League

Hurst Rec Stadium
Spectators: 8425 (Terracing: 6319, Seating: 1938, VIP seats: 168) The mood of the audience was pleasant when John-Paul Whittingham made the kick off which started today's match. The supporters of Merton Albion FC booed when Barca was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 3 match minutes in a wonderful position. Jimmy Dickens didn't get a good kick on the ball. Pali Zapala made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from John-Paul Whittingham in the 4th minute of play. Pali Zapala showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from John-Paul Whittingham in the 5th minute of the match. With a little luck, Barca's Pali Zapala got control of the ball when Dean Ashton tried to sneak it across the goal line. The supporters of Merton Albion FC booed when Barca was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 8 match minutes in a wonderful position. Rufus Mills didn't get a good kick on the ball. Pali Zapala was a little too slow when Dean Ashton got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 9th minute. The score was now 1-0. In the 16th minute John-Paul Whittingham shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Pali Zapala saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 19 minutes into the match, John-Paul Whittingham notched a goal, 2-0, to the right of Barca's Pali Zapala. Pali Zapala was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Teddy Grigg received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 22nd minute. Laurence Barraclough tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Rufus Mills made in the 25th minute of the game a quick throw-in and Kristopher Perkins immediately put the ball in play. Laurence Barraclough took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Victor Mallon, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 32nd minute, Dean Ashton ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Pali Zapala was frozen by the shot and now it was 3-0. 35 minutes into the match, Barca's goalkeeper Pali Zapala had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Slawomir Cieliczka. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Frank Osbourne in the 36th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Laurence Barraclough saved Merton Albion FC from getting behind. When Dean Ashton came up free with the goalie in the 39th minute, the Merton Albion FC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Dean Ashton couldn't finish the play. In the 42nd minute of the match, Dean Ashton got a very nice opportunity to score, but Pali Zapala was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. Merton Albion FC's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by John-Paul Whittingham in the 43rd minute. At last the ball reached Olly Connell at the corner, ending with a kick to difficult to stop for the goalkeeper of Barca. 4-0. Dean Ashton fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 46th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Pali Zapala having to interfere. After a rather tough play, Barca's Oliver Dimmock got a free kick in the 48th minute.

The wind increased when Frank Osbourne made the kick off in the second half. In the 54th minute, John-Paul Whittingham ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Pali Zapala was frozen by the shot and now it was 5-0. John-Paul Whittingham recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 57th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. In the 59th minute Victor Mallon shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Laurence Barraclough saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 64th minute Dean Ashton shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Pali Zapala saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The supporters of Merton Albion FC booed when Barca was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 64 match minutes in a wonderful position. Aquiles Luar didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 65th minute of the match Olly Connell shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Pali Zapala showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Dean Ashton received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 67th minute. Pali Zapala tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If Victor Mallon had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 72nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After some fancy dribbling in the 74th minute, John-Paul Whittingham managed to get in a good position for a shot. Merton Albion FC's supporters rose to their feet, but John-Paul Whittingham was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Pali Zapala breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Victor Mallon recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 75th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After some careless play in the Barca defense, Dean Ashton kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Pali Zapala. The Barca fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Pali Zapala should have stopped the shot. When John-Paul Whittingham came up free with the goalie in the 82nd minute, the Merton Albion FC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that John-Paul Whittingham couldn't finish the play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Dean Ashton in the 83rd minute of play forced Barca's goalkeeper Pali Zapala to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 84th minute John-Paul Whittingham shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Pali Zapala saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Merton Albion FC were awarded a corner in the 85th minute after Barca's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. John-Paul Whittingham took the corner. After some careless play in the Barca defense, Dean Ashton kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Pali Zapala. The Barca fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Pali Zapala should have stopped the shot. In the 89th minute the ball was on its way in behind Barca's goalkeeper Pali Zapala, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Pali Zapala came out of the goal in the 90th minute to try and stop a shot by Merton Albion FC's John-Paul Whittingham. But to his dismay, John-Paul Whittingham quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 8-0. John-Paul Whittingham might have been able to make a better finish in the 97th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Pali Zapala. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. John-Paul Whittingham ran back to his position shaking his head. There were very few away supporters still in the ground by the end of the match. Most of them had left early, disgusted by the way their team had been torn apart. Merton Albion FC fully deserved thier win.