Category: Match Reports 3s

Carshalton 3s v Merton 3s – 1:0

With the 3s up against top of the table Carshalton and on a run of defeats by one goal, a tough game was to be expected. Additionally, amateur football wouldn’t be amateur football without a late squad change occurring somewhere across the club – this time it was the turn of the 3s, with two players pulling out on the day (one with an unexpected and understandable reason and one, inexplicably, less than an hour before the meet time). With late changes to the squad required, Lee Lenihan answered the call up to don the keeper’s gloves and Walshy, who came along just to watch the game, had thankfully bought his kit and became 13th man. Walshy’s addition to the squad was seemingly lost on Mustard, as during the pre match team talk, he kept referring to the good 12 man squad the 3s had. Walshy leading the warm up seemingly wasn’t memorable enough to enter Mustard’s mind that he was part of the squad. Mentally, a number of players already had decided their DOTD vote at that point.

The game itself was standard fare for Merton 3s, a tight, hard fought game with few clear cut chances, decided by one goal. Both defences played well, with Merton’s led by Alan Clowes, at centre back. Carshalton marginally shaded things in the first half but as the game grew on, Merton 3s came more and more in to the game. Lenners kept a first half clean sheet but injured his hamstring and was replaced at half time by 13th man, Walshy.

Jason Thomas was brought down when through on goal – the ref reached to his pocket for his cards and gave a yellow. Carshalton’s goal was scored mid-way through the second half – it came from a long throw that was aimed at their central midfielder who held off a challenge and knocked it back to a striker to give Walshy no chance from six yards. Jordan had a couple of (half) chances to score, but wasn’t able to make the breakthrough. To the amusement and the adulation of the spectators, Walshy raised the entertainment levels by displaying, on a couple of occasions, his juggling skills whilst shutting out their attackers. Emmanuel was lively when he came on and started to stretch their defence but the 3s still weren’t able to create the chances to properly test the keeper.

Given that Merton were playing against the top of the table team, it could be considered that this was a credible score but as per most of the games this season, the 3s have held their own in terms of competiveness and if a few things had fallen differently, results could have been different. There’s a lot of positives within the Merton 3s squad and they need to find a way to make the marginal improvements to turn one goal defeats into points.

Team: Lee Lenihan, Dan Rist, Jack Rowe, Alan Clowes, Conor Murphy, Iain Evans, Neil Davison, Mustard, Jordan Cox, Jason Thomas, Denys Zhurbiy. Subs: Walshy, Emmanuel Amoakoh

MOTM: Alan Clowes

DOTD: Mustard (for forgetting that Walshy was a late addition to the squad).

Merton 3’s vs Civil Service 4’s 10/12/16

It was named the “Relegation Battle” in the build-up, and was set up to be a season-defining game for the mighty 3’s before a ball was kicked. With Civil Service 4’s sitting in sixth place on 10 points and Merton down in 8^th with 3, a win here would potentially kick-start what has been an up and down season for the team, with good performances but a knack of dropping points in the latter stages of games.

Another trait of the team this season has been starting slow (something which Darcy and Neal were keen to avoid before this game). Unfortunately this was on show again last weekend with Civil Service winning a corner off the first play of the match. This was the theme for the first 15-20 minutes, with the Boars defending well and trying to play the ball on the floor but struggling to get a foothold in the game.

However, it was our boys that struck first, and it was mainly down to the effort that our front three of Joe, Denys and Frankie were putting in, running hard and applying pressure. The Civil Service back 4 was ropey at best, and midway through the first half Frankie managed to put Merton 1-0 in front with a nicely slotted goal.

The Boars seemed to grow in confidence after this and started to pass the ball around nicely and create some chances for the remainder of the half. The most notable of these was highlighted several times post-game by Denys, with Frankie breaking through and having an opportunity to square the ball for a Denys tap in. Frankie chose to take on the shot himself, shooting wide of the target and causing Denys to roar in frustration and cast his DoD vote in Frankie’s direction. Our back four were excellent leading into half time, with Jordan in particular putting in a fantastic performance keeping the pacey Civil Service winger quiet and setting up some of our more lengthy spells of possession.

The second half kicked off and provided the reason for DoD. Iain played a delicious ball to big Andy’s feet, who then resembled something akin to Bambi on ice rather than a proud Boar, skidding on his backside and allowing the ball to trickle out for an opposition throw in. Keeping in mind Andy had only just entered the fray after spending the first half warming the bench, this was a first touch (or lack of one) that nobody was forgetting. “It’s a studs day” was the bitter sentence murmured after this unfortunate incident.

This may have been somewhat foreboding for what was to come in the rest of the half for the 3’s. Industrious, hard-working, but ultimately slipping up at the wrong moments.

The Civil Service 4’s spent most of the 2^nd half applying immense pressure to our guys. Their gigantic centre-back was very vocal as they began to assert their dominance over the game, shouting “Their right-back is leading a charmed life, pump everything down that channel.” Needless to say, this only inspired Neal D to continue his hard work at right back.

Despite some admirable effort from our Boars, the knack of conceding goals continued. The first goal from the visitors was very scrappy, bouncing around the box, ricocheting everywhere before eventually being tapped home. As we tried to get ourselves back into the game, Neal nearly managed to get himself sent off with a crunching challenge, however the referee generously chose the colour yellow. 16-year-old Dylan made his debut and put in a good shift, giving us an outlet down the right hand side, and our midfield of Darcy, Iain and Jamie continued to try and make things happen, however we just could not create chances to get back in front.

Then the inevitable happened, and the visiting team managed to bag another scrappy goal off a defensive error with little more than 5 minutes left in the game. The wild celebrations from the Civil Service showed how hard they had to work for this result, but that didn’t make it any easier for our 3’s to take. A really good effort from the whole team, but just not quite enough quality in the end to see out a result. Hopefully we can cut out these slip-ups and climb the table as we move into 2017 and the latter half of the season.

Merton 2-3 Old Wilsonians

This Saturday’s game was led by minute of silence to commemorate the members of Chapecoense FC, who died in a horrific air crash a week ago. Both teams showed their respects before kick off.

With the usual 3s formation (4-5-1), Merton started the match well, pushing for goals with the super fast wingers Glen and Emanuel and not that fast Denys up top. It did work out quite well as a lot of chances were created and lots of ball possession for the home team. And first shot on goal came from Darcy but that wasn’t that dangerous for opposition goalkeeper, few chances for young Emanuel went nowhere as well. Under such a pressure from Merton, we didn’t have to wait long, as Darcy picked the ball from a rebound and hammered it into the top corner, 1-0. Worth saying that our defence with Ben and Alberto was doing well, controlling the game; one of their clearances were picked up by Mustard, who dribbled the ball on the left side up to the oppo goals and only the bar saved them from the 2nd goal.

After the break Merton were looking for a much needed 2nd goal and as a result of constant attacking Neil’s cross was headed by a Wilsonians defender into their own net, 2-0. Having scored 2 goals Merton relaxed a bit and it cost them. The oppo keeper cleared the ball and it was picked up by their left midfielder who made his way towards the Merton goal and coolly lobbed Darren (goalkeeper), 2-1. With being 2-1 up Merton missed a couple of good chances for the 3rd goal, the best one from Denys, tried to lob the keeper but didn’t hit the ball properly, as a result, a throw in for Wilsonians and DOM.

Wilsoninas increased their tempo and pressure over Merton and one of their free kicks ended up with a cross to the box where one of the oppo players headed a ball into the net, 2-2.

Nobody wanted to draw or lose the game, as both teams started counter attacking football. The luck was on Wilsonians side, once again a set piece, crossed into our box and goal, 2-3.

Sad but true, another loss for 3’s:( Onwards and upwards though.

Team: Darren, Alberto, Ben, Mustard, Dan, Neil, Darcy, Ian, Glen, Emanuel, Denys, Jordan, Alex

MOM – Dan, Ian, Neil

DOM – Denys

Actonians 3-1 Merton

It was a rather cloudy dreary day for Merton as they travelled to Acton for a cup game against a side a league below with a solitary win all season. Merton started the game with a 5-3-2 system utilising two wing backs and three central defenders in a more attacking system than normal. As the game kicked off Merton came under immediate pressure and had conceded within a few minutes of kick off after a long ball from the centre of midfield out to the right wing by Actonians where a low ball was fizzed into the centre and converted into the Merton net. The first half continued in the same way with a lot of pressure being withstood by Merton until an unfortunate miskick by Neal who had been solid at centre back sliced into the top corner of the net leaving Dan scrambling. Despite a few efforts Merton were unable to make any headway with Glenn testing the keeper and Frankie scooping a couple of chances wide of the goal. After half time Merton came out with a revised 4-4-2 formation reverting to a standard left and right back, the change assisted in allowing Merton to consolidate in the middle of the park and begin to create more chances at the right end of the field. Against the run of play Actonians scored again leaving Merton trailing 3-0 with around 25 minutes of the game left to play, despite a number of chances it was only with 10 minutes of the game left where after a good ball across the box Merton converted leaving the boys looking to recover 2 goals with time against us. Unfortunately despite an active last 10 minutes Merton were unable to recover and get back into the game meaning an exit in the cup after a stalwart performance in the preceding rounds and what could be described as a harsh result on the day.

Civil Service 4’s vs Merton 3’s

I begin this match report with the same upheaval and feeling of disbelief as our current Golden DOTD (Neil Davidson) must have felt when writing all those previous reports…

When a good, kind and generous act can get you the DOTD vote, you must start to question the validity of the votes, especially when other members have pulled out at the last minute, told the team the game is off 30min prior to meeting and stealing another members car keys for a week.

Anyway, enough of that… let’s move on to the positives game itself…

So the Merton 3’s started the day looking forward to another away fixture. Not as pleasant as most, as a trip around the M25 was not required, but still a lengthy journey for all those Boars to reflect on the past performances and think of how to improve.

The rain was chucking it down all day, but that said, the pitches were in good condition. The team arrived and DJ Mustard was on the decks, spinning the interesting choices of request that’s had made it through to his playlist. A little chat in the changing rooms and we were all ready to go.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the first half was Dennis chasing the geese off the pitch prior to kick off. This tells you enough about the quality that was on display. In the first half, Merton took a while to find their feet, but eventually started knocking the ball around and looked good at times.

Civil Services gave Merton an early scare, when they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. The ball was whipped in and missed / ping ponged around a few Merton players, before hitting the unexpecting striker on the leg and trickling into the net. Appeals of a dubious offside were quickly raised, and the Ref seemed to agree.

Merton, with this streak of luck on their side, pushed forward. A few half chances fell to the Boars, but with no end product. Glen had a good chance where he broke from a Dennis ‘showboatesque’ back heel, raced down the line, round the keeper, but then seemed to forget where the goal was and hit it wide.

Glen had another chance, great interplay in the middle of the park saw the ball laid off to Glen, and with Darcy sprinting clear, all that was required was a little through ball… it never came.

Despite Merton’s pressure, a mesmerising run from Civils centre mid, he tricked his way past several players and hit a good shot into the bottom corner. 1-0 Civils.

Merton came into the Half time break 1-0 down, and with their heads slightly down as well.

A change of personnel brought on Alberto in the middle of the park for the ‘blowing’ Darcy. Minutes in, Vinnie seemed to tackle himself and was now crooked. On came Gubby for his 3’s on field debut.

During the next 30minutes, not much of note happened. Lots of missed placed passes and the occasional goose trying to set back down on the pitch. Welshy turned up on his bday to cheer the Boars on, which was a welcome treat and Darcy had a little slip on goose shit, whilst collecting the ball which earned him this report.

Merton switched formation to the tried and tested 3-5-2 and immediately saw the benefit. A free kick was whipped in, and debuter Gubby, leapt like a salmon, despite being tackled by his own team mate (Neil Davidson), and headed home a peach of a header! In ‘unbelievable Jeff’ scenes, Mr Davidson proceeded to run off claiming the goal on his own, whilst the rest of the team congratulated the true goal scorer Gubby.

Merton had the wind in their sails now, and sensed a win. Glen had a good chance, but the keeper made an amazing save and pushed it onto the upright corner of the bar.

With only minutes left, Merton were in full out attack. Unfortunately, this left us a little exposed at the back. A break away from Civils right winger saw him skip past several flat footed Merton players and pick out a cross, to which Joe seemed to partially clear, before being taken down by the attacker, who promptly got up and in slow motioned volleyed the ball into the back of the net. This time there was no fooling the ref that the goal should not count.

Final score 2:1

Not the best performance this season, not the worst… better luck next week…

Man of the Match: Joe Grew

DOTD: Darcy Yates

Scorers: Gubby / Neil Davidson? Still awaiting the result of the dubious goal scores official’s enquiry

3’s Match Report vs Alexandra Park – 29^th October 2016

This weekend’s game was led by a minute’s silence to remember to Nick Papanastasiou a top guy and true boar who sadly passed away whilst on his travels in Vietnam. Both teams showed there respects by engaging in a minutes silence prior to kick off.

Merton lined up with a 4-4-2 formation designed to move the ball quickly up the field to utilize the pace and flair of Glenn combining with the strength of Denys to ensure we could create chances to get an early goal against an in form Alexandra Park who have been bothering the top end of the table so far this season. The game kicked off with Merton under pressure in the first 10 minutes with a number of chances falling to Alexandra Park’s right winger and striker with nothing coming to fruition.

Ricardo was forced off early on in the first half with a suspected injury to his ankle with Frankie coming on from the bench to push into left midfield and Andy dropping to left back. The game was fairly end to end with a number of chances for both sides materializing in the first half with most play coming down the wings for both sides yet neither side could convert until late in the first half where Alexandra Park scored the first goal of the game despite goalkeeper Dan doing his best to keep the chance out.

As the second half kicked off Merton were pressing from the midfielder to get an early goal back with a couple of chances flying over the bar or being comfortably saved by the goalkeeper. The second goal of the game came for Alexandra Park from a corner in which in some poor judgement from Frankie coming off the past far to early led to the opposition able to head home with ease at the far post. Merton looked to be struggling to get back into the game at this point with few opportunities a sub was made in which Elz was brought on after playing for the 1’s and taking on a forward role at the expense of Denys. Almost with his first touch from a cleverly worked quick free kick Elz tapped in from the back post and Merton were back in the game. As Merton continued to press the team was switched to a 3-4-3 formation in which seemed to help pile the pressure on to the opposition with chances presenting themselves more frequently than any other point in the game it looked like Merton would be able to get back into the game.

With a few minutes to run a late flurry from Alexandra Park saw their right winger forge a run into the box and an attempted tackle by Tony who had been solid at centre back the entire game saw the Alexandra Park player go down and a dubious penalty awarded. The initial effort was saved well by Dan with the follow up turned in by Alexandra Park which led to the final score of the game at 3-1.

Although not the result that the 3’s had wanted to honor Nick’s memory the game was played in good spirit with the opposition after the game going and paying their respects to Nick’s family and friends who had come down to watch and support the game.

MOTM – Glenn and Nick

DOTD – Frankie

Old Finchleians 3 – 2 Merton 3’s

The day started as usual with a vigorous warm up running side to side on the pitch dominated mainly by the 12 players trying to learn each other’s names (of the 12 only 3 played the week before and there were a couple of debutants). Once the game had kicked off the Boars, starting out with a 442 formation, were straight on the front foot keeping the ball and creating a couple of half chances. After 15 minutes of back and forth the game kicked in to life when a relatively easy one on one save by the Boars keeper (Gubby or Gabby who you will hear about again in due course…) and quick throw out to Alex at left back, led to a counter attack goal smartly finished over an oncoming keeper by DK
After a couple of half chanced by the opposition, a free kick was given away on the edge of the Boars box which was smartly converted over the 4 man wall in to the top corner of the Boars net to draw the game level. The Boars lost their early momentum at this point and when another free kick was given away, a ball deep in to the Boars box found an unmarked opposition player who converted his free header back across the goal to make it 1-2.
After 2 goals in relatively quick succession, the Boars started to find their feet again winning a free kick in a similar position to the last won by the opposition and an equally delicious delivery led to a carbon copy header by Ross to level things up at 2-2. Ross nearly turned provider as he broke down the left and managed to square the ball across the box towards DK for a tap in, only for the keeper to get a hand to it and divert it away. All agreed as we went in to half time that the Boars had had the better of the first half and if not for a 10 minute period of set piece madness or if we had converted some of our numerous half chances, we could have been in front. One chance in particular stands out.
Unfortunately, the Boars didn’t come out in the first half with the same momentum and the opposition were on the front foot from the kick-off, aided by the opposition keepers superhuman kick distance. This guy was reaching the edge of the Boars box or further with kicks off the floor and out of his hands, playing to the height advantage the Boars were giving to the opposition on the day. After about 20 minutes of half chances from the opposition, the Boars keeper (told you that you would hear about him again) spooned a goal-kick to the opposition forward and then followed the mistake up by not winning the following challenge with the striker, giving him an open net to put the opposition up 3-2.
The opposition continued with the pressure for the rest of the half after the Boars reverted to a more familiar (as I am told) 433 formation. Apart from a few half chances, Andy L having a shot blocked on the line by a combination of keeper and defender and a few other half chances that all seemed to get blocked before they could finish their path to the top corner of the oppositions net, the Boars didn’t really threaten the opposition keeper enough. Gubby was given the chance to turn from zero to hero (kind of) by pulling out a Gordon Banksesque save to get down and tip what should have been a tap in from 6 yards around the post. A few more saves towards the end of the game kept the score at 3-2, but in truth the second half performance was the Boars downfall on the day.
Some positives can defiantly be taken from the performance. On a day where the team knew each other better, a couple of half chances had been converted and fitness was maybe at a higher level, the Boars could have walked away with at least a point from a game like this.

MOTM – Keeper Gubby

DOTD – Keeper Gubby – A rare double on debut of keeping a team in it and throwing it away for them

TEAM – Gubby, Gabby, Mustard, Vin, Alex, Neal, Darcy, Andy L, DK, Denys, Iain, Ross

With the team arriving full of swagger following last weeks demolition there was a sense of confidence which filled the changing room. With plenty of cherry coke in the room(none of us really got the joke either but welchie did which was the main thing) we started to actually recognise each other which is in stark contrast to game week 1 when we were a bunch of strangers. With players starting to cement real Merton nicknames we feel we are starting to gel as a squad. There was however some drama initially as Joe (without beard) turned up unshaven causing a bit of confusion amongst the team as to which Joe he actually was but it soon became clear as he made a joke which was funny which the other Joe struggles with. (sorry joe with beard)

For the second week in a row I have the pleasure of writing this report due to giving away a penalty which some might say changed the tide of the game. It certainly didn’t help!

It’s a real pleasure to play with a bunch of lads that all gave words of encouragement and sympathy following said penalty with quotes such as “keep your head up”, “there was nothing you could do about that” and my favourite “he would have scored if you didn’t make that tackle anyway”

Similar words of encouragement continued in the bar only to be followed up swiftly with 5 dick of the match votes clearly citing the penalty. Cheers lads!

There were some forced changes this week due to some missing personnel with Tony, Mike, Dave and Glen all fitting into positions very naturally. Lofty also turning up to support the 3s or cast an eye over any potential talent he could take with him to the 2s! Either way he set us up with clear intent to make the Hood a fortress with promises of a moat in December! (If you are new to Merton you’ll laugh at this sentence in about seven weeks, when you witness the hood moat for yourself)

Merton started pretty slow with some panic passing causing us to look very sloppy and not in control at all. The central midfield did not get a grip and we were generally out run, out headed and out fought for much of the opening part of the game. Carshalton were clearly a better footballing side than last week.

Although we were on the back foot carshalton did not really threaten the Merton goal with any real menace, they bombarded the box at every opportunity using their long throw and clear height advantage very well, however some resolute defending broke down the majority of attacks.

The game pretty much carried on in this manner until a very nonchalant ball out to the impressive Glen in the forward left hand side turned into a magnificent early shot across the goalkeeper putting Merton one up. This lead lasted less than 5 minutes though with some sloppy play giving possession away once more and resulting in the equaliser for Carlshalton. There was nothing Dan could do about it. Merton were hit with further bad news when our captain Vincenzo had to come off due to a rolled ankle and a reshuffle saw myself (Neal) move to centre-back and Joe and Andy come into the middle and Dave fall in the the holding role.

The first half petered out with Merton starting to show some signs that we can actually play football with Joe getting stuck in straight away. We were however frustrated with our first half efforts. 1-1 was a fair reflection and we all knew we had more in us.

The second half started well with Dan Kelly with some fresh legs. We started to dominate passages of play, We had found our football brains again and more importantly our fight. We put Carshalton under pressure at every opportunity. Dave and Andy worked well and with Glen an easy out ball ready to terrorise their defence

We looked a force once again. Carshalton were under the cosh and a peach of a ball to Glen from Andy resulted in a first time hit and fabulous finish which you would be hard pushed to find a better strike down at the Hood! 2-1 and cruising… Or so we thought.

Moving into the final 20 minutes, Carshalton started to gamble and put us under a little pressure. They started to work their set piece ritual once again and returned to playing to their strength and our weakness. Some poor defending gave away a very soft corner. We struggled to cope again and the ball drifted back out to the corner taker who drilled it low and hard towards the front of the six yard box, a desperate lunge by myself was miss timed and the Carshalton player got to the ball first resulting in a clear penalty which the ref took an age to give. Some might say he was thinking of ways to not give it due to him may or may not having some sort of affiliation with one of the two sides but they would be wrong the refs integrity stood firm and unfortunately it was so clearly a pen even Stevie Wonder would’ve given it.

2-2 after a very good pen!!!

Merton felt they had proved the 3s had enough quality to go on and get a winner. The good passing continued and the intensity grew. We were showing ‘almost’ all the signs that we would get our rewards. However we didn’t really test the goalkeeper and for all the positive play we just couldn’t get our shots away or find enough space to finish the job.

This resulted in Carshalton sniffing a chance they could perform a late smash and grab and guess what? They did! After not learning our lesson from the previous 82 minutes of set pieces another corner was swung in from the right. The smallest man on the pitch managed to lose his marker(who that was no one knows) and smash in a bullet header from the edge of the 6 yard box. A late rally resulted in very little and Merton left the pitch feeling robbed of 3 points. A very disappointing result but plenty of positives to take from a second half we dominated.Special mentions to Dan who was comfortable in the sticks and not to blame for any of the goals, Mike stone making his comeback, Dave Scott, Andy and Donno who all had excellent games.

However almost all votes for Man of the Match went to Glen who scored two quality goals and showed some great class on the ball.

Unlucky lads there is always next week! I am absolutely certain we won’t lose a league game next Saturday. Mainly because we don’t have a game but it’s a nice to know we won’t feel as bad as we do now.

Team: Dan, Tony, Vin, Mike S, Ricky, Neal, Darren, Iain, Glenn, Dave S, Donno, Dan K, Andy, Joe (with a little bit of a beard)

SUBS: Dan K, Andy, Joe (with a little bit of a beard)

MAN OF THE MATCH: Glenn

DICK OF THE WEEK: Neal, for giving away a penalty

AFA League Cup

Merton FC v Civil Service FC

Team

Frankie

Alex K

Tony (C)

Tom R

Alex W

Alberto

Dave S

James L

Iain 

Donno

Ricky

Subs

Andy L

Joe S

A newly turfed…ish Hood ground set the scene for a blustery cup tie, the first of the season for the Boars’.

Virtually a new team from the previous weeks’ fixture, Merton set up in to a 4-5-1 formation with a late (and delighted) deputy of Frankie in between the sticks. 

Skipper for the afternoon was Tony P. Merton started the game quietly, with the oppo having a lot of possession for the first 10 minutes of the half. 

Lofty’s team had to make a change with the left back Alex taking a hard knock in a challenge, and had to be subbed after 15 minutes. Andy L then came on, and Ricky moved to left back. Between Ricky and Tony they had the non-enviable task of keeping tabs on their right winger for the entirety of the game.

A new back line kept cool and calm, and  Merton nullified a few early threats on goal from Civil service, 

Alberto was brought in to a deep-holding midfielder role in front of the two centre halves after 15 minutes. All of the oppo play was coming through the middle and held up by the two of their forwards. Alberto took up the role of sitting in front of Tony and Alex.

With more time in front of the back four now, Merton tried to press and switch the ball from side to side to Andy or Iain. With the pace, and also now the florescent pink boots that Donno has, Merton tried to utilise his pace by building play up either side of the oppo central defence for Donno to run on to. 

The midfield was heavily swamped in the centre of the park from both sides around the half hour mark, and with limited chances up front, build up play down each wing was our best chance of creating something. Donno had so far been marked by their 6ft giant of a centre half up to this point, with every through ball attempted coming straight back to us.

The best chance of the half came from a through ball from the defence. Tony collected the ball from a throw in from Ricky on the left side. After turning past their forward who was had been tight the whole game, the midfield space in front opened up and a lofted through-ball to Donno presented an almost ‘one-on-one’ situation which rather than being slapped by the new pink boots, rolled down his leg in to the grateful keepers’ hands. Best chance of the game so far.

Further through balls to the Merton wingers were proving to be the threat that the oppo could not deal with.

The midfield were trying to hold the ball longer, although improvement on shape was needed. The back four were resolute and stuck to their shape throughout, something that Lofty had emphasised before the game must be focused on. A few scrappy chances, mainly created through the oppo by-passing the Merton midfield straight to their pacy winger were not taken, although Frankie made a great save with 10 mins of the half to play. 

The breakthrough for Merton came just after, with Merton passing the ball across the back four from side to side, eventually to Andy L on the left side who was brought down in the area. Penalty given. 

Tony P placed the ball on the spot and in a Di Canio fashion calmly executed a panenka down the middle of the goal to make it 1-0 to Merton towards the end of the half.

Further chances were spawned by Merton, with a frustrated Donno picking up a booking. It was clear that James with his pace and quality needed the ball more to feed the forwards, and for Merton to hold the ball more in midfield. 

All in all an encouraging half for Merton, one which we deserved to be ahead in.  Second half, James off and Joe (with beard) on to provide that ball kept and retained in the midfield. The oppo made no changes and started the second half well. Balls out to both of their wingers followed the same pattern as the first half. The oppo started the second as they did the first half on the front foot. Lessons learned form the first half, keep shape throughout, keep possession higher up the pitch, and ball on floor. The first chance of the second half for Merton came from possession held in the middle of the park, Alberto, to Dave S – whom produced a great through ball to Joe, who rather than shooting dragged back and squared to Donno who struck an effort that was on target straight to the defender, collected the rebound and squared to Joe who blasted over from 5 yards out. Opportunity missed. 

The game became stretched with the Merton midfield legs tiring. Ricky was doing a great job, keeping tabs on their best player. A cut inside from their winger saw a great save from Frankie palm this over the bar. The subsequent corner led to a clearance by the head from Tony to the edge of the area, Merton did not clear and after a bit of pin-ball, a fortunate cross in by their winger then landed to their forward who had been static for most the game – ball tamely struck past Frankie in to the goal. 1-1 with 20 mins left to play. 

Feeling hard done by Merton rallied and held the ball down in midfield, James L coming back on. The two centre halves cleared danger over and over as the oppo pressing became routine and predictable. Great play by Dave S and James L nearly resulted in a Merton equaliser, however the goal did not come. A twisting and turning run by Donno through the centre circle, past 4-5 oppo players almost resulted in an opportunity, yet the score was to end 1-1 at full time. 

Straight to pens. 

Having been 2-0 down from the first two spot kicks, Merton needed a hero. Or as it turned out…four!

Donno, James, and Dave S put away their spot kicks, with Civil Service subsequently missing two in a row after putting in their first two. 3-2 to Merton. Civil Service had to score their final spot kick to make it 3-3 and go to sudden death. 

Frankie held his nerve and stood firm in the centre of the goal to save the spot kick and a jubilant Merton progressed to the next round with a 3-2 win on penalties. 

A game that should have been put to bed in normal time, but Merton showed a togetherness and team spirit that could not be broken. 

On to the next round boars … on we trot…

Stats

Scorers – normal time

Tony P (pen) 35 mins

Scorers – extra time penalties 

Donno     90+

James L   90+

Dave S     90+

Booked – Donno   25 mins

MOTM: Frankie (penalty wizard)

DOTM: Donno (the boots/the booking/the volatile flirting with the ref ..?)