Merton 1s v Old Esthameians – 12th January 2013

The 1s kicked off 2013 with a point away from home at Old Es. With both teams at the wrong end of the table, neither wanted to come away with nothing. Merton settled in quickest with some slick passing play and controlled most of the first half without really threatening the opposition goal.

That was until the last few minutes when good work from Tom Rees resulted in Woody finding himself inside the six yard box but could only fire straight at the keeper’s legs. The move deserved a goal. Merton then found themselves 2-0 down 15 mins into the second half after some poor defending from a corner and a rare Oaksy error. It could have been worse if the ref had not have correctly called an indirect freekick after there busy number 10 had smashed an effort in from the half way line. That seemed to spark Merton back into life and – with the introduction of Dan Whiteman, Will Low and John Lynch – the deficit was halved after Dan curled home a perler from 20 yards. The equaliser wasn’t far behind, and Tills nodded down for Will Low to stab home from a Woody corner. A winner wouldn’t have been unjust, but we left it too late. A solid point – it should have been more.

MOM:

Written by:James Tilley

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