Merton 1s v EBOG – 11th January 2014

After a late pitch inspection on Saturday morning it was off to north London for our first league fixture of the year. Cooky and Jason Marsh came in for the injured Woody and Bosher but it was EBOG who came out of the blocks fasted using the big slope down the right flank to their advantage and finding space behind our back four with ease. It wasn’t long before Angus was picking the ball out of the net after we afforded their nippy number 10 too much time to set himself on the edge of the box and find the only corner of the net that was out of Angus’s reach. Not for the first time this season though we got the ball down in midfield and played our way back in to the game through the front three of Ackers, Snooks and Marshy. We came close on a couple of occasions before we found the equaliser through the in form Ackers. It was Snooks who harassed their right back in to conceding possession straight to Tills whose first time pass found our number 9 in enough space to turn and fire home powerfully from just inside the box for his fifth goal in as many games. In to the second half and our control of the game continued with a few close chances and questionable offside decisions before Marshy sprung the offside trap to cut the ball back to the edge of the box for the on rushing Tills to place a first time effort in to the far corner. We really should have extended the lead with the pick of the chances falling to Snooks, Browner and Cooky but fortunately we weren’t made to pay and after a nervy last 10 minutes where Angus and the back four were called in to action the final whistle came to confirm seven wins from seven and second place in the league consolidated. It was a good team performance and hard fought but deserved win against a well organised EBOG on what was a tricky pitch. Cooky and Marshy slotted in seamlessly demonstrating the squads strength in depth and we continue to play good football in the right areas of the pitch. On to the big one next week, away at Old Garchonians.

MOM:

Team:Angus, Graves, Clappers, Browner, Al G, Will L, Ben Cook (Manton 80), Tills (1), Snooks, Ackers (1), Jason Marsh (Whiteman 70)

Written by:James Tilley