MERTHYR v Bridgwater

Updates here!

1 - 0 Up. Traylor

Team:- Morris Willo Summerfield Rewbury Thomas Harris Newman Leek Charles Griffiths Traylor.

Subs:- Prosser McLaggon Morgan Cornwall Colborne

Team: Morris Willo Summerfield Rewbs Tubbs Harris Newman leek Charles Griffiths Traylor. Subs Prosser McLaggon Morgan Cornwall Colborne

1 up! Traylor in the 2nd (or 1st) minute!

H/t 1-0

64th min sub. Kerry Morgan on and Summerfield off

2-0! Harris in the 75th min

76th min subs. McLaggon and Prosser on, Traylor and Lavelle off

3-0! Kerry Morgan in the 81st min

Full time 3-0! Quite easy in the end.

Cirencester & Paulton drew 2 - 2.
Mangotsfield won 1 - 0.

Fine result....three goals ...clean sheet ...against one of the early form sides...I thought their right back looked class and was wasted in defence...Hard to choose between Rewbs and Matthew Harris for man of the match...our defence mopped up anything thrown at them and I cannot think of a shot in anger from the Bridgey boys...so it was a credit to the whole defence that they had another clean sheet....the whole squad 1 -15 played well...nice to see the away side bringing down some fans to support their team....there was one loud very vocal yokel who even though they were 3 down with a minute to play was still shouting for his team....brilliant ...and he didn't drop the straw from the corner of his mouth too....well done boys...keep the run going....Boz

Tonight's team:-

Morris;
Summerfield,Thomas,Rewbury,Williams;
Leek,Harris,Newman;
M.Griffiths,Laville,Traylor;

Subs:
Morgan for Summerfield after about 60 minutes
McLaggon for Traylor after about 75 minutes
Prosser for Laville at the same time
Cornwall
Colborne

It was an unchanged side from the eleven that started on Saturday, with Aaron Cornwall available again to be on the bench plus Gary Colborne.

We took the lead with our first attack - Kris Leek had a shot from the edge of the area charged down, but he regained possession to put the ball out to Dan Summerfield on the right. He played it forward to put Ryan Laville clear down the wing and he put the ball into the middle for Ian Traylor to turn it into the net.

After about 18 minutes a long cross from the right to beyond the far post was headed goalwards by Ryan Newman and had to be cleared by a defender.

Bridgwater came about their nearest to a goal with a free kick from nearly 30 yards out which went over the bar.

Unlike the last two visitors to Penydarren Park Bridgwater did show some attacking intent, with 3 men up front after the early goal.

After about 58 minutes there was a good break down the right by Ian Traylor. He put the ball across past the far post for Ryan Laville to turn it back to Ryan Newman, but his shot across goal went just wide.

Possibly Dan Summerfield was carrying an injury as he then went off to be replaced by Kerry Morgan - Marcus Griffiths going to right back.

With about 16 minutes to go we made it 2-0. Kerry Morgan took a right wing corner and the ball was headed down by Andrew Thomas for Matthew Harris to turn on it 6 yards out and fire into the net. We then made a double substitution up front with Ryan Prosser replacing Ryan Laville and Kayne McLaggon on for Ian Traylor.

We looked well in control from then on, and it was a question of how many more we would score. The third goal came after about 79 minutes when Ryan Prosser headed the ball on and the keeper and a defender fell over each other under pressure from Kerry Morgan leaving the latter to walk the ball into the empty net.

After about 82 minutes a trademark 25-yard free kick from Kerry Morgan hit the underside of the bar, hit the goalkeeper, and was just cleared away from Kayne McLaggon.

Well, the opposition made more of a game of it tonight than in the last two games, and we could never really relax until the second goal went in. But even so, I don't think Craig Morris had a shot to save, as whenever Bridgwater did manage to get a shot in it was off target. 3-0 was maybe a realistic scoreline - the third goal was a bit of a gift, but at the end we could easily have had one or two more, with Kayne McLaggon doing everything but score. Ryan Newman, also, had several shots at goal during the match but just couldn't manage to get one on target.

It was a real team performance and not easy to pick a man of the match - I'd say all of the midfield three equally, as that was really where we won the game. Bridgwater have some dangerous attackers, but they were given little service.

Another good win, another clean sheet, and a shame that 70 people who saw the 5-0 win on Saturday didn't bother to come back tonight. Well they lost out.

The first goal was timed at 1 minute and 14 seconds.
Another good passing performance. With the score at 1-0 for a long time, it could have been difficult. But the defence did well and, as stated, there wasn't a lot for Craig Morris to do.The second half saw Merthyr take real control, as on Saturday.
Another poor Tuesday night gate and after Saturday's superb performance!! Well done to the supporters from outside the borough who turned up- Bristol, Tredegar, Caerphilly, Blackwood etc.
And Paul Keddle was in the Board Room.
After tonight's games,the promotion battle is hotting up..

I don't know about another poor Tuesday night attendance when Bishops Cleeve had 50, Godalming had 96 and Cirencester (top of the league) had 121, it was a good crowd considering the time of year and anyone relying on public transport in the Merthyr area after 6.30pm (No regular bus service) would be reluctant to go to the Cigg-e stadium !

Tim Drummond wrote: Well done to the supporters from outside the borough who turned up- Bristol, Tredegar, Caerphilly, Blackwood etc.

Unfortunately though the Mountain Ash contingent was working. Taxis too costly for midweek games anyhow. Still, cracking win again. Nice to come home from the factory and see another 3 points go on the board. Highlight of the day that.

Another cracking game last night. Excellent value, with our earliest goal in any match this season, and relentless pressure by our boys who are playing out of their skins at the moment. Bridgwater aren't a bad side, but we made them look ordinary and they had almost no meaningful attempts on goal. Our midfield dominated and if we'd had our shooting boots on, our three goals could have been at least doubled. Really good performance all round and none of our opponents will relish coming to the Cigg-e Stadium.

hirwaunman wrote:Really good performance all round and none of our opponents will relish coming to the Cigg-e Stadium.

Hopefully that will turn out to be true. The three games we have lost this season have all been away to the sides above us. I think as well we have had a player/players sent off in all of those games as well.

It was a really good game last night and our display was arguably better than Saturday against a better side. The early goal may have disrupted a potential defensive display from Bridgwater but their attack made no headway against our defence. The midfield trio of Matt, Newms & Leekie ran the game and again Trayls was the difference in the first half. The substitutions reinforced our superiority and the defensive error which allowed Kerry to score our 3rd maybe sums up Bridgwater's season. Nice revenge for our unfortunate FA Cup defeat but it's more important to win in the league.

Well done lads and onwards and upwards for Saturday in Stratford upon the Avon.

Chest Infection killed me off. I think a Tuesday night game would not have been a clever idea.

Another fantastic result. Another positive season so far!

A solid performance and a fine result.Yes, a better gate than our rivals. And there are problems for people getting to Tuesday night games (Mountain Ash etc) but we had about 2,500 for the Cardiff friendly and 700 plus for last season's play-offs semi-final with Swindon Supermarine.I caught the 7pm bus to town and was able to stay in The Candac Suite until 10.30 and catch the last bus home at 10.40. The Candac was very quiet and by just after 10pm, most of those present were the Bridgwater players and fans.
Children under 16 are allowed free for Merthyr's SL home games but, sadly, we don't see many in attendance.
Anyway, another welcome three points which keeps Merthyr Town well in contention.

Tim Drummond wrote:
Children under 16 are allowed free for Merthyr's SL home games but, sadly, we don't see many in attendance.

And this is brilliant, but I can't see me bringing my 9 and 6 year old to a midweek game, with school the following day. They fall asleep on the way home after a Saturday afternoon's entertainment!

Yes,it is difficult to expect youngsters to attend on a Tuesday. But there aren't many on a Saturday. Up to a certain age, they would need to go along with parents so it would be nice for more of these to introduce their children to the sport.We see enough lads sporting football shirts with Ronaldo, Messi, etc on their backs but there doesn't seem to be the interest in football that there was a while back.
When I started watching Merthyr, there was no free admission for under 16s.

Old Sod wrote:It was a really good game last night and our display was arguably better than Saturday against a better side.  The early goal may have disrupted a potential defensive display from Bridgwater but their attack made no headway against our defence.  The midfield trio of Matt, Newms & Leekie ran the game and again Trayls was the difference in the first half.  The substitutions reinforced our superiority and the defensive error which allowed Kerry to score our 3rd maybe sums up Bridgwater's season.  Nice revenge for our unfortunate FA Cup defeat but it's more important to win in the league.

Well done lads and onwards and upwards for Saturday in Stratford upon the Avon.

Yes, another win on Saturday will give us 5 in a row, we are now in an excellent position to hit top spot in the next few weeks (At Clevedon on Dec 16th?) The top 3 are all away this coming Saturday - never easy to get 3pts away.

Ian Traylor is currently on fire in front of goal and after the early strike there was always only likely to be one winner last night. In fact the game should have been over before half time with the number of chances that we created but failed to take.

The major plus factor was the quality of our substitutes bench. We ramped up the pressure with the introduction of the three replacements and all five subs could easily have replaced any of the starting eleven.

This provides the coaching staff with the options needed to change the game and will probably be a major factor in the coming weeks against some of the sides that we have to face.

Just a brief word about the referee, Mr Welsh, very inconsistent in his decision making. He backed himself into a corner with the booking of Dan Summerfield but quickly changed his thinking and in the end as far as I can recall only booked one other player near the end.

Comprehensive win that keeps the pressure on the three teams above us.

Last week Richard Fey, the Bridgwater manager was quoted as saying "We're going through a bit of a dip in confidence because we're not winning and we're not scoring goals, but we've played a lot of the top sides and there's no disgrace in losing to teams like North Leigh, Tiverton, Cirencester and Mangotsfield - because I believe they will be the top four at the end of the season." He doesn't rate our chances very highly as he failed to mention us! Perhaps he changed his mind after last nights performance.