Month: October 2016

Matt Haswell
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1s vs BoE – 08.10.16

I’m not talking about your rubbish holidays, because of the tumbling pound, but a massive win in the Surrey/Kent Cup. It’s always a good trip to the Bank. The pitch and facilities are good and it’s local so everyone arrives on time, apart from Sam, Jonny and Chaz of course. It always takes longer than you think chaps!! There was the added bonus for me of having my picture taken at the toss, for the second time this season. My reputation as the David Beckham of the SAL is spreading. The first half was an entertaining affair with some good football played. Bank were energetic and played some good football with good movement in midfield. We defended well and got in behind them with some searching balls from Woody. The half raced by and despite the good football on display, very few chances were created by either side, and it looked like being 0-0 at half-time. That was until Ben was tricked by Bank of England’s centre forward into giving away a penalty. Their centre midfielder put it away very confidently and it looked like we’d go in one down. That was before an inspired substitution by the ref. He insisted on Tom leaving the field, because of some blood on his knee, to be replaced by Charlie. Within minutes of coming on Charlie had equalised with a strong shot across the keeper. It’s what he does.
We regrouped at half time, Van made excuses for his mistakes and I dropped the oranges in the mud, and we went out confident we could get something out of the game. Bank of England started much stronger than us and we were soon on the back foot. They dominated possession and the game started to become spread. Midway through the half, from a good break down their left, the ball was crossed and their centre forward made no mistake, bringing the ball down and calmly slotting past Siri. They had further chances to take the game out of reach but over confidence and some good goalkeeping from Siri kept it at 2-1. A feature of our new look side this season is the presence of some more leaders who don’t take it lying down. A few robust Bank of England challenges, coupled with an annoying amount of appealing, got us fired up. Sam, Chaz and Will were biting into challenges, Tilley’s long throws, “I didn’t know I could do that!” were causing havoc in their back line and with less than 10 minutes to go we equalised. A great tackle from Chaz, deep in our half, the ball was played forward (can’t remember who by), it broke across the box (again not sure how) and Jonny was on the spot to ram home to make it 2-2 and take the game into extra-time.
Helpfully their coach told them, very loudly, that they were “the better team”, “the fitter team” and “they wanted it more.” This just made us more determined not to lose now we’d got ourselves back into it twice. They again had the better of the game, but more excellent defending from our back four and some very good saves from Siri meant extra-time passed with no further score and it was penalties.
We’d got this far and we weren’t going to lose now. Chaz, Sam, Nick and Charlie all put their penalties away with aplomb, but the star of the show was Siri with two excellent saves and we won 4-2. A great performance all round but some special mentions to Chaz who was very strong at the back, Will Low filling in at left back, is there anywhere he can’t play? Tilley coming on at right back and Woody and Sam driving us forward from midfield.
TEAM: Siri, Young Ben Victory (Tilley 60), Chaz, Clappers, Will Low, Sam, Woody (Milo 70), Nick, Jonny, Tom
(Charlie 40) and Vanny (Woody 80, Ben 90)
SUBS: Not sure how many subs they had, I count five.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Siri (he’s a very good keeper between the shouting!)
DICK OF THE DAY: A rollover to next week
Captain James Tilley just before he led our troops out against Bank of England. Big thanks once again to Excelian for sponsoring our awesome kit this season!
Captain James Tilley just before he led our troops out against Bank of England. Big thanks once again to Excelian for sponsoring our awesome kit this season!

 

Posted in Match Reports 1s
Matt Haswell
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Player Profile – Ed Plaistow

NAME: Ed Plaistow (AKA Scholesy)   

TEAM: 4s

POSITION: Manager/Left Back

BIRTH DATE: 3rd July 1986

BIRTH PLACE: Carshalton

PREVIOUS CLUBS: Tooting Eagles

 

1. Tell us who you are outside of the club. What do you do, how would you describe yourself?
I’m a Quantity Surveyor who works for a multi-discipline Cost Consultants based in Croydon. I class myself as a hard worker who is willing to put the time and effort in all I do to succeed…..even with Merton!

2. How did you end up at Merton FC?
I used to play in the Price Georges Youth Football League in Morden for a team called Tooting Eagles (managed by Clive Roberts who some might know from his time at Merton). After competing at U16 level it was time to move on with a number of us, including my brother Dan Plaistow, selected to represent the league against Merton. I’m not sure if it was the 1st XI we were competing against however we did manage the win! I liked what I saw and the camaraderie of the players and I haven’t looked back since.

3. What was your best moment in your MFC career till now?
I would have to say leading 5th XI out in a SAL Cup final. Unfortunately we lost in extra time albeit against a strong Polytechnic side a number of leagues above us!

4. If you could play for a professional team,which would be it and why?
Would have to be the mighty reds of Manchester! Been a fan literally all my life.

5. Do you have any pre-match rituals or superstitions?
Funnily enough I have none!

6. Lastly, share us your goals/expectations for the season.
Unfortunately we were relegated last season so this season improvements need to be made. On paper were are in an easier league however with the first few results you would think otherwise. We are working hard to determine where we are going wrong and I have no doubt that once that first win comes that it will be one of many and we will hopefully be title challengers. A good cup run would be a bonus too!

RAPID FIRE:

Player of the season (at Merton, or in professional football):

Childhood Team: Manchester Utd

Favourite team in the UK: Manchester Utd

Favourite team outside the UK: Don’t have one.

Childhood Hero: Paul Scholes

Favourite Food: Indian

Favourite Drink: Jack & Coke

Favourite Band: Red Hot Chili Peppers

 

 

Posted in Player Profiles
Matt Haswell
0

Under 15s vs Hampton – 09.10.16

Main message after last weeks result was to see a reaction. A strong start was made, and we raced into a 4-0 lead within the first 30 minutes. Jake D scoring a hatrick, after Malcin had scored a long distance free kick for us to take the lead.

At this point we started to: take our foot off the pressure but made some changes to keep everyone active in the game. Hampton began to put pressure on us and carved out a goal on the final kick of the first half.

Second half began and we continued to be sloppy at times on the ball, handing possession over on numerous occasions. Hampton capitalised on a mistake and made it 4-2.

We began to improve and took a 5-2 lead, but again gifted a goal away and let them back into the game. We handed – literally – them a penalty, which Esteban excellently saved to keep our lead at 2 goals. We scored the final goal of the game to make it 6-3; to which it ended that way.

A good performance with things to work on. Well done again

Posted in Under 15s Reports
Matt Haswell
0

Under 13s vs Old Coulsdon Colts – 09.10.16

On Sunday 9th October Merton FC played against Coulsdon colts in the league. They Put up a good battle but after about 15 minutes McKenzie scored for Merton and then each side had some chances but nothing came from them
then the half time whistle went at half time the score was Merton 1 Coulsdon 0. In the first 15 minutes of the second half Marcus scored Merton’s second of the match after a great cross from Hugo then Coulsdon scored after a little mistake at the back and made it 2-1. Further on into the match Marcus scored his second and Merton’s 3rd  and made it 3-1 to Merton m. In the dying moments of the match Freddy our centre back cleared the balk of the line Keeping the score 3-1 to Merton then the final whistle went and the final score was Merton 3 Coulsdon 1

Match report from Alfie Barnett (centre back)

Under 13s 'Dubbing'
Under 13s ‘Dubbing’
Posted in Under 13s Reports
Matt Haswell
0

2s vs St James Old Boys

Merton had only poor finishing to blame as they suffered a disappointing defeat at the Allianz Arena/a tiny pitch quite near it.

As with last week, some pre match mind games were employed with Ryan and Jason walking off to the far side of the field together. The seemingly romantic stroll turned out to be a pitch inspection, followed by a request to move the game to said pitch. The team made the trek over to said pitches only to find a pitch full of ankle breaking ruts and trenches, once again making us wonder what Ryan and Jason were really doing…

Back on the miniature pitch, Merton lined up in a 4-4-1-1, with Glenn given a free role and told to go win us the game. No pressure lad! With Sherbs away Fitz gallantly took on goalkeeping duties and Jason moved from Cf last week to partner Pearcey at the back.

After a even first ten minutes, Merton started to dominate, with Dan leading the line and closing down the opposition, backed up by Alex and Joe in wide positions and Glenn helping to link the play. Behind them, Ryan and Stoney were snapping into tackles and the back 4 was looking solid.

Chances came quickly. First great work from Joe down the right resulted in a shot for Glenn from the edge of the area that flew just wide. Dan very nearly latched on to a poor backpass, blocking the attempted clearance with the supporting Alex just unable to take advantage. Another flowing move saw the ball held up by Dan and then worked from left to right via Glenn,Joe and Alex. The resulting cross was turned goalwards on the stretch by Dan from a narrow angle only to be cleared off the line.

A goal was coming and it duly arrived on the half hour. More great work from Joe down the right saw him help a ball inside towards Dan. The ball sat up and as keeper (who had spent the opening half hour alternatively swearing at his teammates or flying out of goal to claim every ball remotely near his box), defenders and striker all converged Dan lifted a calm finish over the lot and watched the ball dip into the top right corner. 1-0.

Dan was afforded only a brief celebration before being hooked for Tom, as Merton decided to add further pace to proceedings. More chances came – Alex shot straight at the keeper from 12 yards after another great team move, Tom screamed down the left ala bale (beating two men for pace despite being forced off the pitch and over the bags at the side of it) only for his shot to be blocked/saved. Glenn also put another effort at the keeper from 18 yards.

1-0 at half time and the consensus was that 3 points were there for the taking. Rainer came on for Joe as one further change was made.

Unfortunately the oppo had also had the chance to assess things at ht, bringing their keeper on up front in a maverick move (sadly they found someone else to go in goal). They started the second half better and the game felt a lot more even than previously, with the back 4 under more pressure and the game quite stretched.

In honesty there was a bit of cheating from both sides in terms of not tracking, especially as the game got stretched, but Merton remained very dangerous and continued to create chances when the ball was won high up the pitch. First, Tom overran the ball when it looked like he was clean through, and when he made amends in a similar situation to cross the ball to the back post, Glenn agonisingly just failed to reach it (think gazza in 96).

At the other end Fitz had made a couple of solid stops from st James counters, and bone crunching tackles were flying in from Jason(y),Pearcey,Clowesy and Gresty among others with the magic spray making its first appearance of the season.

This eventually forced a change as Jason limped off to be replaced by the returning mustard (great to have him back from injury). Clowesy moved to cb with mustard going to rb.

The impact was immediate but unfortunately not in a good way. A long diagonal saw the oppo striker and mustard chasing the ball towards the corner. As the ball looked to be running out of play from mustards initial interception, a desperate hook of the boot from the oppo forward flicked the ball against mustards hand from all of 6 inches away. Everyone prepared for a corner only for the

ref to award the penalty! The keeper/now striker slotted it into the bottom corner for 1-1.

Merton tried to respond immediately with another couple of promising attacks resulting in wayward shots, but it was the home team who continued to press and took the lead. A corner was cleared to the edge of the box, where an unmarked opposition player calmly took an age before passing through a crowd of players into the corner. 2-1.

Merton rallied with a series of attacks that still failed to yield a goal. Glenn absolutely laced a cut back from Alex just over the bar (the noise was quite something) before Tom seemed destined to equalise as he was played in one on one with the keeper on a slight angle. The keeper stayed rooted, tom kept coming and 6 yards out it seemed a certain goal. As the crowd began to celebrate the shot instead clipped the outside of the near post and went behind for a goal kick. Tom looked at his boots in astonishment.

Going into the last few minutes, Dan was recalled from the bench as Merton loaded the area and went 433. He almost got a second after a quick throw from Ryan but a defensive block saw only a corner and despite an almighty late scramble the home side held out for the win.

It was a very disappointed Merton team that returned to the dressing room. Even more so when it turned out we had the dubious honour of being the first team to lose to St James in the SAL. The only silver lining came in the form of the abundance of food left over by an Irish christening party going on in the bar in the bar – a buffet the likes of which will never be seen in the SAL again. Our hosts excelled themselves.

Motm: Alex. An almost constant threat down the left.

DOTD: The man, the returning (slimline) handball legend that is mustard.

Posted in Match Reports 2s
Matt Haswell
0

4s vs Polytechnic – 08.10.16

Another mild day at the Hood cast the perfect setting for the 4s to start turning their season around. The Vets before them had shown how it was done in an entertaining exhibition, but after a heart to heart the week before in the dressing room, and the decision to arrive earlier for the warm up (which almost everyone adhered to!), everyone was ready to simply get a win.

Polytechnic were the oppo, a side who’d made a good start to the season themselves, and with plenty of young blood in their side, were clearly not going to be a walk over. The game started with Merton making a point of pressing, keeping their voices up and trying to come out of the blocks fast.
Joe won a free kick early doors. Mike got a flick-on header onto the delivery, which the keeper fumbled. The rebound fell nicely to Mike, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to nutmeg the keeper and eventually a good chance was snuffed out.
Not long after, Poly hit back on the counter. A teasing through ball split the defence, but Kieran did ever so well to come off his line and clear it. Of course, this is a team not having things their own way, and as damned luck would have it, his clearance struck a Merton player in the back, deflected to the opposing striker just outside the box, and he lobbed the ball in to make it 1-0.
No one’s fault there, but the second goal was perhaps avoidable. Kieran didn’t quite get enough on his kick, but Poly were able to cut through the defence a little bit too easily. The other striker made no mistake as the ball fell invitingly to him and slotted it home into the left corner.
But unlike previous games, Merton weren’t about to fold like a house of cards. They came back strong, chased balls down doggedly, and created their share of chances. Dan had a goal disallowed, and there were numerous dangerous free kicks in the Poly half of the pitch.
It was through one of these that the goal arrived. This time Dan turned provider with an excellent delivery. The keeper palmed it off only as far as Sonny on the edge of the box, and he clinically volleyed it home to pull it back to 2-1.
It was the lift the 4s had so desperately been craving, and they came out hard after that, making life uncomfortable for Poly, who suddenly lacked the forward thrust they’d seemed to have earlier. Joe, Darcy, Sonny and Dom were closing them down like maniacs, and Dan was an ever-present to clean things up.
Unfortunately, just before the half, the new curse of corners struck yet again. The initial ball was dealt with, but Merton switched off at the far post, leaving a number of Poly players free. The free-est of headers resulted, and their man put it away to make it 3-1.
It was a crushing blow, and meant the half-time chat was a whole lot more negative than it might have been. Merton had been much improved on the events of seven days’ prior, but the scoreline was rather gut-wrenching. Onwards and upwards though, and they knew they were one goal away from being back in it.
They made a decent enough start, and created chances almost from the off. Poly themselves weren’t dealing with crosses and free kicks particularly well, while Dom and Darcy cut through their defence on more than one occasion. But in truth, Poly were having their share of chances too, and might have put the game away sooner than they did.
But miserably, it was a corner which did for Merton for the fourth goal. Mike won his header, but only managed to lob it back into the danger area. Under pressure, Merton weren’t able to get onto the follow up, and a man in red pounced to nod home.
4-1 soon became 5-1, this time Chris not quite able to get enough on his clearance, although the finish from the oppo striker was hugely impressive.
But 5-1 wasn’t the fairest reflection of how the game had gone; rather just indicative of mistakes made by Merton than any sustained Poly dominance. And the last 15 minutes proved that. Merton were all over the visitors, and chance after chance fell to the front three. Unfortunately, their keeper simply had a blinder, and thwarted each and every one of them.
On another day, those would have gone in, and three of four goals wouldn’t have flattered the hosts. But it wasn’t to be. In fact, the game ended in slightly acrimonious circumstances, with Dom taking exception to some pushing and shoving from the Poly defenders and keeper. Fortunately, the ref decided not to brandish the card we all feared.
And with Dom available for next week’s showdown in the deep, dark North, hopefully Merton can build on what was unquestionably an improved performance in the Cup next Saturday. This team isn’t as far away as they think. All they need is a win. Goodness me, let’s hope it comes next week.

Team: Kieran Lee (GK), Ed Plaistow, Mike Todt, Chris Outred, John Gridley, Noor Emad, Joe Plumridge, Dan Gridley, Darcy Yates, Sonny Kennedy, Dom Plumridge

Subs: Carl Kewley, Ryan Burchell

Booked: Dom Plumridge

MOTM: Sonny Kennedy

Posted in Match Reports 4s
Matt Haswell
0

Youth Results – 09.10.16

Another cracking day of youth football. Here goes with the results:

U9s beat Esher Wizards 2-0 (friendly) – a fantastic result considering Esher are some 4 divisions higher.

U11s drew 3-3 with Claygate Royals.

…

U13s beat Old Coulsdon Colts 3-1. Strange game, we played an 11v11 match on the oppos 9v9 pitch with full size goals. Steve’s boys handled it well though.

U14s beat Bedfont Eagles 4 – 1 in a cup game, great result and progress to the next round.

U15s beat Hampton Yth 6-3.

Well done to all on another impressive set of results, keep it up guys!

Posted in Uncategorized
Matt Haswell
0

Youth Christmas Party 2016

Calling all Youth members… we’ve now arranged our Christmas Party for December. After an overwhelming vote in favour of it, we’ve decided to reserve all the lanes at David Lloyd Bowling on December 3rd. The price is £15.00 per child, which includes unlimited bowling from 16:30 – 20:00, and a buffet including Pizza, Hot Dogs, Chips, Chicken Goujons. We’ve also reserved the top section exclusively for Merton FC.

There are only 50 spaces available, and numbers have already filled up fast. So, with only a few spots remaining, please contact Steve Dewsbury ASAP to book your spot and avoid missing out.

Look forward to seeing you there for what should be a fantastic evening!

Posted in Uncategorized
Matt Haswell
0

Adult Results – 08.10.16

Alrighty, here we go with the results.
The 1s are on a roll, winning 4-2 on pens in the cup against BoE, after drawing 2-2.
2s lost 2-1 in a hard fought encounter against St James.
3s won 3-2 on pens (all that practice at the club day is paying dividends) against civil service after 1-1 AET.
4s lost 5-1 to a good polytechnic side.
6s lost 4-1 against Old Salesians.
And start the drumroll… Clive’s magic 5s did it AGAIN!! 1-0 victory over Old Wilsonians.
Vets lost 1-0 to OWC, the vets (war babies) MOTM was pat murphy & had to wear the “helmet” for the duration of the day….main reasons were because he got injured & wore his shorts inside out ! (or was it upside down) ……
And as you can see, a full house at the Hood. Cracking day, well done to everyone!

01 02 03 04 05

 

Posted in Uncategorized
Matt Haswell
0

Player Profile – Darren Avey

TEAM: 5th Team

POSITION: Centre Back

BIRTH DATE: 12th June 1979

BIRTH PLACE: Maidenhead

PREVIOUS CLUBS:

Winchmore Hill (near Amersham) 1998-2008

White Horse Pub Chalfont St Peter 2008-2010

RAPID FIRE:

Player of the season (at Merton, or in professional football): Laurent Koscielny

Childhood Team: Arsenal

Favourite team in the UK: Arsenal

Favourite team outside the UK: At a push Real Madrid

Childhood Hero: He-Man

Favourite Food: Pizza & Curry (can’t pick between them)

Favourite Drink: Beer

Favourite Band: The Prodigy

  1. Tell us who you are outside of the club. What do you do, how would you describe yourself?

Outside of football, I’m a husband, father of two children and Finance Manager (accountant) at Sony, working for the UK Channels division. Generally speaking I’m a laid back kind of guy, and large video games and BBQ enthusiast always looking to find new ways to cook meat with fire.

  1. How did you end up at Merton FC?

Having just had the first of my two children, I was looking to join a club closer to home. I took my daughter to play at Joseph Hood rec and noticed 3 games going on at the same time. I made some enquiries and then started pre-season training in August 2010.

  1. What was your best moment in your MFC career till now?

October 2012 at Old Actonians, I was on the bench nursing a hangover, watching the team miss various chances and then come in at half time 1-0 down. I came on with about 25 mins to go and score two goals (from set pieces obviously) to win the match 2-1.

  1. If you could play for a professional team, which would be it and why?

As an Arsenal fan I would have to pick them. I struggle to play as other teams on FIFA.

  1. Do you have any pre-match rituals or superstitions?

I always get dressed in the same manner each week. I also try to sit in the same place in every changing room I go into.

  1. Lastly, share us your goals/expectations for the season.

Having started the season off so well, it would be great to bounce back with promotion, I’d like to score a goal or two and finally shave Luke’s beard off by the end of the season again.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized