Category: Match Reports 6s

Match Report – 1710/2015 vs CIVIL SERVICE 9 AWAY

Another away day for the Mighty Merton Sixes and this time it was across the river to Chiswick to play Civil Service 9.

The squad were nearly 3 members light due to the hair raising journey made by Smithy, as he was put off from the smell of the local brewery, and nearly took out 4 vehicles in the process!

With half of the squad arriving early and the other half lost, it was not the most promising start prior to kick off.

Once the team was changed, it was down to the now infamous 5 minute quick stretch and warm up routine, this time led by Ram.

Starting line-up was as follows: Merton’s new number 1, Dharmesh in goal, new centre half pairing of Smithy (Gaffer) and Chappell, full backs of George and Quinlan. Holding midfielder was John with Matty at the top of the diamond. Ram and Paul were on the wings with Kyle and sixes debutant Richard up top.  Impact subs were new lad Ricky and ex-civil service player Pete.

Smithy gave the team talk and outlined the well thought out pre-match plans to the troops and off we went.

So now to the game, as per usual, the pre-match team talk was nearly out of the window, as within 30 seconds Civil Service found themselves through on goal as Merton panicked at the back. It was Dharmesh to the rescue with a great save!

Now this normally never happens to Merton, as once a team smells blood against a shaky Merton 6’s defence they normally punish any mistake with a quick fire two or three goals, however, from the panic above a clearance from the back and a further great ball forward which held up beautifully in the wind enabled Richard to round the sluggish Civil Service goalkeeper and put the ball in the net, 1-0 to Merton after a minute!!!

With this feeling new to most players it enabled the mighty Merton to relax and settle in the game. Unfortunately after 5 minutes, Paul suffered an injury and was replaced by Ricky.  As the half progressed Merton defended extremely well, without creating too much going forward, everyone knew their role from the forwards holding up the ball and the defence clearing their lines.

Merton successfully made it to half time with the lead still in tact and feeling buoyed by a good first half display, the troops were watered and given a breather whilst much of the same was requested.

The second half started a more even affair with Merton looking more comfortable on the ball and finding their range with some good passes. With the forwards being rotated at regular intervals to ensure fresh legs, Merton was looking dangerous on the counter attack, whilst Civil Service pushed for the equaliser.

After approx 60 minutes, Merton broke down the right with a good ball from George to Richard, who then got to the touchline and whipped a cross in for Matt to nod in at the back stick. 2-0 to Mighty Merton and the home crowd of 4 showed their discontent with a few boos, whilst Merton celebrated!

For the next 10 – 15 minutes, I can only describe witnessing the most disciplined of Merton defensive displays of years gone by. John was a beast in centre midfield, winning a number of tackles and breaking up play and with Smithy heading the ball approx 7 times in 30 seconds to clear the lines from corners and throw ins! Quinlan and George put in numerous tackles to stop crosses and Chappell organised the back line superbly with Dharmesh off his line to sweep up over hit through balls.

With the minutes ticking by, Civil Service pulled a goal back through their best player as the number 10 hit a looping shot just out of reach from Dharmesh – 2-1 Merton led. This is where the experience of last week came to the fore, as Merton sixes in the past would have folded with heads down and expecting the opposition to equalise, however the new Merton sixes kept their heads up and kept on going!

With the opposition now pushing for the equaliser and looking tired, Merton started to create some great openings on the break with players picking the right ball to release Matty and the strikers. After Merton were awarded a corner, Matt swung a peach of a ball in and Richard rose like a salmon and headed the ball past the goalie, 3-1 to Merton and we sensed a victory.

With around 10 minutes left the Mighty Merton were now doing to Civil Service which teams have done to us in pre-season, which was picking them off at will! Even Martin decided to goal on a rampaging run (without the ball) sensing there was a goal in him from left back.  The look on Ram’s face as Martin sprinted past him was priceless and fall out that followed from Chappell, who told him to use his vast experience to see the game out was even funnier!

Another break led to a 4 on 1 counter attack for Merton and with Pete playing in Kyle he calmly dummied the defender twice and placed the ball in the opposite corner to the goalie for 4-1 to Merton, unbelievable Geoff and the game was surely won!

There was even time for another, as a great ball from Matty at a corner found the head of Smithy and the keeper made a good save, only for Pete to score the rebound against his old club – the icing on the cake and it was 5-1 to Merton on the road!

Full time blew and the final score was 1-5 to Merton, yes 1-5 to Merton sixes! It was nice to see the fitness starting to improve and team starting gel!

After the game a good post beer was had by everyone, with all happy to finally experience that winning feeling! The sausage and chips went down a treat with Smithy, who even held back some spare raffle tickets to get more, but with the words from Clappers ringing in his ears from during the week, he decided to leave some food for the new players!

Man of the Match:

Special mention to the ref, who I thought was probably the best we have had at this level, as he was joining in the banter and made it clear why he had awarded free kicks by speaking to the players.

Every Merton player had a great game, with the back five and Ram deserving great credit for the solid defensive display.

Matt had a great game with two assists and a goal, with Ricky impressing on debut!

The strikers were superb with all three on the score sheet and with Richard grabbing a brace on debut!

This week, though I am going to give it to John. He left everything on the pitch and broke up play with some great tackles – the beast deserved this!

Next week, back to the hood for a cup game, let’s hope we can keep up this winning run!

Written by SMITHY

It was a bright and warm autumn day and most of the squad arrived in plenty of time before the start of the game. Some might say that Dan and Darren camped the night there as they were so early, others might say it was to polish off the youth teams BBQ.

Once the team was changed, it was down to the 5 minute quick stretch and warm up routine and we were ready to start.

Smith gave the team talk and told the team to enjoy the game and try to keep it tight for the first half hour.

Starting line-up was as follows: Merton’s number 1, Martin in goal, back 4 of Smithy (Gaffer), Daz, Chappell and the better Locke brother, Colin making his debut. Holding midfielder was Dan and John with Matty and Simon on the wings and up top was Pete and Paul. Impact subs were Beans and Gary.

So now to the game, Merton settled into the game quicker (for once!) and was playing some nice football from the back to the front. Colin and Simon worked well down the right and numerous dangerous crosses were put in the Old Blues box. Then with roughly 20 minutes gone, came Merton’s best chance. A corner came in and Chappell headed the ball against the bar, then Dan headed the rebound against the bar again and with the bouncing a yard before the goal line, Simon then managed to miss an open goal and hit the post. The beans on toast and wine bar were still rattling minutes after and Merton and their 3 supporters were left in shock as to how we were not 1-0 up.

Unfortunately, that was the best chance of the half for Merton barring some long range efforts.

Shortly before the break, disaster struck and the rub of the green definitely was not with Merton. A very dubious free kick was given away, whereby the Old Blues players kicked the boot of Simon and instead of the free kick given to Merton and from no protest of the opposition, the ref gave the free kick to Old Blues. After a brief protest Merton set up the wall and focused on defending. The Old Blues player then struck the free kick which was defended well by the wall, but the ball spun to the only attacking player in the box who then shined in to the only place he could have scored in the bottom corner.

Half time then came and with Merton feeling hard done by, the senior members of the team tried to install confidence again.

The second half did not start to well with Old Blues putting a bit of pressure on and started strongly with Merton helping out by giving silly free kicks away, however Old Blues didn’t really threaten the goal and Martin had little do apart from goal kicks.

Merton did have the ball in the net but Pete may have been slightly offside following in Matt’s effort the penalty spot after some great approach play from Merton.

With Merton pushing for an equaliser, Old Blues struck again with a goal that was out the top drawer. With Martin slightly off his line, the Old Blues player looked up and chipped the ball from all of 30 yards into the back of the net. By the looks of his celebration, he was as stunned as we were!

With the ref stopping the game for every time a player jumped for a header of fell over, the game was very stop start and played into the hands of the Old Blues, even the friendly giant Beans was booked for persistent fouling.

With the minutes ticking by, Merton kept pushing and Colin was making good in roads down the right hand side and teeing up Merton for some late chances.

It was nice to see Merton not giving up and nobodies heads going down, we played to the final whistle with Smithy having the last chance of the from a tight angle.

Final score 2-0 to Old Blues!!

After the game a good post beer was had by everyone and Smithy enjoying the foot long!

Now for man of the match!!

Some very good performances from most, Chappell and Daz had a good game at centre half with the Old Blues creating very little and most threats were dealt with.

Simon, even though he missed an open goal, put some great balls in the box and made some great tackles. And the two new lads Paul and John both contributed well.

This week, though I am going to give it to Colin (not because he was on debut and was my brother) but because he dealt with most that their left winger had to offer. He broke up play well and carried a threat going forward. Let’s hope this is not his first and only game for Merton!

Next week, the real test starts with the first league game of the season, let’s hope for a title challenge!!

Starting 11
Dharmesh – GK
Matt Haswell – RB
Martin Quinlann – LB
Mark Chappell – CB
Darren Avey – CB
George Hall – RM
Ram – LM
Marvin Redmond – CM
Dave – CM
Kyle Smith – CF
Pete – CF

Subs
John Katandika
Paul Onomor

After some shuffling about of players between the 5’s and 6’s we finally managed to agree a last minute switch of Marvin Redmond from the 5’s to the 6’s to start with 11 and two subs on the way stuck in traffic.  It was also new guy Pete’s first game against his old club.

After neither teams really taking a grip of the game, it was fairly open without there being any clear cut opportunities.  Dharmesh made a couple of saves and tipped a shot bound for the top corner over the post.  Matt Haswell’s early freekick cleared the wall but didn’t drop quick enough to be a threat and Kyle Smith’s shot from distance was tipped round the post by the keeper.  About half hour into the first half one of the Civil Serivce players went down with suspected knee ligament causing a delay of about 5-10 mins.  Shortly after the restart we were caught napping and a quick one-two left the striker one on one with Dharmesh and slotted the ball into the net.

At half time new players John and Paul replaced George and Kyle giving us a much needed boost of energy.  Paul created well down the right causing the Civil Service right back a lot of problems.  Merton pressed well creating a few good chances, most notably Martin Quinlann bombing down the left hitting a well struck volley, which was equally well saved by the keeper.  With about 15 Merton were caught on the break again resulting in us going 2-0 down.  After a quick restart we got a freekick in a promising position just outside the box.  Up steps Mark Chappell, the ball went up and over the wall, missing Dave’s head by mere millimeters and bounced in the bottom corner untouched by anyone.  2-1 with 10 to go, game on.

As Merton pressed for the equaliser Civil countered on the break again, Dharmesh got a good hand to the ball as Mark chased the striker down, sliding in to prevent the goal, unfortunately missing and to add unsult to injur he collided with the post.  The post came away unscathed, but left Mark with a good sized hole in his shin.

MOM – Mark Chappell

The last game of the season for the 6s and it had to be played and it had to be a North London game.  With the bare 11, only 4 of the regular 6s playing and help from present and past members we arrived at White Hart Lane (Community Sports Centre).  Pulled into the car park to find that there were no changing rooms, strip down on side of pitch and had to pay £1.50 for the car park!! As all the team turned up Manager for the day Matt was wondering if Nuno had got the wrong location and was waiting at the actual White Hart Lane stadium!!  Turns out he wasn’t available; think he is scared of crossing the river?

The team was in a dilemma as Alexandra Park 10s only needed a point to get promoted, do we go out and cause them misery or do we lose and not have to travel this far next season, but the team went out and gave it their all.

10 minutes to kick off and there was no ref, luckily there was an Ally Pally member who was a qualified ref to step in who done an excellent job and was fair to both teams.

With some new faces Manager Matt selected the best formation he could a 4 – 5 – 1, with a midfield of a combined age of 138, Angus, Martin and Matt.  Matt won the toss and select that we kick with the wind at our advantage.  We started off well; both teams had a few chances, Matt and Pete nearly getting a goal from corners. The first goal came from them when a shot came in, our keeper parried the ball and their forward followed in the rebound.  We continued to press from the kick off when Ricardo got taken down midway in their half, Matt stepped up to knocked the ball into the box, which ended up going direct and looping over keeper and into the back of the net, yes the usual type of cross come shot that Matt has.  Ricardo pulled up with a hamstring injury and we went down to ten men but held on to go into the second half 1 – 1.

A quick team talk at half time and a bit of deep heat on Ricardo’s hamstring and we started the 2^nd half with the wind against us.  This was a tougher half as legs tired, Alexandra Park attacked us and we had not a lot up top as Ricardo was struggling to move but bravely battled on so we had 11 on the pitch.  They continued to attack and made the score 4 – 1 and as time went on knew that they had the points and promotion was nearing.  We manage to claw another goal back with another Matt Haswell free kick.  Their defender got pulled up for a handball just outside their area, with a four man wall Matt hit a daisy cutter, ball went under the wall and in bottom corner.  This put Matt 2^nd top goal scorer for the 6s; if we played more North London games could have been top goal scorer as Nuno wouldn’t have played that many games and not got as many goals!!

Not long after this the ref blew for full time and Ally Pally 10s got their victory and promotion.  Congratulations to them and thank you for getting promoted so we don’t have to travel to North London next season. We all got changed on the side line, and like the Burchells we didn’t have a shower after the match.

Big thank you goes to all that travelled to North London for the game and Angus and son for travelling from just round the corner.  Men of the match go to Pete and Zou for their determination and battling in defence.

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So here we are after all the usurpers, the young pretenders the literate and the illiterate, the wordsmith (that’s rapper to you Jay) has returned to wax lyrical and regal you with this week’s match report.

So after a headache for the boss (me) with tem selection midweek causing problems with even more players wishing to join the happy ranks of the sixth team the final selection was made, the back room chats had been done and the disappointed remained disappointed. We lined up with a strong side (as in footballing ability rather than our ability to bench press!) Yes Ryan I have seen the dust gathering on your weights!

With Alexander the Meercat in goal he can’t catch but bugger me his insurance quotes are good and you get a free doll! (No Harry not inflatable Ingrid your flexible friend’)

A solid looking back four of Harry Steve Kev and Baz. Yes the back four not blessed with pace looks or ability but hey they are a giggle at parties!

Midfield was a hard choice with Ryan Ram Mat and Martin leaving a late addition to the squad Fraser on the bench as Jay woke up with a large swelling and was unable to play as Baz was not there to help him with his ‘little swelling’!

That left Nuno and Arnold up front and a strong bench of Johnny the battering ram and Fraser.

As usual I now apologise for the lack of factual content from the game as having got this far into the report I have drunk half a glass of lager and have now reverted into being a silly billy ! smile happy face.

They kicked off and with the wind in our favour with Kev actually winning a toss, I said winning not having, we immediately put them under pressure but unfortunately our chance fell to Mat who seems to have developed what can only be described as a balloon foot with his usual volleying ability having abandoned him in the last few weeks with the only thing looking worried when he shoots is over flying birds, planes or satellites! In fact Sky are trying to blame him for loss of signal to several countries.

The game continued with Old Blues playing some nice stuff and being hard to break down at the back but with no real cutting edge up front in fact without our enigmatic Spence we were surprisingly unflustered at the back it’s amazing what having a keeper who is not 102 years old with the reactions of a slug on valium can do to a defence’s confidence.

The game continued in the same vein with us having the bulk of play and the best chances and then the unthinkable Harry who, incidently, is off to Vegas this week with his own Wolf pack (ok he is going on his own not armed with any date rape drugs what so ever. But seriously don’t accept a beer from him or his hair who appears to be an entirely different entity!) Sorry I digress. Harry played a lovely cross to the back post our young lion Ryan the star of previous weeks ran in and from all of six yards passed the ball back to the keeper! Was it his week defending last week or has he been watching his dad shoot over the last few years? Personally I think the pressure of Arsenals impending FA Cup game was playing on his mind.

After 20minutes Fraser replaced Martin in midfield and again we created a great chance from a free kick Kev ghosted in (ok charged like a rampant bull on Viagra who had just spotted a cow bending over in a provocative manner) and dived in heading just wide with a great clearance shame he was attacking!

Matt knocked another couple of satellites out of orbit and pissed off ET’S all around the planet with his volleying and new found ability to moan (his new nick name is THRUSH work it out!)

Half time came 0-0 we did not take advantage of the wind and were looking like a second half of defending.

The second half kicked off with the forwards knocking the ball back to Ram who played a one yard pass to Fraser which nearly did not reach him Fraser obviously fueled by the bosses half time rant got the ball and went on a mazey run around five players then out of nowhere let fly 30 yards out the ball moved left it moved right it did a bloody loop the loop foxed their keeper and bounced into the net 1-0 ! As everyone celebrated Ram claimed an assist for his dodgy one yard pass! The opposition then took it upon themselves to treat Fraser like their own personal punch bag kicking him at every opportunity and even trying to put his nuts into orbit with Mats footballs. The game went on and on a bit like my match report but less funny. With stout defending with the excepting on Steve’s fifty pence heading we did not looked too bothered until with 10 minutes to go the ref took a nasty blow to the head (no not another of Mats wayward shots) and went down like Baz on Jay in the showers!

He got up and seemed fine except had added 45 minutes to the game! We still held on despite his best efforts not to blow his whistle and gained a valuable three points to move us up the table and well away from relegation having completed a league/cup triple over Old Blues. Man of the match had to be Fraser not only for the goal but battling well and anyone who gets kicked in the nuts like that and gets on with it is either a gelding, a masochist or a double hard bar steward.

Positives from this week loads of people want to play with the sixes, with a keeper we look good (well he is from team handsome) and the team as a whole played a wonderful game in the spirit of football (I can say that as we won)

Next week’s match report from either Fraser, Frasers left testicle who has gone his own way or Harrys hair who decided not to go to Vegas as he did not want to be seen with Harrys orange life jacket!

The usual disclaimer if I have offending you – deal with it, if I have not offended you – I am sorry I will put you top of my list!

Yours in sport The Boss

Vote me for player of the year if you want to start next week

And finally congratulations to Nuno for embracing English culture and getting pissed before games and turning up with his head in a different universe!

This week we were at home for the second week running against HSBC 7s. We turned up already a man down with Jay, longing for Baz, breaking down on the way there. In the changing room fear was running through the team as everyone was asking, with Baz gone who would Jay take into the showers to have a “little talk”. The weekly intense warm up commenced with Kev the cat getting nutmegged not once but twice in quick succession, filling the team with confidence. The gaffer then began to run us through the team, drama struck with Alex sprinting over asking for a player for the 2s. Another man down! This left us with just the bare 11 as Jay must have settled for the AA man as his new bitch. We lined up with Kev in goal, a defence of Harry, Rob, Steve and Ryan. In midfield were Matt, Scott, Aaron and Frazer with the pace of Nuno and Arnold up top. Jay had still not arrived meaning the we were without the 3 Amigos as well as the mighty Mo who had still not recovered from the devastating injury he sustained last week after a bust up with a rough blade of grass. With the 6s raring to go the game began. We started the brighter team and took an early lead through a long range effort from new boy Scott. Keeper should’ve done better but a great debut goal and the mighty 6s were up 1-0. We continued to press on after this with Aaron and Scott pulling the strings and creating numerous chances for our attacking players. Matt was often on the receiving end of these chances, unfortunately he had chosen that day to have a bust up with some birds and skied a number of chances in a short amount of time. Frazer, feeling compelled to back up his brother, joined in on the act too. We weren’t taking our chances and were punished for it just before half time when a ball was played over the top and Steve, with the pace of a dying slug, was beaten to the ball by their striker who cut the ball back to the edge of the box to their player to shoot. Somehow the ball squeezed under Kev the cat and they were level. Our heads didn’t drop however and straight away we won a freekick in a dangerous area. Aaron took it and delivered a swirling cross which eluded everyone and nestled in the top corner, despite Rob’s last ditch effort to nick it himself. Halftime came and the 6s were up 2-1 and we went into the second half full of confidence. We picked up where we left off, especially Matt who continued his assault on the sky with another effort blazed over the bar. Soon after we extended our lead with Harry breaking down the right and whipping a David Beckham style cross into Nuno who rose like a salmon to nod the ball home 3-1. Then Nikhill came on, after getting bored of watching the 4s, for Arnold and partnered Arnold up front. Nikhil had an immediate impact expertly slicing the ball into the bottom corner to make it 4-1 and give us some breathing room. This was much needed as not long after they equalised after a freekick being nodded in. Rob seemed bemused as to how he was offside, which was justified considering he was the only player in the six yard box beside Kev the cat. We held out against a late bombardment and the game finished 4-2 putting us firmly on course for a late push for a mid table finish.

Match Report

21^st March 2015

Merton 6s 1 – 2 Old Wilsonians 8s

The 6s were up against top of the table leaders Old Wilsonians 8s. They knew this was not going to be an easy match having lost to them at their ground earlier in the season, but felt they could be the ones to end their undefeated run. Due to 4 home games at the hood, it was a 1pm kick off, everyone on the What’s App 6s group were told to turn up nice and early, get changed and have a good warm up prior to the game.  A certain person obviously didn’t read the meet time turning up half an hour late.  There was also a no show, which to Steve’s Friday night miscalculation meant he could put on a strip.  With the team out on the pitch having a good warm up, it came to naming the team.  With Alex a regular keeper in goal, confidence was high.  Starting line after deliberation from Rob and Steve was: Alex (GK), Harry (RB), Baz (LB), Spanner and Darren (CB), Ram and Rob (CM), Ryan (RM), Jay (LM), Matt (number 10 roll!!), Nuno (CF).  Frazer, Steve and Simon (Subs).

We started reasonably well for a change, but Old W’s caught us a few times on the break and their first goal came from a corner, which was poorly defended and fell to their midfielder who, just inside the box, curled the ball into the top right top, there was nothing Alex could do to stop it.  We picked ourselves up from the kick off and tried to get the score level.  20 minutes gone and a couple of changes, Frazer for Ram and Baz for Steve.  Then came their next goal, a hesitated pass by Steve saw their midfielder get the ball and from right side of the pitch crossed the ball which caught Alex out and looped over him into the net, 2 – 0 .

We could have brought a goal back when the ref awarded us a penalty after Frazer was pushed by their defender.  Matt Haswell picked the ball up and felt he had the confidence to put it in the back of the net.  How wrong he was, dragging the shot just wide of the post, keeper also diving the right way.  It wasn’t till later in the bar that Rob mentioned he has never missed a penalty, bet Matt wished he had snatched the ball off him and taken it.

Half time came and we knew we needed to play a bit better 2^nd half, especially as we had the wind against us.

Second half began and we upped our game and played some better football.  Darren came off for Ram and Rob dropped back into defence.  We continued to attack and wear out the 11 men of Old Wilsonians when we eventually got one back with Nuno putting the ball across the box, pass the keeper and Frazer putting the ball into the net.  Simon came on for Harry, and then came off for Harry after picking up yet another injury.  Not sure if he was on longer than Gerrard and it’s a good job there are no Football Injury Lawyers For You out there as Simon would be a rich man by now!!! As the time wound down we couldn’t get the equaliser, the game ended 2 – 1.  4 more games left, HSBC next week at home, Alexandra Park away on 11^th, and Bank of England and Old Blues, both at home, dates TBC, let see if we can end the season with some wins and move a bit further up the table out of the bottom two.

Well done to those who stayed behind after the game for a beer (Coke for the Burchell’s) in the bar.

Pictures of the game below.

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This fixture, BOE away, is a game the 6s was looking forward to, nice facilities, nice pitches and local. It’s a shame that the football being played by them wasn’t nice.

Kick off we started well for about 5 minutes, Matt should of put them 1 nil up, unfortunately left his shooting boots at home. From then on we looked like we had never played as a team before. BOE started their scoring and 20 minutes in they were 4 up, scoring a free kick, Steve whose not normally a goalkeeper was planted as ball was curl round the not well arranged wall and in the goal. Spanner gave the next goal away by taking down their forward in the box and the ref awarding a penalty, which the BOE player put in the back of the net. The next 2 goals came from us not clearing the defence and BOE taking advantage, Steve tried to save one effort, but started is diving save 5 minutes before and read the flight of ball wrong, although he did get a big toe to the ball but not enough to stop it going into the back of the net.

We tried to get something back before half time but there wasn’t many chances created. Rob tried to help by swapping Baz for Arnold and putting Harry back to full back to see if we could attack a bit more, but wihout much joy. We had a nice flat pitch which should of seen a lot more of the ball instead we played it more in the air rather on the ground.

Half time came and we all knew that we had to play a lot better in the next half, Steve took off the gloves as he wanted to count on his hand how many he let in and for a change there was a few hands going up for a volunteer to go between the sticks. The gloves went to Adam. Rob having endured watching what must of been like what the Sunderland fans watched that same afternoon, gave a team talk and explained where we were going wrong; I think turning up was the main problem. He told us what we should try and do to get back into the game, but that went through the player’s ears and straight out the other side.

They scored their fifth when Adam tried to catch a cross and fumbled it, dropping straight to one of their players who slotted into the net. We managed to get one back, with Nuno lobbing their keeper, could this of been the goal they needed to start the come back? Not really when they went on to score a further two more goals making it 7. Our second goal was scored off of Jon’s after the ball was hit by Arnold against the crossbar, falling straight onto his belly and across the line. Man of the Match went to Ryan for running endlessly, getting stuck in and playing in more positions than the Karma Sutra book.

Not a good day for the 6s and should of taken advantage of the nice pitch and tried to play some good football.

Next week a hard game against top of table Old Wilsonians 8, who have not lost a league game yet, could the 6s be that team to end their good run??

Team: Steve, Harry, Adam, Spanner, Smithy, Baz, Matt, Jay, Ram, Ryan, Nuno (1). Subs: Arnold, Jon (1), Nikhil.

Manager on the line: Rob

At last the warm spring sunshine paid a visit to the borough of Merton and this meant a reasonably dry Joseph Hood and FINALLY a home game for the Mighty Sixes.  For once we were giving the players our home ground sat nav post code, as most players forgot where our home ground was (Nuno and Harry)!

Today’s opponents were the Civil Service and with Steve away for the weekend teaching his dog how to lick pedigree chum off his nuts at Crufts!  Smithy gave a team talk that revolved around seeking retribution for the undeserved defeat against them a few weeks prior.

The team consisted of Smithy “the cat” in goal, back four of Harry, Rob, Adam and Baz.  The midfield was made up of Jay, Ram, Ryan and Fraser with Matty and Nuno up top.  A warm welcome back for “MO” who had to settle for a place on the bench.

Once again Smithy lost the toss and the match was about to start.

The pitch resembled a boggy sandpit and cow field, which most people would think would ruin the free flowing passing game of the sixes!  How wrong they would have been to judge, as the sixes made the game look easy with some meaty tackles and some great passing and movement.  Could this be the Mighty Merton sixes realising there potential as a good team.

With Smithy barking out defensive orders from the back, playing as sweeper rather than a goalie and surviving a hospital back pass from Rob it looked like the defence would not be breached.

It came as no surprise when Merton took the lead after approx. 25 mins with Nuno once again pouncing a loose ball to drill home (and yes he did shoot!!).  1-0 to the Merton!!

We were bossing the game and the Civil Service were finding it tough going.

With the game meandering towards half time up stepped a moment of magic from Matty!  With a free kick awarded on the touch line, up stepped Matty with an out swinging free kick that lobbed the goalkeeper.  It was a great strike, although it was a fluke and if Smithy had been further up the pitch would made a left footer take it!!  2-0 to Merton and the players and most of the Hood were in dreamland!!

The might Merton should have made it 3 with some pin football in their area which resulted in us hitting the bar twice in succession!

Half time came and for once there was no arguing and only positives things to say – that made a change!!

Second half we started the same way and defended superbly with Adam having a stormer and even Baz only managing 1 foul throw thus far! Could this be our day!!

Things did get interesting when they scored approx. 15 mins into the half, with a controversial goal.  The ball came across the 6 yard box and there striker was waiting to pounce!  But a superb safe from Smithy denied him and then saved the rebound for us to clear.  But our joy was short lived as the ref had given a goal.  Merton were in disarray as we thought it did not cross the line nor could he not see clearly enough, but the goal was given.  This was second time against Civil Service we have been caught up in a goal line row, as we thought previously we had scored against them when they were at home!  Oh well never mind, I think the SAL should invest in goal line technology!!

Then just as we were getting our focus back on the game, a long throw in was launched in the area and Rob was adjudged, very harshly to have his arms over the defender!!  PENALY TO CIVIL SERVICE!!

With Smithy doing his best Grobbelaar impression and Ryan shouting he will sky it, the penalty was missed!! Unbelievable Geoff!!!

The half was played with high intensity and the challenges were going in to make a great spectacle, if this was on Sky Sports this surely would be game of the day!  On came Mo for Ram, then Ram on for Ryan who was injured!  Ryan did put in some great tackles, which shows how tough he is when not relying on his dad to fight for him!!

Then with approx. 20 mins left, our little maestro Fraser Neville provided the Merton Sixes with a goal of the season contender (only Smithy’s can rival this!).  With the ball bouncing a fully 30 yards from goal, he spun and hit a great shot into the top corner.  What a goal and the players went wild in celebration!!  3-1 to Merton FC.

With Merton surely on their way to victory, maybe over complacency creped in and the Civil Service scored from an extremely tight angle with a well powered shot. 3-2!!!

With Merton defending deeper and deeper and giving away numerous free kicks on the edge of our box the equaliser finally came approx. 5 mins from the end.

It was a well powered shot which went through about three players legs and with Smithy unsighted, could only get strong hand onto the ball and it just sneaked over the line!!  Heartbreak for Merton!!!

We still had a chance right at the death with Nuno dancing round there defence and with the last defender to beat was tackled! Oh well Nuno never mind mate, it would have been a great goal!!

So the game finished 3-3 and it was a classic!!  Positives to take were that it was probably the best we had played as a team this season and at last we are finally clicking into gear (even though it’s a tad too late!!)

One last thing the MVP…….. this week I am going to give it to Adam Prior – who had an absolute stroming game, great lad to have on board!!!  And by the way his nickname is Beans!! This was because his face looked like beans on toast at school (so someone tells me!).

Let’s take the positives into next week’s game and play the same way on that carpet of a football pitch at Bank of England!!

Oh and good luck to the 1’s on their cup final against some weapons team – make sure you take out their sniper of a striker (get it?)

Over and out Smithy!!

“DO WE HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS GAFF?”…
…along with “do we have a keeper?” was the build-up to this game.
Once we established who was playing and that Kevin ‘The Cat’ Locke was going to cover the goal for the first 45 mins, we made the journey across South London to the quaint area of Hayes Hill, well compared to Wembley anywhere else is ‘quaint’!! Even travelling to Old Wilsonians didn’t stop the drama of getting to the game, players established how they were arriving….well everyone apart from Nuno who had travelled to Tooting to go wake up Ruben, but to be told by the latter that he won’t be playing as he didn’t want to get up! This prompted frantic messages and calls from Nuno as he panicked to get to the ground from Tooting 2 hours before the game.
Onto the game, finding out that we had to travel the short walk to the back pitches which looked like they were someone’s back garden and they hadn’t opened the gates for anyone to play, we found that there was a slight slope to the pitch and winning the toss was important to establish we played down the slope in the second half.
The first half started evenly but once Old Wilsonians started to take advntage of the slope, we found oursleves struggling to hold onto the ball and make consecutive passes, instead panicking to clear it. The centre midfield of Matt and Ram suffered neck ache as the ball kept pinging around and over them as the ball spent more time being hoofed up in the air then either team risking to bring the ball down and attempt a pass.
Old Wilsonians started to increase their attempts on goal, but nothing to worry Kevin as he swept/slipped/ate everything thrown to him and Spencer and Darren clearing everything else before it reached the penalty area. Steve then decided to ask a romantic question to the ref, who did not take kindly to his approach and we could only assume he was not interested. With the whole team telling him to ‘shut up’ and take the rejection, he was not giving up on asking again and with risking getting his name taken, but not out of choice by the ref, I don’t think he wanted it that much. Fair to say that was his only contribution to the game!
With about 30mins gone, Merton finally had their first attempt on goal with their first passing move. Ram controlled the ball in the centre circle and passed it out to Harry at right back, with a look up he pinged a great ball down the channel which Nuno ran onto, he pulled the ball back to the left edge of the penalty area where Matt ran onto and narrowly missed the target.
This gave Merton belief that we could take an important lead into the half before the advantage of the slope in the second half and this came a few minutes later where a blatant shove in the back of their number 5 by Ram, (I admit it) led to Jay knocking it back to Matt just outside the area and with his eyes lighting up to add to his 3 goals for the season duly smashed into the mid-drift of Ram and fortunately ran across the penalty area to the unmarked Nuno who made no mistake and slotted it passed the keeper.
With talk of trying to take control of the ball at half-time and take advantage of the slope, the next decision was to decide who was going to takeover in goal and just falling short of deciding by rock, paper, scissors – Harry donned the gloves and looked every part a keeper (unfortunately no pics were taken to justify this).
Half-time subs were Nikhil replacing Ram in centre midfield with Kevin playing at left back with Baz operating the right side of defence.
The second half continued the same way as the first half ended….scrappy! With no team able to take control of the game, it became a bit of a tense game as a goal to the oppo would have given them the confidence to have gone on to win the game. With 60 mins gone, Adam replaced Darren at the heart of defence and carried on where Darren left off.
With the ball finding our strikers more regularly, the new chant for the second half was ‘NUNO…PASS!!! All to avail, as everytime he had the ball to feet and the chanting became louder and louder, the more he rebelled and tried to take their defence on single-handed. This week, along with ensuring Nuno has the postcode for the match on Saturday morning, we are going to send him post codes for every player on the pitch so he can locate them!
Comedy moment of the game came when one of the oppo players hoofed the ball up in the darkening sky and goalwards…with Harry looking like he was praying to Allah, the ball was falling pretty much on the goal-line, this led to a discussion between the back four guessing if it will be a goal or not. Spencer could not bare to look and fell to his knees to give his own version of praying to Allah, Harry kept focus and caught the ball under the bar.
The game was pretty much wrapped up midway in the second half as a shot on goal was parried by their keeper, but as he tried to pounce on the bouncing ball, his teammate decided to try and help him out by trying to clear the ball but was closer to taking the keepers head off and the ball rolled away which Nuno went round the keeper and knocked in at the opposite corner. This was his last contribution as he was subsequently substituted for Ram with nikhil moving upfront.
Merton saw out the last 10-15mins without any harm and ran out winners, more through hard work and perserverance than good football.
LINEUP (4-4-2)
Kevin (GK), Baz, Harry, Chris & Darren, Steve, Matt & Ram, Jay, Nuno & Ryan Subs: Adam & Nikhil