Last of the Summer Whine

Last of the Summer Whine.

Having been warned by Gordon the Go-Far, about traffic congestion caused by roadworks and the Eisteddfod traffic on the beleaguered Heads of the Valleys Road, the Ownes-Mobile replete with a Gran and a Gramps-to-be -set off via the A470 to Brecon, on our road to Weobley, for a visit to that fallen football giant Hereford FC.

No longer United ( other than in brotherhood with us fellow Fan-owned Clubs), this proud City Team has followed our fall from grace and ended up playing in the lower echelons of English football.

With a blanket ban on eating in the car, for fear of motion sickness in the Eisteddfod traffic -just in case he was 'Bard', Compo, Clegg and someone who was Batty, made their way to Edgar Street to enjoy the last friendly match for Merthyr Town and probably the most serious warm-up match before the season proper starts in August.

With home advantage in a splendid stadium built for Football League Status, the odds were clearly in favour of Hereford, especially as they had poached our Captain and Manager in recent seasons and had 'in-cider'knowledge of our team structure, tactics and player strengths.

Having eaten the most wonderful Hereford Beef burger as a pre-match meal, I dragged my back legs with CJD-style to the welcoming narrow entrance gate covered in razor wire.

Touching both the front and back walls of the turnstile at the same time with my gut and Richard the Third hump, I felt a little Claus-trophobic - so I really wonder how z-z top Super-fan Nigel from Bristol felt.

Segregation for a Non-League match was it really that necessary?

It was not like it was England V Wales or was it?

St David v Goliath it was ...but surely the mighty minnow Martyrs from a tinpot pub league couldn't Lord it over the Marsher Men?

The game started in earnest, with Hereford winger number 7 looking lively and the image of former Blackburn winger, Stuart Ripley- believe it or not- who showed silky skills, pace and a lot of trickery against our 'newbie' Mr Barrow.

Despite back-peddling more than Chris Froome coming home from the Tour De France, young Barrow kept his eye on the ball and quickly learned to shackle the winger.

And then the unthinkable happened.

Before the red electronic scoreboard ( The Skynet version of Barry Thomas) had even finished misspelling the Merthyr players names (Gwyn Garnett, Adman Davis and Jay Bowing) than Merthyr had 'sewn' up their first goal through 'Ian Tailor'.

It had come from a speculative shot from Kayne McFlaggon, which stung the hands of keeper Martin Horsell and the ever alert Aberdarite snaked his way through the defence and tapped in the rebound.

For Pete's Sake, the Home Manager should have been warned - 'Watch Out Traylor's About!'.

It shocked the Home Side, who clearly felt the cheeky Welsh upstarts hadn't read the script.

Susan Hampshire, in charge of the Score board wrote - Won-Nil to the Sheep Saggers.

The Meadow End vuvuzuela' Bull Horns ( credit- Ownes) fell even more silent after the outstanding Refell had blasted in our second on the half hour to the total disbelief of the travelling fans, who expected a real game but a two goal head start from the Bulls was taking the 'Micky' a bit.

(Boz Note: For those of you who don't know what 'a Micky' is - it is an Australian cow- no - not the Nell Mangell type from Neighbours either)

The look on Steve Jenkins' face must have been a picture, as the fans in the upper tier sang with gusto...' You're getting sacked in the morning!' .....even Ryan was Green, as he looked up from counting his thirteen pieces of silver, at the roar coming from his former fans.

Unlocking the Hereford defence was Keyon Refell, his intricate passing play coupled with Ian Traylor making Jenks question Wye Wye Wye had he swapped the Taff for in-spire-ation from the Cathedral City.

The Bulls fought 'Foot & Mouth' to get back into the game and scored following a mistake by the out-of- sorts Gethin Jones , who by his own high standards had a difficult first half, as he continues to build up his match fitness after injury.

The Whistle blew with the Martyr-dors ahead of the Big Bullies by a single goal.

The Second Half saw the Patton of Play change with a raft of substitutes on both sides.

The welcome return of 'poster boy' Kyle Patton - last seen on a Merthyr Milk carton.

Upfront, Kayne McGlaggon was still the main target of Bulls-Hits, as he was regularly catapulted into the air by the Bovine Beefcakes intent on leaving their mark on the marksman.

But it was not all bully- off from the Middle Englanders.

Playing some lovely football from the back , the SAS boys of Summers & Staley tried to pump the ball up to their BurgerMaster striker, number 14 who had 'the Jewson Pot'.

The Special Air Service for this 'Ox in the Box' was clearly a tactic, I recognised this play from last season, when despite being a Supporters Direct club, luckily Merthyr Town have not yet totally morphed 'Lock Stock' into Wimbledon Football Club.

In fact, the change of Managerial Mindset from defence to midfield this season, has been a revelation - and not just for the free-running Keyon either.

For the 95 away fans, that sung like Men of Harlech, the inspirational passing, total football and creativity of our new Manager was there for all to see .....and that was from just a five- minute cameo too....

His belief in the emerging talent of own home- based crop of youngsters - giving the previous weak-looking adolescent Jaye Bowen, game time to 'grow' into the game by perfecting his slide passes turning a late Summer's day on the cider into evidence of 'StrongBowen'.

With their noses ahead, the last ten or so minutes Merthyr decided to shut up shop ( like our Town Centre) and dropped back with the unusual sight of Traylor and the Messianic Prosser defending their own box resolutely.

Merthyr didn't look like conceding, despite some great crosses from the wings by the Herefordshire Bull-Backs.

In the last few minutes of what was a fair game, a fracas developed on the Merthyr right near the goal line, as a Hereford striker clashed with Rhys Baggridge resulting in the defender 'seeing red' against a Bull for violent play.

The referee initially calmed the volatile situation but then threw what looked like a red n white ball at the defender and pointed to the dressing room.

Clearly Bull-Fighting was on the list of banned sports in this part of the World.

In fact his notebook after the game revealed that he had 'bagged' an 'Elbow' in his
Poke a Man-Go collection.

The ten-man Martyrs hung on for a famous victory, despite the 'Cuss'ing from the Hereford bench.

All in all, a proud moment for all Merthyr Fans to savour- Club Secretary Jamie Mack gleefully clutching another trophy for winning another competition we hadn't entered.

The burning question is ?

Have Greeno & Jenks dropped a bullock by moving onto to 'pastures new' too soon - as the Merthyr Mercury continues to rise?

Time will tell.

As for Hereford - just like Leeds United they are too big a club to keep down.

But tonight Super Gavin Williams has more than just Summer wine or Cider in his new 'cup' to savour- there is the sweet taste of victory in there too.


Boz

As you said on the way back plenty of material and it showed, you bulldozed your way through that report. Let's hope you don't moove to pastures new with your match reports.

I forgot to mention that the chauffeuring had approval from the oldest still travelling away fan.

High praise indeed.

Boz

180.

And that's just the age of his socks....Boz