Mens Merlins drew with Teddington Tigers 1 - 1

MAIDENHEAD MERLINS 1 v 1 TEDDINGTON TIGERS

Goal scorers: Mike Tarrier Stewart Cunliff

Merlins and Tigers fight to be Top Dog


With Skipper Wardle on business in the US (checking Tiger Woods’ wheel nuts) and Vice Skipper Castle also absent (deputising for Tiger at a golf tournament), it was stand-in Skipper Craig Mair who took up the ‘herding rabbits’ task that it is trying to organise the Merlins.

Not only did Mair manage to get a replacement proper goalie at short notice but he also enlisted the help of two superb Fledging Female Merlins, Milly Conibear and Holly Strube, who both passed the Merlins’ pre-match preparation rituals in the bar with flying colours…and he found two proper umpires!

Mair’s efforts were well worth while and resulted in an exciting, entertaining and well controlled match in which the spoils were eventually evenly shared 1-1; although it could have just as easily been a 5 all draw had it not been for the excellence of the goalkeepers and the profligacy of both sets of forwards.

Considering Merlins had representatives of every decade age group from their teens to the eighth decade, they started remarkably well and this blend of youth and experience was soon dominating the midfield.

Stuart Anderson in central midfield was impressive and dominant combining well with Miall Major and Minor and striking up an instant understanding with Milly Conibear whose surging runs forward and tackling back were an outstanding of the entire game.

Merlins’ steadily increasing pressure, mainly through the powerful runs of Skipper Mair and the ubiquitous Chris Miall earned a number of short corners and eventually from one of these Mike ‘Goal a Game’ Tarrier reacted quickest amongst a mêlée of players to shoot home from short-ish range.

Soon afterwards, Mair ‘scored’ from another corner with a shot from the Wardle Manual of Subtlety, only for it to be correctly ruled out for being too high, as it was the first shot after the hit out.

1-0 up at half time, but Skipper Mair warned against complacency against a Tigers’ Team that was rapidly getting used to the grass surface that, as an astro based team, they were unaccustomed to playing on.

The second half saw a much more dominant Tigers’ performance with only the occasional break out from Merlins.

This ‘defensive’ scenario brought out the best in the full backs Heroic Holly ‘They shall not pass’ Strube, Man of the Match Tony Robinson and Goalie Martin Beardmore who made a number of saves out of the top draw, and some at the bottom of the goal.

The ‘break out’ scenario saw important contributions from the relentless and energetic Mike Tarrier on the right wing and Arthur ‘Blocka’ Wood on the right, for once living up to his name, and stopping everything within his reach.

The combined break out and tracking back efforts of Simon and Chris Miall, a sort of ‘Chrismon’ duo, (a bit like Jedward but with better singing voices) were noteworthy with Chris Miall’s mazy and amazing runs always proving a threat, not least to Arthur Wood who was the subject of a Chris Miall trademark ‘nutmeg’.

Meanwhile on the other side of the field Merlins’ French International Robèrt LeWright was quietly going about his business of Le Tackle Anglais and Le Retreat Running Backwards; very French.

However in spite of all the best efforts of the Merlins there was a certain amount of inevitability when Tigers equalized through Stewart Cunliff.

Merlins survived a tense 15 minutes or so during which Tigers squandered a few good chances but both Stuart Anderson and Craig Mair went close in the closing minutes of this enjoyable and well umpired (thank you, Eugene Murphy and Peter Johnstone) match in which, overall, a draw was probably a fair result.