6s vs Alleyn Old Boys – 05.11.16

Another home game on a chilly day for the mighty sixes and with back to back wins under their belt, expectations were high against a physical looking Alleyns side.

It wouldn’t be a match report without mentioning our fallen midfield hero John who still has a sprained wrist from too much……………….fifa! Get well soon buddy!

With everyone arriving nearly on time, things were looking positive and with a quick warm up and team talk from the skipper we were off and running. 

From the off Merton were playing some subline football and creating numerous opportunities to put the ball in the net when disaster struck!

A slight lapse in concentration from the skipper left him with a decision to make, take out the onrushing striker or let him pass and score.  Well, I don’t need anyone to tell me I made the wrong decision and Alleyns went 1-0 up.

The good thing about football is that when you make mistake early on, you get a chance to make amends.  Almost immediately after going behind, Merton had a corner.  A beautiful ball was put in by Chris and with the skipper out thinking the defenders by moving one way and other (tits one way and gut other!) he leaped like a salmon migrating up river and thundered in a header and the Merton fans (Matt) went wild in celebration. 1-1!

From then on Merton dominated and created some great chances to take the lead.  Finally, the pressure told and with Paul nicking the ball off the defender, he squared it to Pete who slotted in for his first goal of the season and finally his reward for some great play in recent weeks! 2-1 Merton

With the wind on our back we played some great football and should have been out sight, but Alleyns remained in the game.  With half time approaching, we were awarded a dubious corner! Pete took it and with the help of the wind it was going in directly but Tyron decided to touch it with his arse or thigh and turned it in to give Merton a 3-1 lead at half time.

After the break and with a few fresh legs Merton decided they didn’t want to play football anymore and maybe thought the game was won.  How wrong we were!  With the wind getting stronger and now in our faces it was playing havoc with the newly acquired professional match ball and Merton struggled to clear their lines!  Beans was jumping way to early and heading fresh air (sorry Beans, had to try and give you stick for mocking me in the last report!).  He had a good game really!  Anyway, Alleyns had a change of personnel and now seemed to be playing players in their most dangerous positions and causing the back four havoc!  They scored straight away with a good solo goal and we were thinking the worse.

With attack after attack the Merton defence and goalkeeper repelled most efforts with some great tackles and great saves from Michael.

With Alleyns pouring forward looking for an equaliser, Merton went up the other end scored on the break!  Dan taking a pot shot and the ball swerving over the keeper.  4-2 Merton and surely we couldn’t throw this away! WRONG!!  Back came Alleyns and they scored again with a well placed wind assisted effort in the bottom corner. 4-3! 

At this point Merton were really struggling and an equaliser looked to be on the cards! Merton were first thankful for the woodwork and then a superb one handed save from a point blank header by Michael!  This was the kick up the arse we needed and now with the wind dying in the late afternoon sunshine, Merton retained control of the game and started to create chances.  First Pete went close and also a shot from Chris was saved well.  With a few minutes left Trey chased down a hopeful pass by Paul, beat the offside trap and the keeper to score his first goal for Merton! 5-3 and surely that was the end of that! WRONG!  There was still time for Alleyns to score a superb consolation to make the final score 5-4 to Merton.  A truly great game and would have definitely been match choice on sky!

I would like to say the sixes are gelling really well now and with the injection of youth confidence is starting to come back! The first half was the best I have seen a sixes team play in a long while and we should have been four or five goals clear!

As I write this, numbers are high again for selection this week and unfortunately will have to move a few players around as to make both the sixes and sevens competitive.  If I move you around don’t feel you have been dropped, but I want to give the sevens the best chance possible of surviving and this means we all may have to move around from time to time – all I am doing is trying give everyone football so bear with me!

Now man of the match, could honestly say everyone put a shift in! Special mentions go to Callum who had a great game with some superb touches and direct play.  Chris for his non-stop running and his shots which are finally getting closer to the target!  But this week it has to go to Paul – he was brilliant, two assists and broke up play well and was on time so well done him!

Dick of the Day was a hard choice, it could have gone to a number of players – Beans for missing every header this week (it was the new balls fault!), Chappell for going down injured again (fourth week in a row!).  But this week I am giving this to Tyrone!!!  Claiming a goal that was going in already direct from a corner off your arse/thigh from half a yard is not in the spirit of the game – poor form (tin hat on when he reads this as he will moan all week!!!!)

Let’s get another win next week!

Line up:  Michael, Josh, Beans, Chappell, skipper, Callum, Ty, Chris, Paul, Trey, Pete

Subs: Adam, Aman, Dan P