Merton Reserves vs Bank of England (Double Header) – 16th February 2013

A deeply disappointing afternoon against a team almost completely unrecognisable from that we had played in the cup just a month ago. Playing a Double-Header in the middle of February makes for a very strange atmosphere, but despite the new faces among the ranks of the opposition, it’s no excuse for not having scored in two hours of football.

The first hour was the more positive – Merton dominated long periods of possession, with Ben Cook and Graham Willgoss ruling the roost over the three 19/20-year-olds BOE had in the middle of the park. Cook came closest to opening the scoring, hitting the bar from 30-yards in the first half of the first ‘quarter’. Michael Lynch was effective down the right, and was often our most creative force. We just didn’t have the optionsup front to finish them, for all of Ivan Gladkow’s strength and desire. Liam Palmer had an outstanding game at the back, keeping their big man in his pocket for all but one devastating attack. Once that goal had gon in, Merton heads dropped. Game over.

Turning up with 12-man squad for two games isn’t ideal, and we paid the price in the second and third ‘quarters’ for our lack of depth.

Report by:Graham Willgoss