Year: 2016

2s Report  30^th Jan

Polytechnic Res (0) 4,  Merton Res  (1)  1

Poly is one of the jewels of the SAL and It is always good to go there. Particularly on this day with the sun shining and playing on their top pitch which looked pretty good. And Poly usually play good passing football with a good attitude.

Poly, top of the table, unsurprisingly dominated Merton (bottom of the table) but the only surprising thing was that kicking into the wind ad up the hill we went into half time a goal to the good. We defended resolutely but Poly squandered some good chances and their final ball let them down. We scored against the run of play when we were awarded a penalty for a block from a well struck Jason Thomas shot. Chris Rayner took it and scored comfortably. So with the wind and down hill for the second half meant that we might get something from the game but that was not to be and our luck was out. Poor defending cost us dearly. They equalised from the spot which we disputed but it had come from poor defending and a wrestling match. Who fouled who and inside or outside but I was not surprised at the award. This had a devastating impact on us. We conceded a sloppy second goal when we switched off. At 2-1 down we had a little rally and Jase got a good shot away but it was straight at the keeper. The third goal was a header from a cross which held up in the wind and the fourth looked well off side. With DQ having been injured early on and our sub used we ran out of steam and heart and it was not unfair that Poly got all the points. Merton’s man of the match was Ryan Gresty and there was a good performance from Seb and Joe. Thanks to the lads from the 3s who stepped up helped us out. Mustard had a particularly good performance and now looks like a full back. Eggy had to do a predator as a punishment for being late but he downed it with ease. So a disappointing score in the end but not a bad day.

Team: Sherbs (GK), Eggy, Paercey, Joe Griff, Mustard, Ryan G, Chris Rayner, Wilgo, DQ (Sub Seb), Jase,  Denys

[Show slideshow]

Weirside Rangers 3s vs. Merton 4s
SAL Minor Division 1 South
Saturday 30^th January 2016

Battered, bruised, and perhaps a little embarrassed. That’s probably how you might have expected the Merton 4s to have felt when they arrived at Weirside on Saturday given the 8-0 hammering that was dished out by Alleyn the week before. Yet there was a surprisingly quiet calm about them on the day. A strong squad was assembled, the mood was pretty positive, and after a strong team talk led by John Gridley, the lads took to what was a relatively poor pitch primed for battle.

The action got underway with Merton into the sun for the first half. There was a slight breeze off the right, but the biggest element to contend with in terms of flowing football was the heavy and slow field, which made crisp passing difficult and was sure to take a bit out of the players’ legs as the match wore on.

Nevertheless, the Yellows started solidly, if not spectacularly, against a feisty Weirside Rangers outfit. There wasn’t much attacking thrust, but with the manager having packed 5 into the midfield, there was a definite stability and shape about Merton from the get go.

Dan Gridley shored things up notably in the middle of it all, Mikey and Jake were working hard, but the main attacking threat came on the wings, with Dulanie and Arnold chasing balls tirelessly and thanklessly. Perhaps the only frustration came from the fact that the handy crosses the two of them were putting in were to a largely empty box. Yet this was no reflection on Dom, who, on his own upfront, was magnificent in his hold-up play, and carving out little bursts when he was seemingly swamped by defenders.

But in the opening period, Merton were largely restricted to half chances; a few shots from the edge of the area, while Mikey was unable to hit the target with a free kick in a good position. At the other end, Rangers had been well contained, but did squander two gild-edged opportunities to take the lead. The first saw a shot from 10 yards out sail over the crossbar, while, on the stroke of half time, a free header from point blank was skewed wide.

It meant the relieved 4s had parity at the break at 0-0, and there was a buzz about them as they strode back out onto the pitch. They knew that, with the sun now at their backs, this was their chance to crack on. They began the half steadily once again, snuffing out any threats from Weirside, working even harder to close them down, and, for the first time in the match, were beginning to get on top of the opposition.

In a tight game like this though, with neither side giving an inch, it was going to take something special to break the deadlock, and it was Dan who duly delivered the goods. He held up a longish ball on the edge of the box with ease. He paused. He darted forward. He turned. He shrugged off the defence. He dispatched. And, gloriously, it flew into the back of the net. 1-0 Merton and delirium ensued.

Once the joyous scenes died down, it was all about getting the heads back on and doing even more for the remaining half hour. “Back to 0-0, boys” was the call, and too right it was. The hard work continued, and every man to a tee was in sync. The defence had the measure of what was being thrown at them, the midfield – now with Seb and Joe on the park as replacements – were getting stuck in, but it was Dom who was providing the outlet going forward; simply immense despite the workload he was shouldering.

However, as is inevitable, there were some heart-in-mouth moments with such a slender lead. Sam nearly made a mess of his effort to shepherd a ball for a goal kick, which the Rangers attacker intercepted and then smashed into the woodwork. Mike’s diving clearance avoided the ignominy of an own goal by a matter of inches. And, with the Yellow defence caught unusually short at the back, Sam did ever so well to come off his line in a one-on-one which resulted in their striker tugging his shot wide.

But a heavy-legged Merton outfit were hanging on, scrapping and giving it their all, and the decisive blow came with just five minutes to go. They won a free kick about 25 yards out, and with the wind coming off the left shoulder, the call came for a left footer to do the business. The man for the job was Dom, who’d scored with his last free kick at Old Wilsonians. On that occasion though, it was a mediocre strike which had benefited from a favourable bounce. What could he produce here?

In short, a rampaging, thunderous, out-of-this-world belter that was still climbing as it flew past the helpless Rangers keeper and smashed into the onion bag. Take a bow son. That was as good as you’ll ever see. 2-0 and the boys were in ecstasy.

A slightly hairy moment or two followed though – Weirside charged up the other end from the restart and threatened. There was a scramble or two at the back, but Merton survived again with some committed defending. And with the hosts now caught short at the back, Seb led the counter. He fed Dom, who in turn fed Dan Gridley. There was only ever going to be one outcome. He dummied, he pulled it inside, and slotted the ball home from a tight angle to make it 3-0, with what was almost the last kick of the game. What a finish!

The final whistle blew soon after, and a tired but proud Merton side departed for the change rooms. What an unbelievable performance it had been. After the humiliation of last week, three goals, three points and a clean sheet. You simply can’t fashion a more emphatic response than that. What belief this will give the 4s for the remainder of the season too. It re-affirmed the notion that, when this team is at full strength and reading from the same hymn sheet, there aren’t many teams who can stand in their way. Bring on Actonians next week.

FINAL SCORE: Weirside Rangers 3s 0 – 3 Merton 4s SCORERS: Dan Gridley (2), Dom Plumridge MOTM: Dom Plumridge. So tough on Dan G, who was superb and scored 2 goals. But it has to go to Dom. Sensational performance.

STARTING LINE-UP: Samuel Singer-Ripley (GK), John Gridley, Mike Todt, Chris Outred, Edward Plaistow, Arnold Collier (Sevan Mutafyan), Jake Hewitt (Joe Plumridge), Mike Elgar, Dan Gridley, Dulanie Richards, Dom Plumridge.

****Warning, the below report is offensive to the eyes****
As little can be said about this result, the better, but I will give you a brief rundown of events:
Match Stats brought to you by Ricki’s Dog.

                        Merton / Old Blues

Goals Scored.        1 / 2
Shots on target.      1 / 2
Shots off target.     68 / 0
Corners.                   27 / 1
Penalties missed.      2 / 0
Open goals missed.  1 / 0

With FA cup fever in the air, Merton heading to their home away from home, Wimbledon Common Extensions. Opposition were Old Blues 3’s who were looking for their 1st win this year, and all season come to think about it…
Mood in the camp was good, even after the 30min pitch inspection.
No sounds system bangers in the changing room was, in hindsight a fatally flaw in proceedings, so with DJ Pap’s on the “1’s n 2’s”, Merton got ready to commence battle.
The game started, much as the Chelsea vs MK Dons game did, with Merton having all of the possession and knocking the ball around nicely. Like Chelsea, Merton could have been 9.0 by half time, but that’s where the similarities stop.
Instead Merton were only 1.0 up, thanks to Darcy, with the only shot on target that half.
(In fairness, Merton hit the post and the cross bar twice, but as the saying goes, almost doesn’t count).
Half time brought some reassuring words from ‘el Capitano’. Complacency needed to be thrown out of the window and we needed to start punishing them. Tactically we singled out there right back (who couldn’t actually kick the ball) as the weakest link…just.
New goalkeeper signing Besty aka ‘Beasty’ wondered what he had let himself in for. 45min on a muddy pitch, in the wind and rain and he hadn’t touched the ball yet.
So the 2nd half started, much like the 1st with Merton dominating and missing the target. A rare attack saw Old Blues get there first corner of the game.
I’m not sure what happened, maybe Merton forgot what an opposing corner looked like, but needless to say, the deadly right back who struggled with his feet, lost his marker and headed home a good goal.
Beasty 1st touch for his new found club was getting the ball out of his own net…
Old Blues had the wind in their sails now and the pressure was on.
Now Merton had 2 choices, BOAR up and be counted or fall to pieces.
After a sticky start since conceding the goal, Merton started to find their way again.
Some lovely football set Donno through clear on goal. After beating the keeper, and with only an open goal in front of him, dear Dave wanted to make life interesting for his team mates.
Maybe he was thinking of his celebration already, or maybe the curse of being ‘Dick of the Day’ last week caught up with him, anyway, he knocked it wide.
Never the less, Merton continued to push and miss the target. Then, out of nowhere, Old Blues goal keeper came steaming out and took out a Merton player inside the box. Clear pen.
Was Merton luck about to change???
This time, it was the turn for another Dave to step up and be counted (despite not being penalty taker and refusing to give it up to the inform, deadly striker Darcy 😉
The Old Blues keeper, who had asked to borrow a pair of goalkeeper gloves before the game, took his spot on the line. Dave stepped up, gave the keeper the eye and hit it straight at him.
Old Blues players started celebrating by doing the GangMan style dance around the Ref. Si (the Ref) was having none of it and ordered a retake.
In screens, which have never before been seen, the keeper proceeded to save the 2nd pen. One of the fans went on record saying “Unbelievable Jeff”.
With Merton not put off by these remarkable series of events, they continued to look for the 2nd goal.
Merton won their 27th corner of the game.
(Apologies again for not knowing entirely what happened here, but it looked like something that I have not seen since year 6 at primary school, playing football in the playground). So Merton take the corner, Old Blues get the ball and score to make it 1.2 to the visitors.
New boy Beasty gets his 2nd touch of the game, again picking the ball out the net.
(Beasty did make a save 1st, but the story sounds better my way!).
Merton tried in vain to find an equaliser, with more way ward shooting.
Old Blues didn’t make it easy for Merton, by making substitutes every time the ball went out of play for the last 10min of the game.  
In the end, it was a very sobering defeat for Merton.
Old Blues players have never been so happy, and in the scenes that followed, I genuine thought they had won the FA cup, Champagne was being sprayed, wives and kids were on the pitch, it was pandemonium.  
BOARS need to take a long hard look at themselves in the water hole and learn how to shot (on target).
“Merton are still looking for their 1st win of 2016… Pressure is growing on the board to take action and bring in Jose Mourinho… ” (The Sunday Sport Supplement in the Merton times dated 31.1.16).  

Man of the Match: Darcy, closely followed by the rule setter Neil.

Dick of the Dave: Dave, closely followed by… you guessed it, Dave D.

Ben Yates

Team arrived with 1 sub today to face Wallington U10s in League Cup.

We had beaten them twice this season and lost once.

We got off to poor start going 2 goals down in 5 minutes and I reminded boys to remember what we had discussed before kick off pass and move.

We soon came back to 2-2 and then 2nd half we went 6-2 up.

Great goals with cracking bullet thunder bolt header from Zion….William played brilliantly in midfield and Jamal scored 2 set up 3 which Zion scored hatrick and 1 own goal coming from a Stevie cross which Wallington defender sliced like a pizza into his own net..

Another example of teamwork and staying focused on passing and movement off ball.

Very proud moment for all parents and management. .. this is a special team.

MOM this week William in midfield first great work and commitment shown.

Onwards we go to next round.

David Laughton
Acting Manager on the day.

Todays Youth Results. U10s beat Wallington Wanderers 6-3 U11s beat Wangas 4-1, U12s drew 1-1 with Carshalton Athletic, U13s drew 1-1 with Sandgate F C and U14s lost to Doverhouse,
A good set of results as our youth section gathers momentum. Well done to everyone involved. And Thanks to Doverhouse who let us hire their pitches so that these games could be played.

Results today, 1s draw 0-0 with Actonians under lights at T&M. 2s lose 4-1 to Poly but still a great place to go and lead 1-0 at HT. 3s lose to Old Blues 2-1, 4s win 4-0 and 6s beat Old Wilsons 9s 3-1. 5s game got called off away to Carshalton.

Forty two long days had passed for the mighty Merton 4s since they had last trudged onto the field together. The Christmas break,  combined with the ongoing problems with waterlogged pitches had scuppered the momentum of morale-boosting, back-to-back wins in early December, so the task of toppling the table-topping Alleyn Old Boys on a dreadfully boggy Wimbledon Common Extensions pitch was a stiff one.

Nevertheless, with a near full-strength squad, the Yellows had no reason to fear, and made a steady, albeit defensive start to the match. Getting out of their own half was proving difficult against a visibly superior Alleyn outfit, who showed impressive quality passing the ball around on a woeful surface. It didn’t lead to any goals for the first 25 minutes though, as Merton dug in gamely.

But the breakthrough had an air of inevitability about it, as one of their pacey strikers beat the offside trap and slotted home clinically to make it 1-0. The second came 10 minutes later; again some good interplay that proved very difficult to deal with. The finish was clinical too, Sam had no chance, and 2-0 it was.

Yet while it wasn’t exactly an unfair score line, it was a little tough on the hosts, who had done well to carve out some decent chances of their own through direct football. Dulanie got on the end of a fine cross from Mikey, and was unlucky to see his header on goal well saved.

There was also some controversy, with Dom brought down by the last man when it appeared he was clean through on goal. A free kick, but no card, and it became a bit farcical as Billy’s subsequent effort with the dead ball was deliberately handled on the outskirts of the box – again no card from the official though.

And seconds before the whistle came for half time, a delightful overhead flick found Mikey just a few yards out, but a difficult finish to execute slid agonisingly wide. Still, the heads were up at the interval. At 2-0 the game was far from gone, and with the whole team working hard and Dom and Dulanie chasing down and holding up long balls admirably, there was hope.

The first 15 minutes after the restart were decent too, with Merton putting in some good tackles and working hard. But the third goal was the straw that broke the camel’s back. A simple through ball managed to squeeze through the defensive line, and the Joleon Lescott-esque Alleyn forward simply had too much pace, and tucked it away to make it 3-0.

The heads hadn’t quite dropped at that stage, and Merton charged up the other end soon after and had half a chance to pull one back. But with that attempt foiled, Alleyn counter attacked, and with the Yellow’s caught short, the opposing striker again found himself one on one with Sam and made no mistake.

That made it 4-0, and the rest, quite frankly, was a nightmarish blur. The goals flew in from all angles. Among them was a goal where the player was clearly offside, but like the South African cricket team losing wickets, the scoreboard kept ticking over. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Mercifully, the referee may have called an end to proceedings a few minutes early, with the damage kept to single figures. A cold shower afterwards seemed like a fitting end to the dispiriting two hours of football before it.

But the lads should also keep a cool head when assessing the performance as a whole. The opponents have a 100% record in the league, and for an hour, we held them at bay and caused them a few problems of their own. Yes, the wheels came off for the final half hour, but that’s best forgotten about. There are winnable games to come – let’s consign this one to history, and continue the run we started at the end of last year.

FINAL SCORE: Merton 4s 0 – 8 Alleyn Old Boys 4s SCORER: None MOTM: Dom Plumridge

STARTING LINE-UP: Samuel Singer-Ripley (GK), John Gridley, Steve Burchell, Mike Todt, Edward Plaistow, Chris Outred, Mike Elgar, Seb Lechanoine (Arnold Collier), Billy Dowie, Dulanie Richards, Dom Plumridge.

Todays Youth Results. U10s beat Roehampton Rangers 10-1. U11s drew with Bedfont Eagles 3-3. U12s lost 2-1 to Twickenham Tigers. U13s drew 2-2 with top of the table Motspur Park and U14s beat Molesey Juniors 4-1. Well done to Nick and the boys Also thanks to Dave Laughton who has been rushing about this weekend reffing games to help out.