(Surrey Premier Cup)

It’s a long journey down to Ash (nr Aldershot) on a Tuesday night but the lads all made it with varying times to spare. Traffic on the A3 was a nightmare. They started better than us and squandered a good breakaway opportunity but we quickly got into the game and it was an even contest but on 30 mins they were awarded a penalty. Nothing dubious about it, as everyone agreed after the game, it just was not one. They scored and immediately from the kick off, with a sense of burning injustice, we conceded a free kick and they chipped it across the box for a very good headed goal.Our heads did not drop but we responded really well to that and pulled one back just before half time with Ackers dispossessing their defender and tucking it away. A great run down the right from Vanny set up Snooks at the near post but their keeper made agood save to stop us going in level at half time. We equalised pretty much straight after half time when Bosh ran through from the half way line beating 2/3 defenders a one two and shot which keeper did well to parry but Snooks slotted the rebound home. We pressed very hard for the winner and had some good chances. Angus had to make a couple of important and brave saves but we looked the most likely to win it but we failed to clear another generously awarded  free kick and eventually it was rifled home from close range for the winner. We looked a very good side. Rat organised our defence really well and had an absolute stand out performance. Ben Cook and the full backs Connor and Tony were disciplined and solid.  The midfield of Will Low, Tills and Snooks really played well together and controlled passages of the game with passing and movement. Will is having a great season. Ackers was back to his old self with some great control on a difficult surface. Bosh and Vanny were a handful with pace. Peter Quainton came down to help out knowing he would be on the bench but it is help like that a team needs and he did well when he came on. Tills captain stood in as main organiser and motivator and did brilliantly. So why did we lose. Well Ash were a decent side they had two or three very good players, strong and skilful and were well organised. They took their chances and played to their strengths and had a good slice of fortune. That, I am afraid, is football. Ash is a nice friendly hospitable football club and even though it was a defeat it was a pretty good evening.  The Ref and Linos did not have a bad game but unfortunately for us he got one big decision wrong and you only have to watch Match of the day on any given Saturday to know that is football. Thanks to Steve and Mckenzie for coming down and helping organise and to our travelling army of supporters and to Ash Utd F C for their hospitality.  Max Herbert

Team: Angus Lees (GK) Tony P, Connor Murphy, Rat, Ben Cook, Will low, Snooks, Tills (Capt) Bosh, Vanny , Snooks. Ackers. Sub Peter Quainton.

Posted in Match Reports 1s

italian job
Merton does the Italian job

Saturday 15th November

5pm – 10.30pm

Tickets £10 Adults, £5 Kids

England v Slovenia live on TV in the bar…..

pasta
3 course Italian meal

Italian wines

prosecco
Prosecco & Wine tasting competition – know your wine!!!!

Dress code – famous Italians / Italian Job 60s version of course

Event ends around 10.30pm ish – so fancy dressers can move on………………..

 

Posted in Uncategorized

U12s lost 5-4 at home vs Carshalton Ath Greens.
Scorers were
Mason 2
Fabian 2
MOM Mckenzie

U11s won 3-1 away vs Raynes Pk Vale Reds.
MOM Thomas

U8s had a friendly tournament at Mitcham Park and finished 3rd, the results were;
Lost 4-0 vs Sutton Utd
Won 2-1 vs Mitcham Pk
Lost 4-1 vs AC Fulham

Posted in Uncategorized

Only 3 games played this weekend, the 1s played Old Salesians at their new ground in Ewell beating the 3 – 2, two goals by Chisanga (one a left foot screamer) and Snooks.  The 2s played Carshalton at home beating them 3 – 0.  The 3s game got called off due to Southgate not having enough players.  The 4s and 5s didn’t have a game.  The 6s played Old Suttonians in the AFA Intermediate Novets Cup losing 2 – 1 with their winning goal in the last seconds of the final whistle.

Posted in Uncategorized

Congratulation to Simon ‘Clappers’ Clapperton, whose wife Sally, gave birth to second daughter on 26th October@ 02.30. Both Sally and baby doing well.

Posted in Uncategorized

Saturday saw the 1s at Old Salesians new ground in East Ewell. It is just as hard to find as their old one but not nearly as nice as their old ground and it’s not their own. It is a great shame for them and it is good to see them making the best of it. This is a story that is being repeated all across amateur football in London and is a worrying trend with old established clubs losing good grounds that are not being replaced. The game was massively important for both sides who were at the start of play the bottom two in the top division. The first half was pretty evenly balanced with I thought Merton playing the better football but Old Sals having the better chances. We had the ball in the net (Will Low) which was given offside. It was very tight. Our good passing play broke down in the last third but Old Sals had good chances which they generally blazed over the bar. The second  half was a much more open affair with all the goals. We went ahead very early in the second half. It really was a scrappy goal, very much the type we concede rather than score. Woody tricked his way past a couple of their defenders on the by line and closed in on goal but then slithered backwards to the ground desperately trying to get a shot away. It was as if the invisible man was pulling him down from behind. In the understandable confusion all this caused in the Old Sals defence Tee managed to poke the ball into the net at the near post.  Old Sals came back at us but we seemed to be dealing quite well with this and created chances of our own. But a through ball saved by Angus but Old Sals struck the rebound away tidily. So with the game opening up Tee was played through and strongly holding off their defender crashed the ball past the keeper from the edge of the box and that is the way I hoped it would stay. Whilst both sides had chances; we hit the post they hit the bar we seemed to be holding on quite well. But then with time running out they equalised in the 90th minute. We failed to clear a free kick and the ball pin balled round our six yard area off players and post and ended up over the line. Angus managed to grapple it out but the lino judged it over the line (correctly). Angus exclaimed  ‘Why  does it always happen to us?’  A fair question but I don’t know why but it does. Luckily the lads did not ponder this conundrum but set about getting the winner. The ref had added on a generous amount of time for our time wasting and with 4 minutes of it both sides had chances  to win it. The game was won in the 93rd minute when a terrific crossfield pass from Al G found Snooks racing on to it on the left and clipping it first time on the half volley past their keeper. Brilliant stuff and a worthy winner of an entertaining game. Pat Ryan reffed it very well as he does with explanations of decisions and the linos did a good job. All our lads put in a terrific shift to overcome a determined opposition. Vanny and Will Low ran themselves into the ground yet again and  Tee did very well holding the ball up and using it well. But this was an all round excellent team performance and a very welcome 3pts. And so back to the club to find the 2s had won their game and there were no incidents.

Team Angus Lees (GK), Jonesy, Ben Cook, Rat, Al G, Will Low, Tills (Capt) Snooks, Woody, Chisanga (Tee) Vanny Tom Rowe, Bosh (Well done to all of you)

Posted in Match Reports 1s

Post-training birthday beers for Wilgo: chicks love Merton. Fact.
Posted in Uncategorized

Six goals and a convincing all round display on our return to the Hood ensured that top spot in division two was retained with all to play for in the promotion stakes with six games to play. With the pitch in fairly good condition after the recent and now cyclical monsoon season it was the men in yellow that settled quickest and once Matty Bosher had finally sprung the offside trap set by a consistently high and square EBOG back four he cooly rounded the keeper to put us one up after 20 minutes. Number two wasn’t far behind after a well delivered ball from captain Clappers again found Bosh in aches of space and again he made no mistake in converting. It was nothing less than we deserved although the game really should have been over as a contest before half time as Bosh squandered two more golden chances and wasteful final deliveries in to the box meant that we couldn’t add to the score line.

Fortunately we didn’t have to wait for long after the break as an Al G volley and Clappers bullet header from respective Whiteman and Van corners put us four to the good. Van then found Tills’s head with a pinpoint cross for the fifth and Woody danced past the keeper to roll home the sixth from the tightest of angles. It was a very encouraging performance with some excellent displays all over the pitch. Six more tough games to go with Broomfield up next.

MOM:

Team:Arthurs, Graves, Clappers (Manton 65), Brown, Al G, Tills, Woody, Snooks, Van, Whiteman, Bosher (Ackers 60)

Written by:James Tilley

Posted in Match Reports 1s

This week saw us travel by tube to visit Old Lyonians in Harrow. The last thing we wanted was to return home with anything less than 3 points. Having defeated the opposition 6 – 2 at home a few weeks prior, we went into the game confident that we could increase our lead at the top of the table. With Josh unavailable we recalled Glen Field to cover between the stick. Aaron and Ben were also absent but Lee returned.

It was clear from the start that the hosts had strengthened their squad since the last meeting. This showed after 15 minutes when they took the lead, a smart finish into the bottom left hand corner put the host 1 – 0 up. We wasn’t behind for long however, Patrick turned up the heat and following an assist from Dan down the right, managed to evade two defenders and slot past the keeper with ease. It remained level going into the break.

We seemed to have taken our foot off the gas come the second half and the opposition were able to capitalise on this from a corner. Their tall centre back rose at the near post to send a looping header into the far top hand corner. Not l long after did they double their advantage, with me failing to catch up with a break down the right, a cross was delivered into the box and converted with ease.

With 20 minutes remaining we upped the ante and pilled pressure on the Old Lyonians defence but the last goal of the game ended up a consolation only. Dan Outred caught a corner with a delightful volley at the near post to mirror the opposition’s third, and send it into the far top hand corner, Prior to Dan’s goal Sevan hit the upright with a neat volley that had little reaction time. As well as having to travel back to Merton on the back of a loss, Glen suffered what seemed to be a broken arm, later to find out it was just tissue damage. We still remain 2 points clear at the top of the table but West Wickham has a chance to become level on points if they win their game in hand.

Next week we host EBOG in the 2nd Round of the SAL Cup. A decent cup run on top of our overall league performance can do nothing but boost our confidence of claiming silverware come the end of the season. Keep the good performances coming boys….

Team: Glen Field (GK) (Lawrence Bispham), Dan Outred, Chris Outred (Capt.), Darren Avey, Edward Plaistow, Dulanie Richards (Lee Lenihan), Sevan Mutafyan, Chris Dodd, Arthur Lewis (Kieran Yansen), Patrick Mhondiwa, Dan Hall

MOM:Patrick Mhondiwa

Written by: Edward Plaistow

Posted in Match Reports 5s

This week we travelled to Beckenham to entertain Lloyds at the Kent County Cricket Club. Having possibly our strongest squad to select from we were optimistic of going back to Joseph Hood still top of the table. Chris Outred stepped in to partner Darren at the back due to Lee’s absence and also skippered the side, a position he will retain going into next weekend’s game following this performance.

We started brightly and took advantage of the possession that was gifted to us by the hosts and it wasn’t long until we dished out the punishment that was on the cards. Chris Dodd unleashed a right footed half volley following a decent run of play down the left that seemed to change a number of directions before finding the back of the net. A rare goal from open play by our ex skipper but one that would be hard to match. Not long after the restart did we double our advantage, again from a corner. Dulanie connecting with Aaron’s corner on the volley, beating the keeper via a deflection. The only other highlight to mention from the first period was when Patrick hit the bar with a 30 yard shot. We ended the half with 10 men as Ben’s right boot needed assistance (taping up).

Going into the break there wasn’t much of a team talk, all we needed to do was continue to play the football we was and try to add toour tally. Being the highest scorers in our league, as well as in Merton, we were confident this could be done.

The second half was pretty much a carbon copy of the first. Lloyds never seemed to be able to get in the game and with Josh being our last line of defence and pulling off a couple of decent saves, a consolation never seemed on the cards. We did however manage to add another 2 goals to our tally. Tee came on for his first appearance in 4 weeks replacing Dan Hall. His appearance didn’t last longhowever due to a recurrence of the injury that side-lined him in the first place. He did manage a goal before leaving the field. A left footed half-volley from 25 yards that dipped over the substitute keeper. Patrick added prior. Those two goals combined with the two we managed in the first 45 minutes gave us a comfortable 4-0 win.

Next up we face a trip to Harrow to take on Old Lyonians. A team that will be looking for revenge following our 6-2 win in October. Let’s hope that the winning run continues……

Team: Josh Brown (GK), Dan Outred, Chris Outred (Capt.), Darren Avey, Edward Plaistow, Dulanie Richards (Arthur Lewis), Ben Lawrence (Sevan Mutafyan), Chris Dodd, Aaron Ackerman, Dan Hall (Tee Nash Bizayi), Patrick Mhondiwa

MOM:Patrick Mhondiwa

Written by: Edward Plaistow

Posted in Match Reports 5s