading the ball about and waiting for the opportunities to present themselves rather than trying force the issue. Their patience soon paid off, Glory made himself another great goal following a jinking run to restore the home side’s two goal cushion.

Again Merton managed to lose their composure and shape, finding themselves wide open to the counter on a few occasions. Alleyns capitalised after the right winger found a great cross after a run down the wing which was nodded in by the oncoming striker. 4-3 and the game was back on.

From here on in the goals flowed for Merton, in all honesty with 11 goals in this game I can’t remember them all and the order may well be wrong! For the fifth, Josh spotted the run of Glory and found him just inside the box, Glory’s cross-come-shot bobbled around the box and landed at the feet of Malcolm who doubled his tally for the game. The chance were coming thick and fast now with the 10 men of Alleyns back to 9 after an injury to one of their players, Adam managed to miss a golden opportunity with the goal at his mercy and Glory and Malcom both got their Hat-Tricks. Jack rounded things off with a lovely side footed finished low into the bottom left as the game was drawing to a close. 8-3 was the final score and there were 3 points were on the board for the fledgling 7s. Full respect must go to Alleyns for giving it a right go in difficult circumstances, but as the saying goes, you can only beat what’s in front of you and Merton managed that.

Starting XI: Lenners (GK), Josh K-H, Dan A (C), Tom, Martin, Adam, Jack, Dobson, Glory, Malcom, Tom

Subs: Nathan and Jon

Man Of The Match: A tough one but it’s a tie between Glory and Malcolm who both scored a hat-full of goals.

Dick Of The Day: No one deserves to be dick of the day after such a good performance.

22 October 2016
Report by Martin Quinlan

Merton 7XI v Crouch End Vampire 6th Score 5 – 1

So, a new beginning for Merton with a 7th XI for the 3rd time since 1978-1979, and for those like me, who played in the 1978/79 team! As it happens it was against Crouch End Vampires (CEV).

The team generally turned up on time and it was just a case of working out who played in each position in the classic 4-4-2. One advantage Dan was A providing a goalkeeper, Jon, and the rest of the team seemed to sort itself out through until just before kick-off when we had to do a quick reshuffle.

My preparation was also hampered by trying to find a complete/clean yellow kit, but we ended up starting our new beginnings in Blue.

Once the game started, we soon settled as a team and played some good football with a strong central midfield pair of David and Andrew and two youngsters Billy and Emmanuel the wing. The defence was solid: Femi, Dan, Tom and Martin, which meant Jon in goal had little to do, and Malcolm and Scott up front. We created several chances before finally breaking the deadlock after about 20 minutes with a good move finished by Emmanuel. For the rest of the half we were on top, even making 2 subs. We scored 2 further goals: a header from David G, and a shot from Scott.

At half time we made further changes which initially set us back a bit as we took time to settle again and Crouch End Vampires did find their feet a bit. Once we did settle we did play well again and scored again with a goal – Billy off Malcolm; a father and son scoring in the same match.

We were then forced into changes after a clash of heads between Dave G and a CEV player; both having to go off. Since CEV only had 11 players we loaned them Emmanuel for a few minutes. Scott scored a cracking second goal or was it a cross? However I wasn’t watching as I was considering further changes. CEV did get a consolation goal.

In general it was a good team performance although there are things to work upon, as we did get overrun a bit in midfield at times, however CEV did play a very attacking formation.

Many thanks to Ed Plaistow and Mike Todt for refereeing, however you are better as players! Big up to Emmanuel for helping CEV briefly; in fact he played for 3 teams on the day, none in yellow, and also to CEV for coming down from North London and staying for a few drinks.

If we are added to the league the opposition will be tougher in most cases and we will even get to play our 6s for second time in just over eleven years. However, Saturday represented a great start, and a perfect launchpad for this new-look team.

Team: Jon T., Femi S., Tom R, Dan A., Martin Q., Emanuel, David G., Andrew D., Billy G., Malcolm K., Scott S.
Subs: Dusan B., Tiago C.

Goals: Scott 2, Emanuel, David & Billy
Miss of the day Dave with sore head

We didn’t do MOM & DOD this week but will in further weeks.