Under 10s vs Woking – 11.11.2018

Merton U10s Vs Woking U10s – Sunday 11th November 2018

 

Another stunning Sunday morning greeted the Merton Under 10s after 24 hours of solid downpours and we were up against Woking U10s.  With it being the 11th of November and Remembrance Sunday we held a minute’s silence at the start, which was observed impeccably by the poppy-clad teams.  

 

The home team kicked off downhill towards the car park as has been the norm of late.  Maxwell showed some good early form with his running and direct play. Harry found Farris who passed to Louis who crossed for Farris and the shot was blocked.  Good early signs for Merton.

 

Maxwell made a mazy run and couldn’t quite squeeze ball across for Joe or Louis. He was showing great strength to win the ball and play across midfield but too many moves broke down.  

 

After 8 mins Woking had not made a foray into the Merton third of the pitch.  Some passes went astray as a sticky pitch took time for the boys to adjust to.  

 

Maxwell was repeatedly winning the ball when he dropped into midfield but resulting moves were not quite bringing home the goal.  A corner was taken short with Harry and Louis working in tandem to round a defender and pull back to Maxwell who narrowly shot wide. Another chance for Merton gone begging.  Not one of those days surely?!

 

Farris took aim and narrowly missed a long range drive and then from the restart made a good run on left but could not find Louis with his pass as the ball was cut out. The resulting corner ended up with Louis who was awkwardly positioned and could only push it wide of goal.  

 

Woking made a rare move into the Merton area and a weak shot was no match for Max in goal who took his first touch after 15 mins.  

 

There then followed a lovely bit of wing play from Ollie who stepped out of defence and this led to a shot from close range by Percy. Another just wide. Stu shared that he had been duped into agreeing a deal with Percy such that if he got a hat-trick he would get a reward in the form of some highly age-inappropriate console game.  High incentive indeed! At this point Stu felt his money was safe and shouted across the Percy that he only needed to get 2 goals to trigger the deal. Betting on a live market of course somehow alters the market as we were about to find out.

 

Within moments there was a scramble in the Woking goal-mouth which led to 3 attempts and blocks then Dave popped up to put the ball in to the bottom corner. 1-0.  At last some reward for their dominance.

 

Now Merton were starting to tick and passing became more fluid leading to another shot wide. Harry’s passing was spot on and he and Ollie were working very well at the back. Rio was also on and shwoing good endevaour with his eager running on and off the ball.

 

Another lovely move involving Ollie, Percy and Dave led to a great through ball and smoothe dinked finish for Maxwell. Aguero would have been proud of that one. 2-0 on 20 mins.

 

Then a lovely run from mid field was made by Rio which resulted in another shot and miss wide.  We had seen a lot of these.

 

Percy then made a darting run with the ball and shot and hit the post. Did he have any chance of the prize he craved?

 

His next act was to put the ball out for Woking’s first corner.  Nothing came of it and Merton moved upfield to work the ball between Dave and Percy resulting in another shot from Maxwell, nestling this time in the bottom corner of the net.  3-0 on the stroke of half time.

 

The second half got underway and some early Woking pressure won their second corner but to no avail.

 

Louis and Farris played a tight 1-2 and then repeated the act which led to a cross and clearance. Then Rio played in Louis who made another cross but the resulting shot was saved.  This was followed by 2 powerful runs by Farris, both resulting in shots wide.

 

Dave then won the ball in mid-field and played Joe in for a lovely finish in the far corner 4-0.  

 

Percy, desperate to get in on the act worked his way through to goal and his shot was blocked.  Stu’s money looked safe. But not for long!

 

A subsequent corner led to Dave taking a powerful shot which was parried into the path of the ever industrious Percy who smashed it home.  5-0 and the game looked very much won. Neal spoke to the Woking manager to suggest they bring on an extra player.

 

There followed a lovely ball over the top to Percy who took a sweet touch, turned and shot in to the bottom corner. With the main match in no doubt the tension sourced from the bet between father and son.  6-0 but if Percy got another it was time to cash in his chips.

 

He was now on a mission and another mazy run and shot resulted but no score.  

 

Woking had their first meaningful shot for some time and Max made a good save as it was headed for the top corner.

 

Then Louis made a great run and cut inside the defender and played Percy in who passed to Joe.  Over the line it went from Joe again and now 7-0.

 

As quick as a flash Maxwell had his hat-trick and with a fine shot from 15 yards into the top corner for 8-0.  Had Alan Partridge been watching he might well have said “Boom! Pick THAT out!”

 

Neal said another player can be added by Woking so it was now 9 vs 7.  

 

Louis and Farris created some lovely interplay between them and Louis crossed for Rio who clipped it over top of bar.  No more goals today though as the referee, who had a fine game, blew the final whistle. 8-0 it finished and the boys marched off happy, Percy ready to collect his winnings.