Merton Hockey Club 2009/10 - Weekly Updates from the World of Merton Hockey Club -

Boars Match Reports

14/11/2009
Merton Boars vs Reigate

2-0 WIN

Merton win with 3 reverse stick shots

After an evening of wind ,rain and gales we realised the game was on - one player thought to ring to check whilst the rest were asleep or waiting for the captains call , just in case I did ask the Reigate captain for a pitch inspection - he called at 11.00 and I was told that it was perfect and its was sunny and there had been no rain since 9.00. The rain then fell in torrents en route, at the start ,in both halves and on the way home....!!!!!

But we were ready for them, those of the team who got there on time . I remain convinced that this is the away game where we always seem to start with 9 or 10 players and after a period of their presssure we began to exert out own pressure and after a slick move Simon F put the ball in the back of the net with a smart reverse stick shot. The pressure continued and we were awarded a penalty flick their keeper saved Gary's shot at waist height to his right.

The second half began in the rain and Colin guesting as the 3's game was called off went through all the players and squarred the ball in vain as the forwards missed , perhaps it was the shock of the speed or the fact he got through without the usual stick tackles.
The second goal came soon aferwards with a flowing move from right to left and back again when Aumran having beaten several players also 'swept ' the ball into the back of the net on the reverse stick.

The Reigate team made few chances throughout the whole game and eventually got through beating the defense and Neil who was pleased to be called into action, his other efforts were to put the goal back on the pitch as the wind moved it several feet back from the goal line . However , depite a sything lunge he missed the ball and it went goal bound only for the piroetting Paul to stop the ball on his reverse stick and to sweep it away from the goal.

The final whistle finally came after 2 injuries firstly to John who took a blow to his knee in our D and Dan after a scorching run miscued his shot slipped and hobbled off with what appeared to be a twisted ankle despite a few further chances the umpires blew and with 9 fit men and two injuries we had kept out first clean sheet of the season .

Scorers
Aumran
Simon F
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07/11/2009
Merton Boars VS Walton & Weybridge Hawks

3-1 WIN

The old adage that the weaker sides pull you down and you play better against the better sides.....was too true on Saturday.

Despite the pre-match discussions warning about complacency and looking at last week’s result for what it was the performance was to say the least rather mixed.
Merton took to the pitch with a few enforced changes and with 10 players, we started strongly and built several early chances down the right in particular and were seldom challenged in defence apart from 3 late burst towards the end of the half.

2 well worked goals in the first half put is well in control, but without the buzz and calmness of last week we failed to make the use of the space and time on the ball and  several chances were squandered and despite hitting the post from a short corner we  were again frustrated and ended the half 2-0.

The second half was a rather dull affair, with players taking too long and forgetting how easily their defence was undone in the first half when we played so well  and so we became more frustrated with ourselves and the umpires . With several attempts and near misses we eventually scored a third from a well worked short corner and then let them into our half and after a good save from Gus the forwards nifty footwork on the ball was missed by the umpire and they scored a consolation goal.

Scorers
Simon Frampton
Andy J
Dave B

To win when you are playing good it easy.....it’s winning when you’re playing badly that counts.

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31/10/2009
Merton Boars VS Teddington

1 – 1 DRAW

Well another well deserved point in the bag against the top side which says more about us than them clearly given their comments about the side they were putting out ( apparently described as their 'dream team' ) suggested they expected us to roll over
A good performance actually saw us lose a late goal and denied another chance to get a flick in the final minutes by our partially sighted umpire who looked to the other umpire for support but who sight was 20,20 full on but only seeing things Teddington way

Scorers
Dave B
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24/10/2009
Merton Boars VS Old Mid Whitgiftgians

Well despite several players with many years of experience on grass and some fresher faces (thanks for your support guys) we were unable to turn possesion, commitment and enthusiasm into goals and unluckily ran out 2-1 losers- to a bunch of kids , some enthusiastic and rather arrogant and objectionable players making up the Mid Wives team.

The pitch was firm but the grasss was wet and we did not make the surface work to our advantage.....there was a silence in the team clearly missing Yee Gan and Gus's encouragment at the back although there was an ongong dialogue with the umpires ...how I hate umpiring looking into the sun trying to see what's happening with what is a so called National League umpire at the other end offering little help and who was rather one sided in his assessment...is that a Sir Alex or Arsen assessment?

Sadly we did not build on early pressure and a lot of second half pressure , there was an over reliance on the play down the left side leaving Trev free most of the time and when he did get the ball we scored down the right side .However having said that moving the ball was difficult and it would clearly have been a different match on the plastic grass or the rahter flat home astro pitch !!

Scorers
Trevor

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17/10/2009
Merton Boars VS Cheam

2 -1 WIN

Well as you can see we now have one point and are 10th.in the league. No mean achievement given the start and there are echoes of last year’s start and if we recall the season and the finish we had there is much to be positive about.

At 3.30 I was rather concerned about the side we were putting out and had Paul bringing along the pads probably rather fearful that he would be asked to don the pads again for his annual run around but with Yee Gan also umpiring the ladies and cajoling and using his charm and club commitment to get Neil to kindly stay on too play no doubt helped by the quiet beer he managed in between the games. We did start with a real goalie!

However the club man of the week goes to Andy who offered the services of his mate John who was visiting Andy for the weekend and who was up for a game, the first game he had ever played in fact. Clearly from his touch , ability to stop the ball and deft flicks he put some players at times to shame and had been secretly practicing with Andy in the hall way or the kitchen for some of Saturday morning I guess.

The game started slowly for Merton and Cheam were up for the local derby and perhaps spotted there were several changes of personnel and positions which our players forget for moments of the game and saw themselves out of position at times. We were slow to start and quick to commit to attack and like the Irish defines against Italy were undone by the speed of the Cheam attack the slowness of the defence and midfield to get back and we were one goal down, however the defence gelled and from then on the new defensive set up with dual sweepers in Dan and Yee Gan, and Paul very solid on the right and Andy making the right back his own we were never likely to concede again.

We grew in confidence towards the end of the first half and the midfield of Aumran and Alex were taking control with the speed of the two Simons on the wing troubling the Cheam defence and our own team as well. The goal came from a short as the umpire blew for the end of the first half , the whole team came up onto the D and Alex reverted to the tried and tested but rarely successful Mickey Lewis and Mickey Warne routine. It worked a treat and Gary scored his first goal of the season.

The half time team talk was clearly inspiring, was it the quite authority of Gary, the passionate comments from Alex and Aumran , the coaching perspective from Yee Gan or the dark horse Jon who new none of the riles but who was clearly inspiring confidence that anyone who tries can play this game( apparently he did the same in a game of golf never having played before and the coming 3rd and hitting several birdies!!

The second half was almost entirely Merton, a succession of shorts were awarded and we were unable to converts any of them, the Cheam side had several breakaway and some pressure but the defence just about held out and when the shorts came they could not convert. Neil was at times required to pull off some smart saves and even had time to watch the ball arcing and spinning towards the goal post and had the mathematical calculations to know it was gong wide despite the concerns from the defence and the umpire.

Would the goal come from the shorts or the breakaways, there were some goal line scraps, a few misses and one from 12 inches and it looked like it was destined for a draw. With minutes remaining there was another short, the Cheam attack were bemused by the call, “mark 43” by the ever enthusiastic Yee Gan who was clearly concerned we'd mess it up again and they would attack swiftly and 43 would be free . However after a mêlée in the goal some feet from Aumran, Simon managed on this occasion to put the ball in the back of the net.

A final Cheam attack looked promising but they never really looked like scoring and we ran out 2-1 winners with legs and energy still in the tank according to some players.

Scorers
Simon
Gary

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10/10/2009
Merton Boars VS Croydon

3 -3 DRAW

Well we are off with a point after the usual slow start and certainly quicker than both Portsmouth and Ipswich.

A good start to the first half saw us scoring twice and when we used the quick ball from the defence through midfield using the left side we looked as good as we did last year in our pomp, sadly we saw that ball too infrequently.

Sadly fitness and a greater urgency from the Croydon side saw us fall back to 2-2 , a new defensive set up and some decisions that the defence queried with the umpire saw them pull level, and then despite a third goal from Aumran we finished 3-3 which is certain something to build on for next week.

Scorers
Aumran x3

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