MERSTHAM FC

Anything yellow and blue
GodalmingYellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by GodalmingYellow »

slappy wrote:Merstham sold their home allocation in 1 1/2 hours last night.
OUFC tickets on sale to season ticket holders in person from 9:30-12:00 on Saturday at the ticket office, or online.

It looks like there is a Southern rail strike planned for 5 November, which affects many of the trains calling at Merstham, but Thameslink is I think still running (every half hour).
Given that Merstham generally get crowds around the 150 mark, I wonder how many of the tickets in the home end have been sold to Us fans.
slappy
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by slappy »

GodalmingYellow wrote:
slappy wrote:Merstham sold their home allocation in 1 1/2 hours last night.
OUFC tickets on sale to season ticket holders in person from 9:30-12:00 on Saturday at the ticket office, or online.

It looks like there is a Southern rail strike planned for 5 November, which affects many of the trains calling at Merstham, but Thameslink is I think still running (every half hour).
Given that Merstham generally get crowds around the 150 mark, I wonder how many of the tickets in the home end have been sold to Us fans.
I wonder - I was surprised the home tickets all went on the first day of sale, but with 1000 away available to OUFC fans, I'd have thought most of the dedicated OUFC home and away supporters will manage to get one on Saturday. I'm glad they are on sale on-line as the prospect of getting to the ticket office for 9:30 and queueing up wasn't very appealing.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by GodalmingYellow »

slappy wrote:
GodalmingYellow wrote:
slappy wrote:Merstham sold their home allocation in 1 1/2 hours last night.
OUFC tickets on sale to season ticket holders in person from 9:30-12:00 on Saturday at the ticket office, or online.

It looks like there is a Southern rail strike planned for 5 November, which affects many of the trains calling at Merstham, but Thameslink is I think still running (every half hour).
Given that Merstham generally get crowds around the 150 mark, I wonder how many of the tickets in the home end have been sold to Us fans.
I wonder - I was surprised the home tickets all went on the first day of sale, but with 1000 away available to OUFC fans, I'd have thought most of the dedicated OUFC home and away supporters will manage to get one on Saturday. I'm glad they are on sale on-line as the prospect of getting to the ticket office for 9:30 and queueing up wasn't very appealing.
I agree. The first press release suggested it would be tickets only to those personal callers at the ticket office, but pleased to see they have added in the online option.
slappy
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by slappy »

The initial reasoning for ticket office only was for fans without computers, but are there that many out there? If so, presumably they are elderly and I presume wouldn't want to be stood in queues anyway.
Hog
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by Hog »

Oh dear! By lunchtime Wednesday we still have 200 unsold tickets (Merstham sold theirs within 90 minutes apparently!). Presumably we promised we'll take up the slack and pay them for any that don't sell?
GodalmingYellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by GodalmingYellow »

Hog wrote:Oh dear! By lunchtime Wednesday we still have 200 unsold tickets (Merstham sold theirs within 90 minutes apparently!). Presumably we promised we'll take up the slack and pay them for any that don't sell?
They have been on sale to ST holders only until today, but it is surprising that take up has been so slow. Probably the effect of TV cameras. I very much doubt there will be any spare come Saturday.
OUFC4eva
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by OUFC4eva »

OUFC4eva
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by OUFC4eva »

OUFC4eva
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

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GodalmingYellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by GodalmingYellow »

5-0 flattered us, even though ex-Oxford keeper Phil Wilson made several quality saves that otherwise might have made the margin wider.

The game was really well organised by Merstham and the way the club handled themselves, including posting people at various road junctions to direct fans to the ground from the rail station, made this one of the friendliest fixtures I have attended since non-league days.

Merstham play a very similar style of football to us, and they are very effective going forwards, with fast interplay and off ball movement, which some of our players could learn a lot from.

In particular, the Merstham left back (#3) was very quick and skillful and on that display should really be playing at professional level.

Merstham caused us a lot of problems in the first half, and all credit to them, they were not content to put 11 men behind the ball as some non-league sides might have done. Instead, they took every opportunity to run at us, and carved open our (rather odd) back line without difficulty. Only poor finishing prevented them from scoring.

Lots of changes to our line up, with MApp giving fringe players a chance to shine. It was more or less our second XI, but we should still have outshone Merstham, but apart from finishing, we did not do so.

Macca's goal was exceptional and has made it to the BBC's goals of the round video.

Poor performances from Taylor, T Roberts, Hemmings, Ledson, and Martin, with a very out of position Johnson also being very hit and miss.

MoM for us was a toss up between Macca and Dunkley, but the real MoM was said Merstham #3.

The ref was a bit too card happy, dishing out yellows for routine fouls, including 1 for a Merstham player being subbed. I hope their fines aren't too harsh.

Nice touch from OUFC to donate our share of gate receipts to Merstham and I was pleased to see that our players did not over-celebrate on scoring - there would have been nothing to gain by rubbing their noses in it.
YF Dan
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by YF Dan »

It's funny how different people see the game in different ways.

I must admit, I only watched the match on telly (actually well after it had finished and I knew the result), but here are my views on the players:

I thought Ledsom and Ruffels looked pretty solid, given neither had played for a while.

Johnson, whom I have been a big critic of, I think is finally starting to show something that suggests half a million wasn't a total waste of money.

Martin, who I assumed would never play for us again, actually looked alright and made some decent blocks.

Hemmings looked like a striker. A neat finish and a tap-in. And we didn't lose 2-1. Hopefully this will be the start of something.

But, by contrast, everything I've ever thought about Taylor was confirmed by the multi-cameras. He's simply doesn't get into goal-scoring positions. Maybe he has a fear of missing, that means doesn't want to get into places where chances will come to him? But if he does that, he will never score. Look where he is when our goals go in. Loitering in places where the ball won't go. And he's so goddam slow. If he's not scoring in 5-0 drubbings of local butchers, he ain't scoring ever. A non-scoring forward is a luxury I can't be done with, pretty flicks or not.

Can we also mention the 'finger' kid all over Twitter? Jeez. Someone has taught their son to do that, or not taught them not to do it. Either way, it's pretty sad.
tomoufc
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by tomoufc »

YF Dan wrote:
Can we also mention the 'finger' kid all over Twitter? Jeez. Someone has taught their son to do that, or not taught them not to do it. Either way, it's pretty sad.
You can if you like. I didn't see this, but if it's a kid giving the middle finger to a player or the cameras, then people really have got their priorities wrong if they're making a fuss about it. And some comments I read on the Other Side amount to inciting child abuse.

I remember reading in a Shakespeare play that it was offensive to bit one's thumb at someone at that time. Presumably it's effect was watered-down by enough people shrugging their shoulders over time.
&quotI've been a slave to football. It follows you home, it follows you everywhere, and eats into your family life. But every working man misses out on some things because of his job. &quot
Kernow Yellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Caught the last 60 minutes on telly (in a rather dodgy pub in Kingsbridge after finishing work there).

The midfields were quite even I thought - neither team controlled it and both broke through and carved out scoring opportunities several times. But the real difference came in attack vs defence at both ends of the pitch. As you would expect with such a difference in league placings. Hard to judge individual performances when you can only see what BT Sport's camera angles show, but we can't have many complaints at a routine 5-0 victory.

Our second goal was a joy to watch - breaking quickly after dispossessing Merstham, moving it wide with purpose, Johnson getting round his fullback, great movement into the box from Ruffles (midfieders supporting the attack for once!) and a powerful header. Very satisfying.

All the bookings I saw looked fair enough, particularly the one for the Merstham player just before he was subbed - he'd caught Sercs high and late and didn't dispute the caution at all.

Very pleased to be in the hat for the next round. Another easy draw please.

Quite enjoyed the coverage of Eastleigh's match on Friday night too - especially the Oxford fan (not SD!) showing his scarf behind the presenter when he went for a walk in the home end...
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

tomoufc wrote:
YF Dan wrote: Can we also mention the 'finger' kid all over Twitter? Jeez. Someone has taught their son to do that, or not taught them not to do it. Either way, it's pretty sad.
You can if you like. I didn't see this, but if it's a kid giving the middle finger to a player or the cameras, then people really have got their priorities wrong if they're making a fuss about it.
Well, yes and no. Sure, it's not the biggest deal in the world, and it shouldn't detract from an excellent display on telly. But it did taint the club's image a little and showed a distinct lack of class from one of our fans. I wonder how the goalie felt? The lad probably wasn't even born when Phil Wilson played for Oxford, and may not even have been aware that he is an Oxford fan himself. But of all the players to have been on the receiving end, it was a shame it had to be him.

Back to the football, it's easy to write off the win given the opposition - but we've played so badly on telly in recent times that any win was welcome, and to do it in such style was most pleasing. 5-0 flattered us a bit (Mertsham gave us a real game for most of the first half), but there were some great goals in there.

The big question: can Hemmings now go on a goalscoring run having discovered some form? I suspect the answer to that question will shape our season.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: MERSTHAM FC

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Kairdiff Exile wrote:. But it [...] showed a distinct lack of class from one of our fans.
Oh come on. A lack of class from a 9-year old. Imagine! Hopefully his gesture being shown on tv will embarrass him a bit - not that that stops many much older folk from being much more stupid, both at football and elsewhere.
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