Merton kept their mid table hopes alive after they punctured Hanworth’s promotion ambitions with a very fair draw.

The yellows came devastatingly close to a win when Marcin’s penalty was saved and Sam’s shot was blocked, however Hanworth looked more dangerous and threatened Merton’s goal many times. Brad, the reds striker, caused the Merton defence problems but none too big that couldn’t be dealt with. George and tommy both pulled off some great saves and the back line for Merton was very organised, just like Hanworth’s.

The first half was quiet and George only had to make one save. Hanworth looked more likely to score but Merton held out till half time and made a goalkeeper change. Jake came to centre-back and tommy moved in goal. Number 4 for Hanworth ruled the centre of the pitch and, although Merton’s midfield had to work hard they were definitely the better team.

The result at Hanworth finished 4-1 to 3rd placed team and without a doubt they travelled to Joseph Hood expecting a win. Darren and, step in manager, Glen helped Merton very much to the result and it was definitely one of the best games they have played all season.

Hanworth played well and kept the back line strong but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Their closest chance was when Brad was let through but was denied by a brilliant save from tommy.

After the draw Hanworth lie comfortably 3rd, only one point behind Bedfont but have played 3 more games. Promotion looks unlikely as the reds only have one game left and it’s against Kingstonians. Overall it has been a positive season for Hanworth, only losing 3 out of 19 games.

On the other hand, Merton have had a mixed season losing 50% of games and only winning 31%. However it’s understandable as the team has been together for only one year. Merton face Met police, Brockham, Hampton and Whitton for their last remaining games. With a win out of all four they could potentially move up to 5th, depending on Kingstonians results.

Man of the match was between Jamie Esteban, who was the main part Merton kept a clean sheet, and George Brown, who played for the first time in right attacking mid and gave the yellows a massive boost up front.

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Doverhouse vs Merton

Merton ended their poor run of form after a comfortable 3-1 win against Doverhouse. The weather conditions were hard to play in because of the rain and the muddy pitches. However, Marcin managed to score two great goals before the break to put Merton in the driving seat. 

The 5-0 defeat for Doverhouse, last time, already put pressure on them and going 2-0 down in the first 30 minutes didn’t help them. 

Merton knew this was a very important game because if they lost it then the yellows would be facing a big fight to stay up. Therefore they hard to turn up with the right attitude and prove how good they were. Tommy had a relaxed game also due to Dan and Darren’sside being much better defensively.

Although there were 3 goals scored, Merton’sattack still had room for improvement and their midfield had to be worked on. Many chances were missed in the second half and Doverhouse were lucky it wasn’t double figures. Sam made it three with a good finish, cutting in and smashing it past the goalkeeper, bottom left.

Doverhouse got a goal back, down to poor Merton defending, but there was no hope. The weaker team just couldn’t hold onto the ball for long enough and kept giving the ball away.

For both teams there were things to work on and the play could have been better. The win leaves Merton 8th in the league only 2 points behind 6th and with one game in hand. There is hope for the yellows to finish mid-table but with some hard games coming up there is aneed to improve all around. They face Hanworth next week, a vital game that could potentially move them up to 6th.

However it’s all bad for Doverhouse who are definitely relegated to division 2. The pinks are last in the league and 7 points behind second to bottom, Brockham. Doverhouse could get their second win of the season if they beat Brockham on Sunday.

Finally, man of the match was Marcin, the Merton striker who was outstanding and scored 2 fantastic goals.

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Merton moved down to 8th in the table after a 1-0 defeat. This was the yellows 3rd consecutive loss. Croygas, who are unbeaten in 11 games, were away at the hood and once again, like the 2-2 draw earlier in the season, it was a close contest.

The blues right winger, josh, scored a good goal when he got on the end of a great pass, beat Felix in pace and neatly finished it past Tommy. Merton looked like they were going to get a point out of the game when they held Croygas till half time. By the break neither side had many shots and the ball was being played over the top a lot. Merton dominated in possession but failed to get a shot away in the first 50 minutes. The defensive line for Merton was very strong and dealt with everything coming over the top apart from the goal.

Croygas played some good football and damaged Merton in the air with the tall centre midfielder Eddie. However, the second placed side in the league had to bury their chances and play the ball on the floor a bit more. The league is very much to play for and Croygas will believe they can get promoted as they are only 2 points behind Bedfont.

On the other hand, Merton could potentially face the battle of staying up if they lose their next match away at Brockham. The yellows lie 8th and only 4 points ahead of 10th placed Brockham.

Both teams deserved points today and Merton will feel hard done by. However they had their chances and most of them came in the last 10 minutes.  When croygas keeper Tom was off his line and it seemed like he forgot where the goal was, Jake Davies ran through the defence but shot straight at the keeper. Bradley also had a chance but was off balance and scuffed the shot. However, Bradley’s pace was hard for the blues defence to cope with and Jake, Yacob and Harrison kept a steady midfield.

Injuries seem to keep coming for Dan and Darren’s side and they will have to make do without a keeper for the rest of the season. A big game for Croygas next as they face Kingstonians. Man of the match for today’s game was Merton’s Tommy Arnold, who pulled off some great saves and stepped in for the goalkeeper position.

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Kingstonians overcame Merton for the second time this season with a 1-0 win to boost their league position.

Number 7 tapped in a volley after the Kingstonians left mid was given too long on the ball and curled in a brilliant cross only for the unmarked centre attacking midfielder, lurking at the back post, to tap it into an open goal.

Merton dominated in the centre of the pitch and were very unlucky in the closing minutes of the game, when the ball came in from a corner and Jamie Esteban rose above the defenders to smash a header onto the crossbar.

Dan and Darren’s side, who are 7th in the league only 2 points behind whitton wanderers, have played four more games than Kingstonians, who sit 5th very comfortably. Although Merton showed good pieces of play in the first half, Kingstonians got the result that was expected and their defence played a big part.

A year ago Merton were 12th in the league and had only one point after 15 games so to think that they travelled to Kingstonians and came away with a 1-0 loss is very respective. They showed good spirit and battled till the last minute.

Kingstonians are by far the best defensive team in the league and there are a lot of stats to back that up. They have only conceded 2 in their last 5 games and conceded 11 in 7 games this season. Merton found it hard to find a way through and Kingstonians built from the back. The yellows strikers Sam, Bradley and Felix just couldn’t beat the defence.

It could be argued that Merton deserved a penalty when Bradley controlled the ball, knocked it forward and accelerated past the centre back but was then pushed in the back to stop the counter attack.

Connor, the Kingstonians goalkeeper, pulled off some great saves in the closing five minutes of the game when Merton really piled on the pressure. Alex, Merton’s right attacking midfielder, played a neat one two with Harrison and took the shot at speed, dipping right into the top corner. However, it was stopped by a great dive from the goalkeeper.

At this point the reds made it clear they were looking for the goal to kill off the game by bringing on their tall, pacey striker. For one moment it looked over when he turned on the ball and beat two Merton centre backs only to skew his shot weakly wide.

A breakthrough for Merton seemed imminent. Attack after attack, shot after shot but the back of the net just wasn’t found. The rain poured down on the pitch and it made it hard for both teams to play their football.

One minute injury time wasn’t enough for Merton and it was clear the game was done. Kingstonians won it because of their defence. Merton dominated because of their midfield. It seemed an unfair result for such an even match.

However, Merton have to look on the bright side and finish this month in a high because their 3 upcoming fixtures could potentially all be wins. Hampton away will be a test but it’s safe to say if Merton perform the way they did today then they will win comfortably.

On the other hand, Kingstonians face a few challenges with Haworth away, whitton away, Bedfont away and Wallington home. Last time the reds faced whitton it finished in a 3-0 deficit. So Kingstonians know they are certainly still in the title race and need to keep putting in these performances.

Merton, who are surely aiming for a mid-table finish, will keep working on their defence and will probably work on scoring more goals and creating more chances. The yellows are under new management this season and are doing well to pick up the pieces from last season miserable 3 point finish.

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Merton 5-0 Doverhouse Lions Pinks
 
Challenge laid down at the end of November, finish December unbeaten and watch where were are. Challenge accepted and challenge met. 2 wins and a draw in 3 has breathed confidence into a side that looked low in everything.
 
Today, following on the back on a draw and win in the past 2 was about keeping up to momentum and getting a result. We started slugglishly and slow, Doverhouse wanted it more than us, and showed more fight than us. We let them win the ball in their backline too often early on. We suddenly woke up with 15 minutes to play in the first half and created chance after chance. Still room for improvement, but a better end to the first half than the beginning.
 
Second half began and we started where we finished the first. Moving the ball around well. Our first goal came out of nothing, and it was a scramble of a goal that eventually was tucked away from Sam. We then took control of the game and moved the ball around with relative ease. Creating chance after chance. A few quickfire goals meant that we extended our lead to 3-0 shortly after.
 
We continued to keep Doverhouse in their half, and creating chances. We had 2 big chances to put the game well out of reach but didn’t take them.
 
2 goals were scored towards the end of the game, Felix finishing of the scoring late on. A strong second half performance, especially the patience on the ball.
 
Well done all. Enjoy the rest
Posted in Under 15s Reports

Croygas 2-2 Merton
Building on from last weeks hard fought win, Merton moved into this fixture against the team currently second.
The new found confidence was clear to see and the new formation was having a positive impact on the team. We have finally found a formation that works with this group of players!
We started the game off in positive fashion, keeping the ball well but also keeping solid at the back. We took the lead through a well taken goal from Bradley, with some neat build up play in the lead up to the finish.
We remained solid and kept it tight, Croygas having minimal chances on goal. They took their only shot on target to equalise just before half time.
The confidence didn’t dip and we started the second half just as strong as we finished the first. A sloppy goal to concede following a mix up in our backline gifted Croygas the lead. And they began to grow in confidence. However we stood firm.
A short corner fell to Marcin on the edge of the box who drilled it in  the far corner to equalise. A deserved equaliser.
Despite constant reminders from the opposition players ‘they are 7th, lets put them in their place’ we kept on pushing for the winner. Which nearly came from a free kick from Marcin.
Well done boys – challenge is to remain unbeaten throughout December!
 
Posted in Under 15s Reports

Merton 1-0 Brockham ~Badgers

 
 
A hard fought win, which was justly deserved was finally delivered by the team. The hard work of the past few weeks was clear to be seen throughout this game. Training sessions recently had been based on keeping the ball, and our shape without the ball. This was evident throughout the game.
 
A change of formation took a while to get used to the positions and the roles within the team. The first 20 minutes were all Brockham, however they did not create many opportunities to score. It took us a while to find our feet in the game – and when we did we began to dominate the ball and the game. High pressure off the ball, and good movement when on the ball meant that we created chance after chance in the remaining 20 minutes in the first half.
Towards the end of the first half we were lining up to score, but couldn’t find the finishing touch that would have increased our confidence.
 
We started the second half on the front foot, continuing off from where we left off in the first half. We continued to move the ball well and create chances.
Our game came out of nothing, a long range effort from Harrison and it was spilt by the keeper over the line. Great goal, and one that boosted the confidence.
 
On the ball, we took our foot off the pedal. But defensively we kept our shape and defended well as a unit.
 
It was great to see the boys win the game. On to the next one. Well done!
Posted in Under 15s Reports

Bedfont 6-0 Merton FC

Difficult game today, in which we tried to rebuild the confidence and the morale of the team.
It has been a difficult past couple of weeks with the team spirit deminiahing as quickly as our good start to the season was.
Today was about boosting our confidence, however it was a tricky game to do so.
Bedfont are a very strong outfit, scoring 58 goals prior to this fixture in 7 games of football.
We started the game extremely sloppy, conceding 2 goals in quick succession within the first 3 minutes.
After the mad 3 minutes we found our feet and settled into the game, creating a few good chances. Which was a massive positive from today’s game.
Dan and Harrison making their debuts for the club today impressed throughout.
We had a solid remaining 30 minutes of the half and was in the game still at 2-0.
2nd half started and it was back to the walls for Merton, with Bedfont pinning us in our own half for the majority of the game. We still broke and created chances throughout.
2 further goals were scored and our heads dropped.
Bedfont ran away with it in the end, but overall we can be pleased with the better attitude and atmosphere around the team.
We move on now to look forward to a good December.
Darren and Dan are proud of the boys and what they are beginning to achieve.
It’s been a difficult few weeks, but we can see that they are turning it around.
Tough game today against the probable league winners
Good luck Bedfont, heads up Merton
We go again

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Merton 1-7 wallington wanderers

Very bad day today, despite starting off the better side.
First day 10-15 minutes we played very well, on and off the ball. Moving the ball around and keeping the ball on the floor.
We created a few chances, but didn’t make the most of the good opportunities.
We gave away a sloppy free kick in our half and wallington took advantage and took a 1-0 lead. Less than 2 minutes later another free kick, another goal.
We then had a mad 10 minutes and ended up being 5-0 down.
We finally found our feet and settled down back into the game, grabbing a consolation goal through Jamie.
We played some good stuff at the beginning of the 2nd half, causing wallington some problems. We gave away a sloppy penalty, which they brought their keeper out especially to take it. Respect at its highest!
He missed the penalty, but the follow up was put away by an oncoming striker.
They stretched their lead to 7-1 towards the end.
Another penalty given away, but this time George saved the spot kick.
Apart from 10 minutes we didn’t do too badly.
Dissapointing day today, one that promoted questions.
Heads up .. let’s go again (again!)

Posted in Under 15s Reports

Met police 1-0 Merton FC

Disappointing game today where Merton just did not turn up and play the way they can and have shown recently.

Defensively, we were very strong and kept our shape well. We tried out a new backline and it seemingly worked. However, on the ball we were disappointing and wasted a lot of good possession by playing long ball and hoping for the best. At times we kept the ball well and passed the ball around, which carved out potential opportunities for us to score.

Midway through the first half, George pulled off a fantastic double save. This was a wake up call and Merton ended the half the stronger of the two teams.
We were largely untroubled, but also didn’t trouble very often going forward.

The second half was very scrappy and was nicked by the odd goal. A Miskick from goalkeeper and it ended in the back of our net.
We never really troubled and ended up in defeat without much battling.

Major positives were the new found backline, but more confidence on the ball needed.

Heads up and go again next week!

Posted in Under 15s Reports