Divot- Got Town

If ever there was an advertisement for a 3G pitch it was seeing the home ground at Didcot in the bleak mid -Winter today.

It had more bobbles on it than a 1970's Noel Edmonds swap shop Jumper.

As the Merthyr Title Train pulled into the Didcot Station filled with optimism - it left with two disappointed Welshmen and more Oxford Blues.

The Boat Race between Taunton Town and the Martyrs took another twist , as Merthyr fell to,another defeat, this time at the hands, heads and feet of the Diddy Railwaymen.

ISIS wot ISIS I hear you cry?

The freesscoring Martyrs slumped to defeat with their worst performance -home or away - that I have witnessed this season.

We could trot out the usual excuses- the pitch was poor - which it was- we were missing some players, injured, working or playing on pastures new man , but if we are totally honest, we deserved nothing again today against an average looking Didcot side.

We were a pale shadow of the team we have been for most of the season.

True , we did deserve a penalty in the first half , when Kayne was bundled over in the box- with everyone in the ground seeing it bar the Man in the Middle who was on an odyssey of his own- .

So what if the referee was a 'Homer' and bottled it .

So what if the linesmen saw less than my Octagenarian Uncle who had the handicap of having two black eyes from a minor car crash this week - the fact remains that we simply weren't good enough on the day.

In the absence of Ryan 'James Dean' Prosser , our lack of height up front - our Achilles Heel for the last few seasons- meant that we didn't have a Plan B option today and it showed.

No matter how high Kayne McGlaggon jumps- and let's face it he has a better spring than Zebedee from the Magic roundabout- he had no chance against a centre half that stood two feet above him from a standing start.

Their number 5 marked Kayne so close that he had 'Carnell ' knowledge of him by the end of the game.

So much so , he protested to the officials at the end of the game that he was more bruised than my Kung Fu Panda Uncle and that he had received less protection than a hedgehog condom.

Once again, our marking from corners and set pieces was our undoing, as we conceded a carbon copy headed goal at the back post that cost us so dearly a week ago against Bridgewater.

Their 'Foster' Keeper too had a good final twenty minutes when dressed all in white, he looked like a floating head or the ghost of Bert Trautmann as he stopped shot after shot from Gavin ' the Hammer' Williams, Leeky and McGlaggon hit him at 'breakneck' speed.

But not to do Didcot a disservice - they DID and we COT what we deserved - which was nothing at all.

As one fan summed it up correctly.

This was Didcot's Cup Final - they had more desire, more sprit and wanted it more than we did- they punched the air when they won- whereas we slunk off the pitch at the end knowing we didn't look or play like Champions on that rut laden surface that had less grass than a Glynmill Gypsy caravan.

But our fate is still in our hands, we have the points on the board and if we win our next ten cup finals we can not be caught.

In the meantime, to do so we need to get the InterCorey 125 back on track and sort out the 'Missing Link' from our midfield by playing Mattie Harris further forward behind our strikers.

Only then will our season's wish be filled with glad tidings rather than bad 'sidings'

We need to discover our mojo....starting against Swindon on Tuesday and ending at Totton on Saturday, otherwise the conspiracy theorists at our club will have a field day and point to our 'Groundhog Day ' performances in the latter stages of the last three seasons and make 'mountains out of molehills'

Ten games...nine victories and not even Barca could catch us ....heads up lads and win that medal your total football deserves.

Boz