Mens Merlins lost to Berkhampsted 1 - 2

Berkhampsted 2 – 1 Maidenhead Merlins
Scorers:
B'hampsted - Demattos, Rogers
Maidenhead - Mair

Berkhampsted weather the storm

The Merlins braved inclement weather, motorway mayhem, and suspect satnav this week to arrive at Berkhampsted unscathed, and unusually-of-late with a full team of eleven men.

Still missing the considerable talents of Ronnie Fuller at keeper, skipper Wardle was fortunate to be able to pull on the skills of club evergreen David Vincent to defend the Merlins net. Add to this a last minute transfer of John Woods from Boyne Hill, and the prospects looked considerably brighter than the autumn sky.

The somewhat lengthy journey to Berkhampsted provided time to reflect on the challenge ahead, as the Merlins were not to face their usual opposition but a worryingly entitled “development” side. Never one to shirk a challenge, skipper Wardle arrived early, touched down in the local pub-come-Chinese restaurant, and proceeded to finish the Telegraph Crossword, two pints of bitter, and a bowl of prawn crackers in deepest preparation.

The “development” side the Merlin were to face were a little more wizened than legend foretold, indeed for some of the more experienced members the only “development” they were likely to see would be that of gout or Alzheimer’s. However appearances can be deceptive and despite the Merlins superiority in great swathes of the pitch, it was the Berkhampsted side who could have taken the early lead through a number of chances. Had it not been for the heroics of Vincent in the Merlins goal making numerous saves the Merlins could have been out of the game before it really got going.

As the wind and rain swept in the game intensified as even the slowest players began to move in an effort to keep warm. Movement became space, and with “Poison” Ivey in rampant form through the middle chances began to fall the Merlins way.

The closest chance of the half at either end fell to the ever-predatory Bob “Jigsaw” Brown. Wearing waterproof layers now inflated to Michelin standards and having been tethered to the P-spot to stop him blowing away, Brown seized on a rare chance to play a bit of his favoured (and patented) “horizontal hockey”, going to ground faster than the Washington sniper to unleash a reverse stick effort which crept just wide of the left post.

In the second half the Merlins began to push further forward, driven by a rousing intermission speech from skipper Wardle, but also by a tailwind and a downhill slope. Spreading the ball wider to make use of Wood’s and Woods’ * touchline positioning created room for the now marauding Merlins midfield and cracks began to appear in the otherwise solid Berkhampsted defence.

Unfortunately cracks also began to appear at the Merlins end and despite persistent defending and dogged covering back by Noel Murphy and Man-of-the-Match Simon Miall it was Berkhampsted who slotted a couple of simple goals following defensive errors.

It was at this point that the Merlins began to create a storm of their own, and Castle, Ivey, and Mair began to scythe through the Berkhampsted defence like a knife through plasticine. Both Brown and Wardle went close before a darting run by Ivey left “Tintin” Mair with the simplest of finishes to half the deficit.

Tails up, wind behind, downhill, and full of self belief the Merlins pressed on, and the final ten minutes of the game became almost totally one-sided. Ivey missed by inches with a long-range trailblazer before some slightly cynical defending put the dampener on any clean chances on goal. Short corner after short corner ensued, but with the erratic short corner routines confusing both defenders and attackers alike Berkhampsted managed against the odds to hold out for a deserved win.

All-in-all it was a storming (and stormy) encounter with a friendly and sociable Berkhampsted side, who will be well welcomed at the Maidenhead clubhouse when they arrive by minibus for the arranged Christmas fixture with all the trimmings. Hopefully it should atone for them missing the beer festival this year!

*that’s Arthur Wood and John Woods for those that are confused.