NPL Mens 2’s vs Merton Boars

A tough one to take against an obviously determined Merton squad. Early exchanges certainly revealed a somewhat interesting interpretation of the stick tackle rule by the umpires, but it was within the opening minutes that a dogged run and weave by Will led to an early breakthrough, with Masaya finishing well to ensure a 1 - 0 lead. The response from Merton was subsequently felt with the defence coming under sustained pressure, but held well with some excellent marking and shadowing. Inevitably though, a couple of short corners fell Merton’s way with a well disciplined and executed second effort bringing the score level. Into half time we went at 1 - 1 with everything to play for…

The second half brought with it a renewed sense of pressing harder into the opposition’s half whilst maintaining the defensive spirit seen in the first 35min. Some great running by the forwards generated more attacking opportunities leading eventually to an excellent effort at goal by Jamie only going just wide. The combined effort ultimately paid off as the short corner routine finally clicked with a clean strike, following Neil’s accurate injection, taking NPL into the lead. The competitive nature of the game continued with neither side giving much away and with only minutes to go, another well taken short corner by Merton drew the score level. The response came in the form of another forced infringement in the D by the Merton back row, but effectively defended and cleared leading to a pitch length break by their youngsters to score the winning goal. A committed performance all round by the team which deserved a better result. Final score 3 - 2 to Merton.