Author: Matt Haswell

Another grey, wet Saturday; another day of authentic grassroots football in the mud awaited. With the Hood once again out of commission, the venue was Wimbledon Common Extensions – a place where the Merton 4s had suffered an 8-0 defeat a month before.

The opponents for this fixture were the table-topping heavyweights Polytechnics. However, with two successive wins in their back pocket, and four from their previous five, Merton had reason to feel confident of giving the pace-setters a run for their money. The line-up was announced, 4-5-1 formation it would be, and the lads were ready to go.

And as dream starts go, you’d struggle to have topped this one. Poly kicked things off, Merton pressed forward as one and intercepted. The through ball for Dulanie was too long, but he never gave up the ghost, laying siege to the advancing goalkeeper, who panicked, tumbled, and fumbled. Dulanie gleefully lapped the ball up, rounded him, and walked the ball into the net. 1-0, with less than a minute gone.

And then the referee blew the final whistle, and the Yellows celebrated a great win and 3 fantastic points!

If only.

A minute later, an almost identical goal ensued for the visitors, with Sam unable to cling to a long-range shot. Their striker walked the rebound in, and after two minutes – which may as well not have happened – the score was 1-1.

And a few minutes later, it got worse, much worse. Play resumed, and Poly were allowed to advance. They cut through midfield, put their striker through, and he rounded Sam. However, his resultant shot was weak, and Mike, who was tracking back, had the easiest goal-line clearance in the world to make. Yet he somehow failed to connect with the barely-moving ball, and it trickled through his legs and over the line. 2-1. Unbelievable.

Play resumed once again, and while 10 men in Yellow were probably still rueing the fact that Mike hadn’t stayed with the 3s after all (or just stayed at home!), Poly made it three with a bit of magic. Nothing much was happening as they advanced through midfield, until their striker unleashed a thunderbolt from 30 yards. It soared; it swerved and snuck in off the underside of the crossbar. No chance for Sam and a shell-shocked Merton were suddenly 3-1 down.

Things settled down somewhat, but the Yellows weren’t really at the races. The visitors’ defence was nothing too flash, and they gambled by playing three at the back. But the hosts were struggling to build any sustained interplay and thus never put them under much pressure.

But Poly had no such problems before the half was finished, their rampant attack added a fourth, and then a fifth, to leave a hapless Merton side digesting a 5-1 score line at the break. Game long gone, all that could happen now was an attempt to restore some pride. The plan to do so was to press higher, and set the offside trap.

And for 15 minutes of the 2nd half, it worked a treat. Merton advanced as one, squeezing their opponents, who seemed perplexed by the home side’s new-found savvy tactics. Spirits were steadily rising, the Yellows were cajoling each other, and with Arnold and Dulanie game fully chasing everything down, there was a significant goal threat to boot.

But then just after the hour mark, a poor bit of refereeing brought all of that crashing down. Poly had possession; the Merton defence squeezed forward once again, and played their strikers offside when the through ball came. Sadly, the ref didn’t see it that way. The silence of the lack of whistle was deafening, and the big Poly lad couldn’t believe his luck as he coasted onto the ball and put past Sam in a one-on-one.

6-1 it was, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In amongst the humiliation of watching the scoreboard tick over from 6, to 7, to 8, and then 9, Merton were able to pull one back. The tireless Jake did ever so well to intercept in the opponents’ half, and he clinically rolled the ball past the keeper with his left foot to double the Yellows’ score.

But, his amusing goal celebration aside, it was scant consolation for a Merton side who were thoroughly thrashed on their home turf. Yes, the pitch was appalling, and yes, the opponents were clearly strong. But this had been a poor, poor performance. Dom said it best afterwards: “We’ll put this one down as a mishap boys.

Indeed, no point harping on about it, and this match was best consigned to history. After all, this team has done some good things in the last couple of months, and with three games still to go, will be hopeful of climbing up the table with significantly easier opposition awaiting. It starts next week against HSBC.

FINAL SCORE: Merton 4s 2 – 9 Old Wilsonians 4s SCORERS: Dulanie Richards, Jake Hewitt MOTM: Arnold Collier/Dulanie Richards

STARTING LINE-UP: Samuel Singer-Ripley (GK), John Gridley (Arnold Collier), Mike Todt, Chris Outred (Capt.), Edward Plaistow, Sevan Mutafyan, Joe Plumridge, Mike Elgar (Glen Porter), Jake Hewitt, Dulanie Richards, Dom Plumridge.

Merton Res 0 Actonians Assoc Res 3  (HT 0-1)

We managed to get the game played but only by dint of booking the 3G surface at Tooting and Mitcham and then by kicking off at 5pm. This cost us a few players but with the 3s being washed out at King Georges we had a full compliment with the welcome addition of Will Taylor back from Sydney for the rest of the season. It was a good game but on a fast 3G surface it discouraged any measured football with Merton especially playing a fast and furious game. Actonians were a strong well organised side and deserved their win. They went ahead on 25 mins when a miscommunication at the backallowed the free kick in at th far post.. Strangely although Actonians had the majority of play the two best chances fell to Oli who was played through but could not finish and their Keeper made a couple of really good saves. Their second half dominance deserved two more goals and the final score of 3-0 was not totally unfair. The game was played in a pretty good spirit and it was a nice to watch. For our part Connor Murphy had another outstanding game, Pearcey put in another solid performance and Robin in midfield looked a class act. Will Taylor, Oli and Dq worked well upfront but they were feeding off crumbs. There are enough games left for us to pull out of this relegation position but we need to turn this round pretty quick. Whilst we are pretty good at now at getting are kit on we still have not quite mastered taking it off and there are some miscreants. Shirts should be the right way round (Name and shame  – Oli/22 and Robin /4) and socks are still seem to be a mystery. So put in laundry bag the right way rouund, stretched out and individually, resisting all temptation to tie them together or put one inside the other.  Simple !!! 

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MERTON FC – CLUB EVENTS 2016

Unusually the weather in north London was better than South London. As you know in the South we get lots more sunshine and it is several degrees warmer but not this Saturday and whilst the Hood was unequivocally unplayable EBOG was on. Although as we travelled slowly round the M25 news came in of the 1s postponement we felt increasingly concerned that our game would be called off but no the game was on their pitches were playable. They were very boggy however and it was a credit to both teams that we had such a good game to watch with both teams trying to play. The bad news was that our ref was being assessed and this may be why our game had linos whilst EBOG 1s playing and losing 4-0 to CEV did not. We had played EBOG a few weeks ago at WCE and drawn 3-3 and they had shown themselves to be a pretty good and organised side. The game was pretty even although EBOG had the best of the chances. Mustard came the closest to scoring when he got first to the near post cross and put a bullet header just wide and out for a corner to our immense relief. Sherbs saved well when their forward was through and acrobatically from a header. Mustard cleared off the line from a great header from one of their many corners.  The only other feature of the first half was DQ being flagged offside a record number of times which not unreasonably he attributed to advancing years. Firstly the linos and also that the lino did not understand that the greying DQ could still have such blinding pace. We started the second half with some optimism as we had the wind to help.  It was in fact a pretty even second half with Sherbs continuing to keep them out and us getting forward better, We had three good shouts for a pens but not given although the lino gave one only to overruled by the ref. They had the ball in the net from a great move in the last five mins but the flagging lino came to our rescue for what looked like a good goal. A draw was affair result and all of our boys put in a great shift. The back Four with a changing cast Joe/Clowesy /Mustard/Connor/ Pearcey /Liam were outstanding and Sherbs deserved his unanimous man of the match vote. The talk in the dressing room before the game was that no one could remember us ever having a goalless draw (or a clean sheet probably) so next week DQ was suggesting we should remember that we have not spanked anyone 5 or 6 for a long time. Or more realistically we have not beaten anyone for a while. The ref and his linos did agood job and EBOGs hospitality and welcome was appreciated. They had some good signs up in the changing rooms that we could learn from.

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Only two matches today’ 2s draw 0-0 away at EBOG a real battle in the bog. A great performance. Eggy Birthday boy down a predator (War and Peace edition)and Sherbs picks up Man of the Match award. 6s draw 4-4 at Ibis Eagles with goals from Ty, Ryan, Pete and Dan P. But they had led 3-1 at HT. 6th team striker Peter Obeng Adu is in hospital with a grade 4 tear in kidney after yesterday’s game at IBIS – our thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery

(Pics from EBOG)

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Actonians Association 6s vs. Merton 4s
SAL Minor Division 1 South
Saturday 6^th February 2016

John Gridley said it best after the men in Yellow had made the not-insignificant trek from the Actonians clubhouse to the fields where the game would take place: “This is going to be proper grassroots football today, lads.” Indeed, with ominous skies, a howling wind and a truly awful pitch, the 90 minutes that followed were never going to be a footballing masterpiece.

Nevertheless, the 4s, on the back of an impressive 3-0 win at Weirside Rangers, fancied their chances against the struggling Actonian Association 6s, and once again lined up 4-5-1. Starting off with much of the wind against them, they made a fine start, keeping good shape, working hard, and even showing some composure on the ball. 

The first 15 minutes were a bit of cat and mouse, with no real opportunities coming for either side. But Merton were just starting to build some momentum, and just shy of midway through the half, they hit their hosts on the counter. Some good interplay in midfield saw the ball find its way to Dulanie, who made a great run and fed Dom in the box. Hustled by a defender and with the keeper to beat, he made a decent stab at it with his left boot, but the wind took the ball agonisingly wide of the post.

Salt was then rubbed in the wounds soon after, as from about 30 yards out, Actonians took a shot that was seemingly well blocked. However, it lobbed up, rode the wind, and somehow snuck just under the crossbar. 1-0 to the men in blue, and a cruel blow for Merton.

But the lads seem to be made of sterner stuff these days, and kept their heads up from the resumption. They continued to work hard, and after some resolute defending, again produced a counter attack. Once again, it was Dom who found himself carving out a shot in the box, despite being circled by numerous defenders, only this time it was the keeper who tipped his effort inches wide of the same post.

But he wasn’t to be denied for too much longer. Five minutes before the break, Merton won a free kick 25 yards out, 10 yards to the left of the left post. For Dom, and a man who had scored his previous two free kicks, you could barely have placed it better. And so 10 men in yellow held their breath. The 11th, Dom, had no such doubts though. The ball once again absolutely flew off his left boot, seemingly picking up speed as it went despite the wind. The keeper dived despairingly, but never had a price. It smashed into the goal off the inside of the far post, and every man to a tee mobbed the little genius. 1-1, a crucial equaliser before half time, and unbridled joy for the lads.

Nothing much more doing in the closing minutes, and the talk was good at the interval. The 4s fancied putting 3 or 4 past these opponents, especially with a bit more help from the wind. But first and foremost, it was the three points which were needed. Actonians came out after the kick-off with purpose, but the midfield three kept digging their heels in, and, in truth, didn’t leave a great deal for the defence to do.

And the surging home side were always going to leave themselves vulnerable to a counter attack. This time it was good work from Joe and Jake up the right which led to a free kick in a dangerous position around 10 minutes into the second period.

Now it was Mikey who stood over it, and he delivered a menacing ball into the box. With a sea of yellow trying to get on the end of it, the Actonian defender appeared to be taken by surprise as the ball landed at his feet, and his attempted clearance resulted merely in a meek finish past the keeper. Own goal, Scholesy might just about claim the assist for a “flick on”, but Merton didn’t care a monkeys how it had come. It was 2-1, and another 3 points were in sight.

But there was still a long way to go, and the key was going to be to keep the focus and concentration up. No team really bossed it at any stage, but it’s fair to say the opponents spent more time in the Yellows’ half than the alternative. But each time any man was called upon to thwart the Actonians, they did their job, and the manager made some good substitutions too with Arnold and Billy showing good energy when they came on.

In truth, for 85 minutes, the home side weren’t even allowed a clear opportunity at any stage, with even their earlier goal being somewhat fortuitous and speculative. But a generally peaceful game had a bit of late drama, as Dom took exception to the harrying of an Actonian defender. He put an impressive rugby tackle in after the whistle had gone for a foul, which incensed the opponents. This in turn drew all in sundry to throw their handbags in – including those on the bench – with rumours that a punch had been thrown escalating things. 

The fracas eventually died down and play resumed for the final few. Perhaps a now slightly distracted Merton side had their first real heart-in-mouth moment in the dying stages, as the opposing winger put a ball in that awkwardly trickled across the face of the goal in front of Sam. But with no blue shirt able to get on the end of it, that hairy moment passed as quickly as it had begun, and the sweet sound of the final whistle followed soon after.

And so it was… a 2-1 victory. Not one that will go down as an all-time classic. Far from it, in fact. But the steadily improving 4s had done what they needed to do, and largely cruised to what was now a 4th win in 5. This really is a team beginning to hit its straps, and although HSBC will likely present a tougher challenge next week, Merton will have every confidence that they can do the business.

FINAL SCORE: Actonians Association 6s 1 – 2 Merton 4s
SCORERD: Dom Plumridge, Own Goal
MOTM: Joe Plumridge

STARTING LINE-UP: Samuel Singer-Ripley (GK), John Gridley, Chris Outred, Mike Todt, Edward Plaistow (Billy Dowie), Jake Hewitt (Arnold Collier), Michael Elgar, Neal Davison, Mike Elgar, Dulanie Richards, Dom Plumridge

Good day with the Youth section. Our Under 10s beat C B Hounslow 7-1 and are now through to the semi finals of the cup. The U11s beat Halliford Colts 2-1 and the U12s drew 1-1 with Worplesden Rangers. Our U13s beat Moormead heavily with Harvey and Jacobo both getting hat tricks. The U14s game was postponed. Last nights monsoons had really flooded the Hood.