My original plan for today was to head up the A36 to another Western League game but a text message from Paul in the morning changed that plan as he offered a lift in his new car to a new ground. After some research we agreed on a visit to Merley Cobham Sports in the Dorset Premier League and their game against Weymouth Reserves.
We arrived at the ground in plenty of time for kickoff and waited in the car for the teams to come out as it was very cold outside. As I wandered down the touchline I noticed a miniature railway to the left of the roadway to the main building which made a change to the standard playgrounds.
Weymouth were wearing an orange kit which looked to be a left over from their first team’s time in the Conference South last season as it had a Blue Square badge on one arm. Merley Cobham were in a pale blue kit. There was no admission or programme on sale but we did make the recommended donation of £2 when a collection was taken during the first half.
The game kicked off on time at 2 o clock which was a bonus for me as the second half of games recently have been too dark to get decent photographs. Both teams had plenty of the ball in the first ten minutes. Merley thought they had scored in the seventh minute when the ball seemed to come off a Weymouth defender before hitting the net but the referee disallowed it as the assistant referee had his flag raised, presumably for an offside.
Weymouth were using the flanks well and the Merley keeper had to be alert on a couple of occasions to pick the ball out of the air from crosses. The first legal effort of the afternoon came after 16 minutes when Weymouth hit a rising shot over the bar from outside the area. This was quickly followed by the first goal of the afternoon after 19 minutes. Weymouth hit a long ball over the top of the defence for one of their players to run on to.
He took the ball into the area, jumping past a tackle from a defender and after dribbling the ball round the keeper slotted the ball into the net from a tight angle. An excellent finish followed by a Premier League style celebration, a mid air somersault similar to Lua-Lua’s famous celebration. The locals weren’t so impressed, “flash git” according to one.
The goal seemed to affect the flow of the game as Weymouth started to dominate the play although not the possession which was still fairly even. Both teams had a shot over the bar but goal attempts were scarce. Weymouth were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the 40th minute when one of their players was dragged down in the box by an arm round his waist but the referee missed it.
Weymouth extended their lead in the 43rd minute from a similar breakaway to their first goal. The striker was caught by a great defensive tackle on the edge of the area but the ball fell to one of his team mates running in behind him who saw the keeper had come off his line and hit an accurate chip over his head and into the net.
There was still time for the referee to take centre stage again as a Weymouth player was tackled near the edge of the area. From my perspective behind the goal it looked like a fair challenge inside the box but the referee decided that it was a foul outside of the box although at first I thought he was going to book the player for a dive. The freekick didn’t come to anything and we retired to the social club to warm up.
After an all to brief stay in the warm, we joined the other 30 or so spectators to watch the second half. Merley started in a similar fashion to the first half but their play down the far flank was easy for Weymouth to contain as they weren’t using the full width of the pitch. On several occasions good runs into space on the near touchline were missed by players on the ball not looking up.
In the 58th minute there was a nasty accidental collision between the Weymouth keeper and a Merley player as they both tried to win a ball that had been crossed into the area. The Merley player ended up heading the ball past the keeper but wide of the goal as both players collapsed to the floor.
The Merley player recovered first but it took the visiting physio a few minutes to help the keeper recover to the point where he could continue playing. Merley were dominating play throughout the first twenty five minutes of the half but weren’t creating chances. On several occasions they had set pieces and corners where they could have created goal attempts with direct passes or crosses but chose to overcomplicate play and lose the ball as a result.
Weymouth punished them in the 73rd minute after winning the ball in midfield. The ball was played down the right side and then crossed into the area to be met with a superb shot that flew past the keeper. Conceding the first goal of the half again deflated Merley’s spirits and they were lucky not to let in another a few minutes later. On that occasion the first shot was blocked and the follow up went narrowly wide.
In the 83rd minute Weymouth scored their fourth goal of the afternoon. The ball was crossed in from the right side but behind the front striker who had moved forward slightly too early. There was no-one in the defence close enough to get to the ball as it slowly rolled across the penalty spot before an onrushing Weymouth player placed a low shot past the Merley keeper. Weymouth continued to press but couldn’t add a fifth before the referee blew for full time. Paul had conceded to the cold air and was watching the game from the car and it didn’t take me long to join him in the warmth for the drive home.
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