Media Watch - Mangotsfield United

Rare Newall goal helps Martyrs to welcome win
Ian Caleb, Celtic Sport

A GOAL for defender Jon Newall is rare, but he scored an important one on Saturday as Merthyr Town came from behind to grab their seventh Southern League away win of the campaign.

This was Newall’s 63d appearance in a Martyrs shirt since joining from Newport side Albion Rovers, and he grabbed only his second goal for Merthyr to level at Oxfordshire outfit North Leigh before Ryan Prosser struck twice to take his own career total for Merthyr to 52 goals.

Newall, a former Newport County player, better known to fans as “Badger”, signed for Merthyr in the summer of 2010 after showing promise in friendly games. Last season his Merthyr days were interrupted by a loan spell at Caerleon. He began this season on the bench before making 11 successive starts. Newall lost his place until making the starting line-up twice in December before being a substitute against Sholing in what proved to be the last action of 2012.

At North Leigh he returned to the back four with Andrew Thomas on the bench and Gary Colborne teaming up with Jamie Rewbury in central defence.

Merthyr were without top marksman, speedy wide player Ian Traylor, injured against Evesham on New Year’s Day when The Martyrs scraped a 1-0 win. Also out was midfielder Kris Leek.

This victory pushed Merthyr up to fourth place in the Division One (South and West), with rivals Hungerford, Poole Town and Swindon Supermarine losing and Tiverton just getting a point.

“It was another good win for the boys to take us up to fourth in the league,” enthused Giles Cutlan afterwards.

Merthyr host Mangotsfield on Saturday (3pm) with the Bristol side in high spirits following their 1-0 triumph over leaders Hungerford at the weekend.

The Martyrs need to step up their home performances to ensure at least a play-off spot at the end of the season. And three points will be on their must list in a bid to complete the double, having won 2-0 with a solid performance at Mangotsfield in September.

Merthyr defender Colborne will know something about the Mangoes, as he plied his trade with them before signing for The Martyrs last summer. Mangotsfield’s shock win over Hungerford saw them push up to 17th slot in the table with 22 points from 20 games. But they, like Merthyr, tend to impress away, as they have won three, drawn four and lost two on their travels.

Ben Hunt hit their winning goal on Saturday. He has turned out for eight clubs. He began his career with West Ham Youth before making 14 Football League appearances for Bristol Rovers in 2009-10 before his release. He has also played for Gloucester City and Weston-super-Mare and had a loan spell with Newport County.

The Martyrs’ strikers will probably come up against experienced goalkeeper Kevin Sawyer. He has had three spells with Cirencester, spent four seasons at Salisbury City and the giant player has also been with Gloucester. Midfielder Matt Thorne has also been with Bristol Rovers, with Weymouth and Clevedon being among his other clubs, while full-back Shaun Lamb earned lots of experience when at Forest Green.

Shephard and Carter have assembled a strong Merthyr squad and they need all the players with a run of games this month. They were due at Bridgwater on Tuesday and next Tuesday are home to Cirencester (7.45pm).

Merthyr went there early in the season and won 1-0 in a FA Cup preliminary round, Kris Leek netting. Cirencester led 2-0 at the weekend at Didcot before having to settle for a point. But there was controversy with a dispute over whether Didcot’s second goal actually crossed the line.

The Cirencester striker to watch will be Scott Griffin, who has played for Newport, Salisbury and Cinderford. Boss is Brian Hughes, a former Gloucester player.

Bristol Post

Mangotsfield United claimed a much-needed 1-0 victory at home to top-of-the-table Hungerford Town last weekend, which ended a patchy run of form that had seen Richard Thompson's side win just once in their previous six games.

Ben Hunt scored in the 18th minute and Thompson said: "It was one of those results nobody really expected. We have been out of form and then we go and beat the leaders.

"It gives the players a bit of a boost to beat a team at the top of the league, but the bottom line is getting three points was the most important thing, regardless of who they came up against."

Thompson's side face more difficult opponents tomorrow, with a trip to promotion-chasing Merthyr Town.

Merthyr are homing in on their big promotion push
Terry Phillips, South Wales Echo

MERTHYR Town are back home at Penydarren Park tomorrow aiming to fire up their EvoStik Southern League promotion campaign.

The Martyrs have swept to five successive away wins, scoring 14 goals and conceding one, and lie third in the South and West table, but their home form has been inconsistent. Now joint managers Garry Shephard and Danny Carter are out to ensure they produce the results they need at home to sustain a challenge among the leading clubs.

Merthyr are third in the table and, while there is only one automatic promotion place available, teams finishing in the next four positions will qualify for the play-offs.

Successive home games, against Mangotsfield United tomorrow (3pm) and then Cirencester Town next Tuesday (7.45pm) offer the chance for Merthyr to strengthen their promotion case.

Defender Gary Colborne will be facing one of his former clubs when Mangotsfield visit Penydarren tomorrow. They are 17th in the table, moving clear of immediate danger when they defeated leaders Hungerford Town 1-0 in their last match.

Mangotsfield’s team includes former Bristol Rovers, Weston and Newport striker Ben Hunt, who fired their winner against Hungerford. Goalkeeper Kevin Sawyer also adds experience, having played for Cirencester, Salisbury City and Gloucester.

Ryan Prosser slotted home Merthyr’s winner in the 1-0 victory at Bridgwater in midweek, taking his all-time goals tally for the Martyrs to 53. He has netted three goals in the last two Merthyr matches and manager Shephard has talked about the big striker’s consistency and input into the promotion push.

Not about our game tomorrow but another important match involving two promotion rivals..........although we beat Hungerford 4-0 in the league we only get a (very) small mention!!!

Former player Wood doubts Supermarine's title chances
Swindon Advertiser

FORMER Supermarine midfielder Sean Wood has labelled Poole as Hungerford’s main rivals for the Division One South & West title.

Fourth-placed Marine travel to league leaders Hungerford tomorrow and midfielder Wood, who now plies his trade at Bulpit Lane, feels his ex-employers are in the chasing pack for top spot without being at its forefront.

Poole are two points behind Hungerford with four games in hand and Wood says the Dolphins are the side best-placed to challenge his own.

“Supermarine have been on a great run but I think it’s between us and Poole and maybe Merthyr,” said Wood. “Poole have been up there for the last couple of years and they are always a strong side. They might not be top but they are in a good position. For Supermarine it depends how they come through this sticky patch, which funnily enough falls when they play us. You concentrate on yourself but you do look over your shoulder sometimes, and when teams are having runs like winning 10 league games in a row, you know it’s a good achievement.

What Dave Webb has done down there on the money available is very good. They have got a good core of players in the likes of Bamps (Dave Bampton) and Lappo (Kyle Lapham), and now they have Chrissy Taylor in there as well.”

Wood predicts a tight affair in Berkshire this weekend and is confident his team can avenge their 1-0 defeat at the Webb’s Wood Stadium back in September.

“There won’t be much between the sides, but we are at home and I think we’ll win the game,” he said. ”We’ll be looking to get three points, not only because we lost to them last time but just because we’re at the top of the table and we need to maintain that. When you are at the top every game is important, if you lose one or two then the teams below start to catch up.”