MERTHYR v Dorchester

Team:
Garner
Tancock, McDonald, Wright, Barrow,
Evans, Scotcher, Yorwerth,
McLaggon Reffell Traylor
Subs:
Watkins, Clarke Williams, Baggridge, Brown

1-0 McClaggon 25th min

1-0 h/t

2 up mclaggon 76mins! Nice finish close-in following a lovely run by Traylor

78th min subs: Traylor off and Brown on; Evans off and Williams on.

Dorchester hit the bar in the last minute but it's all over and we win 2-0! Thoroughly deserved!

Excellent 3 pts moves us up to 8th in the table

Tonight’s team:

Garner;
Tancock,Wright,McDonald,Barrow;
Yorwerth;
Traylor,Evans,Scotcher,Reffell;
McLaggon

Substitutes:

Brown for Traylor after about 77 minutes
Williams for Evans at the same time
Watkins
Baggridge
Clarke

There were changes at the back with Jarrad Wright replacing Rhys Baggridge and Scott Tancock at right back as we continued to field a different formation in home matches. I’ve listed the team in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Josh Yorwerth as the deep-lying midfielder, but really it was just as likely to be Ashley Evans or Elliot Scotcher in that position.

We had an early opening after about 4 minutes when a fine long ball from Elliot Scotcher found Scott Barrow well down the left. He crossed the ball from close to the line, but Kayne McLaggon in the middle was unable to do more than put his header well over the bar.

Play was then confined to midfield for a spell, until after about 17 minutes we broke out from a Dorchester corner with Keyon Reffell using his pace and persistence to beat two men for speed down the left. He put the ball across the edge of the area to Ian Traylor on the right of the area for him to cut onto his left foot and fire in a fierce shot to the foot of the near post which the keeper got down well to, pushing it away.

We took the lead after about 23 minutes when Keyon Reffell was fouled on the right and Scott Barrow sent in the free kick which was headed home by Kayne McLaggon in the centre of the goal.

About 5 minutes after the goal Keyon Reffell put the ball out to Scott Barrow down the left and his cross to the far post found Ian Traylor, but his header lacked power and it wasn’t too difficult a save for the keeper.

1-0 was a fair scoreline at half time with Glyn Garner untroubled as we’d not allowed Dorchester to create much, with their only goalmouth action coming as a result of long throw-ins.

We made a lively start to the second half, and a couple of minutes into it good play down the right saw Ian Traylor get in a cross which the Dorchester keeper punched clear off the head of Keyon Reffell. About a minute later Scott Barrow came in from the left and from 20 yards fired in a low shot which was heading inside the far post until the keeper just got down to push it away.

Dorchester then went on to have a spell on top with us unable to get hold of the ball, but they were still unable to create anything to really trouble us in defence.

There was then a fairly quiet spell with neither side really looking like scoring, although we were playing some neat football.

At 1-0 Dorchester were still in the game, and there was always a nagging worry we might repeat the events of the last two away games and concede a late equaliser. However, we more or less made the game safe after about 76 minutes with a goal created by Ian Traylor. He slipped past two defenders on the right to run clear and put the ball across for Kayne McLaggon to turn it into the net from 6 yards.

Before the game restarted Jon Brown came on for Traylor, and Gavin Williams replaced Ashley Evans in straight swaps.

Glyn Garner had to make his first save of the match after about 79 minutes, getting down to a long range shot.

We nearly made it 3-0 in the 89th minute when the ball reached Kayne McLaggon just outside the area and his deflected shot was somehow scooped away by the keeper.

In the last minute Dorchester almost gave the scoreline an unfair look after Curtis McDonald slid into a challenge just outside the area to give a free kick away and get booked. The free kick hit the bar and went over.

Well, a comfortable and deserved win which doesn’t quite reflect our superiority over a Dorchester side which carried little goal threat.

It was a good team performance, so difficult to choose a man of the match. No-one had a bad game, with the defence well in control throughout and Scott Barrow also prominent going forward as well, and also with dead ball kicks. It was a something of a surprise to see Josh Yorwerth playing in midfield, but he did quite well with some good touches at times, and played a significant part in dealing with Dorchester’s corners and long throws.

A good three points to build on the recent run of away draws, also with a tough game against the league leaders coming up on Saturday.

With an attendance of 603 I should think the ‘pay what you want’ initiative must have boosted the attendance by a hundred or so (I hope there were enough programmes to go around) so was something of a success in that respect. We’ll have to wait and see whether it was a financial success. But let’s hope some of the extra 100 or so will be encouraged to return again on Saturday and pay full price.

A little bit late I know but I've just uploaded some photos onto club website.