Author: Matt Haswell
- 0
The first game of 2017 for the 4s finally came to pass, albeit with a bit of pitch shuffling required. Ambitiously scheduled to play at the Hood, the fixture against fellow relegation rivals Old Wilsonians was then moved to the delightful Wimbledon Common Extensions. However, upon arrival, the designated pitch was truly awful. Fortunately, there were an array to choose from, and after various inspections, play was declared possible on the furthest one, which was bathed in sunlight.
Onto the game then, and the Merton squad looked a good one, with only a couple of notable absentees. The formation was a sort of 4-5-1, albeit with a few nuances to it. Anyway, with the sun at their backs, sporting an AC Milan-style kit (with very ‘snug’ shorts), Merton faced the kick off in a confident mood, and immediately had the ascendancy in the game. Despite the poor surface, there was some good passing on the deck, and Aaron and Mike Vogt were providing excellent outlets on either side.
Chances and half chances came thick and fast, and Merton deservedly took the lead about 15 minutes in, with some good buildup in the midfield, and then a fine through ball sending Mike Vogt on his way. He still had plenty to do, but his finish in the top right corner of the net was pinpoint. 1-0 to Merton, and no more than they deserved.
The lads continued to work hard, but a cruel blow was struck soon after. Wilsonians hit a ball down the left-hand touchline which went out by a good few yards, before curling back in. Merton understandably stopped, in expectation of the throw. But the ref, who hadn’t seen it, waved play on. A brief shambles in the box ensued, before a blocked clearance landed at the feet of the fortuitous Wilsonians striker, and he swept it home from point blank.
1-1. An entirely underserved equaliser, but unfortunately it changed the flow of the game. The visitors were suddenly dominant, and Merton, sans an injured Miley Elgar, were under the cosh. There was an air of inevitability about the second, although, credit to Wilsonians, it was an excellent team goal, finished off clinically between their two strikers, who shared an impressive exchange of passes.
2-1, and the worry was that the floodgates may open. But with a little over five minutes to go in the half, Merton were handed a lifeline out of nowhere. Having been under a lot of pressure, they produced an excellent team move, and after a series of Barcelona-esque passes, Aaron was put through on goal, and dabbed home in clinical fashion. 2-2; a fine goal to boot, and it gave Merton a wave of confidence as they finished the half strongly.
The chat was positive at half time – something that wasn’t necessarily the case during the game itself – and there was genuine belief that this game was there for the taking. Rightly so, because once play got underway, Merton made a number of chances for themselves: Ed with a good run down the byline put in a dangerous ball, but no one could finish. Frankie put a powerful header just over the bar. And while Aaron’s deliveries were superb, it was an attempted direct free kick which nearly found its way in at the near post.
But for all their chances, Merton weren’t necessarily dominant, and Wilsonians were very much in the game too. And unfortunately it was they who made it count, as, midway through the half, Merton were unable to clear their lines after an oppo counter attack, and Wilsonians lashed home a resultant shot that bounded into the net, despite Kieran getting a good hand on it.
3-2 it was, and it’s fair to say the heads dropped somewhat. That said, Merton kept going, and a couple of good chances, and many more half chances, continued to accrue. Merton gave as good as they got. With a little under 10 minutes to go, the hosts then had little choice but to go for broke, eventually going with three at the back. Initially, it gave them good forward thrust, but it left them open at the back, and the killer blow arrived a few minutes later. With a massive overlap, the Merton defenders initially did well to close their opponents down. But the interception fell kindly to a Wilsonians players, and he put it away into the bottom corner.
4-2, and that’s how things stayed, with the game petering out, and no clear cut opportunities thereafter. As the final whistle went, there was a clear sense of disappointment in the ranks. This was a relegation 6 pointer, and Merton had come off on the wrong end of it. More than that, it was a day where, despite a woeful pitch, they had actually played some decent football at times. Thus all the more frustrating to not get a result. Hopefully though, the good things get taken into next week. They’ll need to, because Carshalton lie in wait!
Team: Kieran Lee (GK), Ed Plaistow, Mike Todt, Joe Plumridge, John Gridley, Mikey Elgar, Chris Outred, Michael Vogt, Sonny Kennedy, Aaron Loftus, Dom Plumridge
Subs: Frankie Kaligorou, Joe Vaughan, Bill
- 0
Merton 3s v Old Owens 3s – 1:2
With Merton 3s embroiled in a relegation battle and playing the team directly above them in the table, this was considered to be a crucial and winnable game, especially given that the 3s won a hard fought game against the same opposition (or so we thought) earlier in the season.
With the inclement weather ruling all but one pitch at The Hood out of action, this match was switched on Saturday morning to Wimbledon Common Extensions (WCE). Arrangements were put in place to ensure that everyone could get to WCE in time for the 1pm meet. Unfortunately though, things did not go to plan as an accident on the A3 significantly delayed Neal’s arrival, but to add to it, he was transporting Mustard, Denys, Chris (returning for his first competitive game this season) and crucially, the kit. Denys spotted an opportunity to depart from the static car and use an overhead bridge to take the kit to the waiting team, who were no doubt also missing the delights of the pre-match Motown playlist. Everyone had arrived by 1.40 and the team was able to get onto the pitch in time for a quick warm up and team talk ahead of kick off. Walshy was keen to stress that we needed to be aware of the sticky pitch and to not take any chances on it. Oh how we should have heeded his words….
The opposition, whom appeared to have none or possibly just 1 player from the reverse fixture, kicked off. However within a minute, a Walshy through ball had put Glenn through with a good opportunity. Similar to how Andrew Cole took his first chance for Man Utd on his debut v Blackburn Rovers in January 1995, Glenn lashed at it and the ball went high, wide and not so handsome past the near post. Good positive start though we thought; we’re going to be able to cut this team apart! One minute later, we were a goal down. The sticky pitch had either caused Jack to get his foot stuck in the mud or caused the ball to bounce differently to what he expected. Either way, he didn’t connect with the ball and a routine ball forward by Old Owens had found it’s way straight through the defence to allow their striker a clear run on goal to round Dan B and slot home. On reflection, not such a great start.
Within five minutes, it was 2-0. Neal played the ball to Mustard in centre midfield and the sticky pitch had claimed its second victim as Mustard was unable to move the ball out of his feet, was disposed and within a few passes, Old Owens had created another goal scoring opportunity and scored it. Poor Dan B must have been feeling Claudio Bravo at this point, 2 shots, 2 goals.
We needed to get a grip of the game and started to do so, led by the hard working Neal (Streetboy) Davison in the middle of midfield. Merton were awarded a free kick midway inside the opposition’s half, near the touchline. Judging by the week before, this was definitely within Dan Rist shooting territory. Dan, probably conscious that the opposition keeper would have heard of his wonder goal exploits from the week before, elected to cross the ball instead and found a stooping (or perhaps stumbling?) Walshy, whom guided the ball home with his head to make it 2-1. He was very excited and celebrated with a few fist pumps of sort and it was now game on.
Merton 3s being a single goal behind is definitely something that we’re used to, coming back to get the points from this position, we’re not used to so much, although we had done it against this club’s 3s earlier this season, so there was definitely room for optimism.
Getting the goal had inspired us further and we started to play better and created a few chances, one with Glenn putting a great ball in for Denys, who didn’t seem to fancy taking a shot, which allowed the defender in to make a tackle. Another opportunity saw Iain through on goal, but from a wide angle, which prompted him to try and chip the keeper but he couldn’t get enough elevation on it to go above the keeper. As the game progressed, some challenges were getting a little tasty and the opposition also had some lively chat, including some very witty banter, such as referring to Vin as a JCB and Walshy as a “long streak of p*ss”.
In the second half, the game petered out a little and there wasn’t a great deal in terms of goal mouth action. The opposition did hit the post, Dan B made a great save with his legs and he also took the opportunity to have a wholesome laugh at their striker’s attempted overhead kick, where he’d failed to connect with the ball. We brought on Joe Squires and Chris Pap to try and find a different way of breaking them down but we were unable to test their keeper. There was still time for Mustard to be penalised for a foul throw (although the author definitely disagrees with the decision) and after receiving a long throw from Iain in the penalty box in the last minute, to be accused of diving after going down under pressure – the general consensus was that if it had occurred anywhere else on the pitch it would have been a foul. However as it wasn’t given, it was determined to be a dive by the players and adding that to the foul throw, the lateness and being involved in the opposition’s second goal, Mustard had no doubt cemented his position as DOTD – not a good day.
The game finished 2-1, which is the seventh time this season that Merton 3s have lost by the odd goal. At times we’ve been unlucky, other times the opposition have simply been better, we’ve always been competitive but there are areas as a team we can improve on, such as better levels of fitness, tracking back more, increased availability and a bit more composure, especially when it comes to finishing. All of these things are within our gift to work on and they could be the difference between losing the game by the odd goal, to winning the game by the odd goal.
Team: Dan Bridgeman, Dan Rist, Jack Rowe, Vincenzo Di Matteo, Walshy, Iain Evans, Neil Davison, Mustard, Glenn Pittman, Darren Fitzgerald, Denys Zhurbiy. Subs: Chris Papastanasiou, Joe Squires
Goal: Walshy
MOTM: Walshy
DOTD: Mustard (for a foul throw and alleged dive).
- 0
14 January 2017
Merton 7XI v Old Salesians 3rd Score 7 – 1
After snow on the Thursday, we half expected the game to be called off, however with hard work behind the scenes and moving the game to the wonderful Wimbledon Common Extension, the game was going to be played.
Typical of WCE the traffic on the A3 was very bad and whilst we managed to get most of the team there on time along with the referee unfortunately Old Sales were late, which gave us time to watch the 3rd team play!
The game kick off about 20mins late with a slight change to the normal back line, we started strongly and soon were creating chances which there keeper managed stop. This cause a slight worry as Old Sales began to gain in confidence and they were playing some good football yet our defence line, which included Scott, along with the Midfield held tight and Mike G in goal only make a few simple stops. Were those early miss going to cost us.
We did eventually make a break through with a good goal by Malcolm K., we then took some control and a couple of goals from George B, whilst Malcolm K took a rest (sorry gave a sub a run). This did stop Old Sales and there good football eventually broke through our defence and they finally scored.
In the second half we needed to make our dominance count since we have a habit of conceding two goals a game and we soon did score a 4th by Callum, followed shortly by a second goal from Malcolm K. and a hat trick from George B. We made further substitution and whilst Old Sales didn’t lay down they did create a few chance with Mike G make a good save we did have advantage of the slight slope.
We created several more chance and from a rare corner Dave G. hit the cross and shortly afterwards he also hit the same spot form the 18 yards, he was thinking it wasn’t going to be his day, Dave G connected with a pass a hit a shot from 25 yards.
We managed to not conceded, so apart from the first game against Carshalton, we didn’t conceded two goals and we now a positive goal difference if only for a week, as we face Carshalton next weekend and being the second highest scoring time in the division.
MOM – David Goulding for his strong work in the midfield
DOD – Nobody had a bad game although Tom Roberts was nearly 20 Minutes late and possible Malcolm for having to borrow a pair of gloves to play the game.
The Team
Mike G., Scott S., Dan A., Tom J., Martin Q., Billy G., David G., Malcolm K., Callum F., Jon T., George B., with Trey M., Tom R. and Noor E. starting on the bench
- 0
- 0
Merton 5 HSBC 1 (HT 2-1) (Scorers Woody, Johnny Graham, Vanny
Another good performance from our 1s saw them through to the Quarte-finals of the SAL Premier cup. But first we had to overcome the elements as the Hood had experienced a real battering from the snow and rain and pitches 1 and 3 were clearly unplayable. But with a bit of brushing and sand from the management team the pond at the centre of pitch 2 was absorbed. The downpour just before kick-off didn’t help but the ref deemed it playable…just and we were able to get underway. I thought this was going to be a tough game as we had already played out a draw against HSBC earlier in the season in the league. Just before kick-off we lost Bosh who felt a twinge in his hammy.
We started the better but had little to show for it until Woody unlocked their defence with a quality free kick from just outside the box. Keeper no chance 1-0. Soon after that we were on level terms as Clappers played a strange cross field ball to their centre forward who was one on one with Sirij. Keeper no chance. Now Clappers has been with the club for nearly 10 seasons 300 games perhaps and I cannot remember him doing anything like this before. I do tend to hit the erase button on such events but apart from an OG in the Algarve when both he and our keeper were desperately hungover and rightly so that is it. So Forgive and forget , move on with just a very firm ‘Dick of the Day’ nomination! The game was pretty even with us on top but susceptible on the break. A good passing movement saw Johnny played thru and he finished well from a difficult angle 2-1 at half time.
We dominated the second half and created a lot of good chances. Their keeper played well but had little luck and sometimes less cover. They were gruelling conditions and both teams tired. With a 2-1 lead I was surprised how much we pushed up and left ourselves exposed and on two occasions outnumbered on the HSBC counter attack. Mainly due to the conditions both sets of attackers found the final ball difficult. Our third goal came on about the hour. Vanny (?) putting away a loose ball inside their area, This was a relief for a number of reasons mainly though because the pizzas were being delivered with no allowance for extra time or pens. Nick back from hols in sunny climes was exhausted after a good slog through the mud and replaced by Tom and Milo came on for Johnny Graham who had also run himself into the mud.. Fresh legs gave us a bit more impetus.
Tom Rowe making a welcome reappearance after his broken ankle scored our fourth goal shortly after coming on. He swung a foot at it from way out on the left wing. I thought nothing of it but shortly after I heard their keeper shout ‘oh shit’ and realised that the ball was destined to go over him and into the back of the net. He was surprised so were all of us on the touchline and even Tom looked a little bemused by the outcome.. We continued to press forward and squandered some good opportunities and were thwarted by their keeper. Our subs caused trouble down the flanks and on one such occasion having saved well milo got to the rebound to make it 5-1 for his first competitive goal. Sam was our Man of the match as he and his new orange boots put in a big midfield shift, Clappers Dick of the day and everyone put in a big effort for this win. The ref Bill Green controlled the game well and had to put up with a lot of chat. Pizzas and drinks very welcome at the end as was another good win for our 1s against a determined opposition who battled to the end. Now that Woody’s devastating delivery from set pieces is being brought to the masses by Facebook videos we are seeking sponsorship for the rear of Woody’s shorts, a tremendous advertising opportunity for BT Sport you may think!!!!
Team: Sirij (GK), Rat, Chas, Clappers, Kearnsey, Nick, Woody, Sam, Vanny, Johnny, James L, Subs Milo, Tom R.
- 0
Two result today for the youth teams. The Under 9s beat Claygate Royal Swans 2 – 0 and our U14s bowed out of the County Cup beaten 5-0 by Sutton United in their stadium . This was a terrific performance and cup run from our lads with Sutton 62 places above them in the Surrey Youth League. Great performance and well done to the lads and the proud coaches Darrius and Ben!!!!
- 0
Todays results
The remedial pitch work at the Hood was all worthwhile as the 1s continued their good run and beat HSBC 5-1 in the SAL Cup to progress to the quarter finals. (Scorers- Woody on video/Johnny/Vanny/Tom R/Milo) at WCE 3s lost again by the odd goal 2-1 to Old Owens but came back to Hood for drink and Pizza. 7s won 7-1 against Old Salesians. Well done to their management team who came back to the Hood.
- 0
- 0
Merton Reserves v South Bank
2 – 2
Goal scorers: Graham Willgoss © , Jason Thomas
Team Handsome misses the chance to close the gap at the top!
Merton Reserves will look back at this a missed opportunity to close the gap at the top! Bundles of energy, spirit, effort & good football were on show – all until we managed to go 2 -0 up!
The first half was a pretty tight affair, and it seemed it was always going to take something special (that little moment of magic) to break the deadlock. Step-up captain marvel Graham Willgoss, who is having a cracking season! It was he, who basking in this purple patch of form, felt the audacity to twist and turn a couple of South Bank defenders on the left-hand corner of their box, before looking up and measuring a delightful chip – in off the far post – to send Merton 1 – 0 up. (It definitely was not a cross, no matter what anyone or every player says……I jest…..and to be clear GREAT GOAL….).
Ten minutes into the second half, Emmanuel worked a clever short corner to Connor Murphy, catching them and us by surprise, Connor whipped in a great left footed cross, and big Jase nodded it home. 2-0!!!
Now nobody panic! Oh no wait….! Whether it was a wave of naivety, recklessness, or over confidence it doesn’t matter – within seconds Sherbs was saving a one on one, and from the resulting corner their skipper headed home 2-1.
2 minutes later we are 2-2, another corner (there is a pattern here), and a bundled home equaliser, having failed to clear our lines. It could have got worse, as Sherbs saved another one on one, before we woke up again and had a series of good chances with Tom Benham pretty much creating them with magnificent solo runs, speed and strength – but the ball never quite fell right for the final finish!
With the last kick of the game – South Bank shot wide – when it seemed easier to score.
2-2 in the end a fair result. But having been 2-0 up – it hurts a little!
MMH – Tom Benham
- 0
NAME: Tom Benham
TEAM: 2s
POSITION: Forward
BIRTH DATE: 17th April 1984
BIRTH PLACE: Croydon
PREVIOUS CLUBS: South Bank Cuaco 2s, Royal Sun Alliance (Amateur Football Combination league)
1. Tell us who you are outside of the club. What do you do, how would you describe yourself?
I work in real estate investment for a small asset manager. I would describe myself as someone who doesn’t take life too seriously, enjoys playing sports, drinking, and traveling
2. How did you end up at Merton FC?
Moved down the road from the Hood and heard good things about the club. Joined with Chris and Nick for the start of the 15/16 season
3. What was your best moment in your MFC career till now?
Getting players player of the year in my first season for the 3s
4. If you could play for a professional team, which would be it and why?
Barcelona
5. Do you have any pre-match rituals or superstitions?
Grande Americano before kickoff
6. Lastly, share us your goals/expectations for the season.
Poor start, hoping to reach double digits
RAPID FIRE:
Player of the season (at Merton, or in professional football): Wilgo
Childhood Team: Crystal Palace FC
Favourite team in the UK: Crystal Palace FC
Favourite team outside the UK: Barcelona
Childhood Hero: Roberto Baggio
Favourite Food: Seafood
Favourite Drink: Peroni
Favourite Band: Bob Marley and the Wailers
2020 Media
WordPress hosting from 2020Media.com
Merton FC Stats End of Season
