Weymouth v MERTHYR

Team:
Garner
Watkins Jones McDonald Tancock
Evans Wright Reffell
Traylor Prosser McLaggon.

Subs:
Barrow Davies Williams Richards

No Yorwerth today?

1 up. McClaggon on the stroke of half time!

Won 1-0

F/t won 1-0! Brilliant result!

And lets hope for a brief and concise report from OS #breathehabitofaliftime!

Match photos from today's game:-
http://theterras.co.uk/2016_2017/merthyr_town/0_photo.htm

rustic wrote:No Yorwerth today?

Josh has a knee injury which kept him out of today's game. Report to follow some time tomorrow.

Please - short and concise!

Solihull Martyr wrote:Please - short and concise!

We won 1-0 with a goal from McLaggon.

Alright - can be a bit longer than that!

And I don't just mean adding "... on the stroke of half time"!

A gritty, determined and disciplined performance saw the Martyrs bring home all 3 points from Weymouth thanks to a McLaggon strike late in the first half which keeps Merthyr in the play off positions.

With Yorwerth injured Merthyr reshuffled the pack with Jones slotting into defence and Wright moving forward to partner Evans in midfield. Goalkeeper Davies joined Williams, Barrow and Richards on a 4 man bench with a squad depleted through injury and unavailability.

On a sunny but windy day on the South Coast, Merthyr kicked off and immediately McLaggon broke into the Weymouth half but was repelled by the Weymouth defence and to a certain extent that set the tone for the half, if not the game, as both defences were largely on top as a Weymouth foray was also easily defended by Merthyr. Prosser got his head to a couple of balls into the Weymouth half but again the home defence held firm. Merthyr gained a free kick just inside the Weymouth half taken by Traylor but the ball was cleared and at this stage the away side were in the ascendancy.

The half continued with both defences on top with neither side able to create anything in the final third and was frankly a scrappy affair. Tarbuck was well tackled in the Merthyr area by Evans who sent the ball forward but Prosser was challenged in the Weymouth half by Brooks. On his recall to the side, Jones was doing well alongside McDonald making some good interceptions and clearances. The Weymouth midfielder, Evans played a one two in the Merthyr half but sent his shot from about 20 yards wide if Garner’s right hand post. Traylor did manage to get a couple of crosses in from the right but the first one was overhit and the second was intercepted as it was on its way to McLaggon and Weymouth broke clear. A long ball from the Merthyr half went all the way through to Matthews in the Weymouth goal and he threw the ball out towards Wannell and Traylor managed to charge it down but Wannell got a foot in to get it back to Matthews who finally cleared to the halfway line

Very little was getting past the Merthyr defence and what did was being dealt with easily by Garner. Wells received a yellow card for a foul on McLaggon near the halfway line and Traylor’s kick towards the Weymouth area was won by McDonald but Prosser was beaten to it by Wannell. Evans then sent a good ball down the Merthyr right which was picked up by Reffell who got it forward to Traylor who crossed the ball but Evans (D) got in and miskicked the ball away for a Merthyr corner. Traylor took it high into the area and McLaggon got up and headed the ball down and it came back off a Weymouth defender and it fell to [b]McLaggon[b] who steered the ball into the back of the Weymouth net past Matthews and just before the break, Merthyr were ahead. A minute or so later, Prosser seemingly suffering a recurrence of his heel injury was replaced by Richards. Shortly afterwards, Mr Carmichael brought a rather disappointing half to an end.

Weymouth kicked off at the start of the second half, no doubt with the brief to get level at least but in the early stages never looked like doing so until Cooper broke down the right and he got the ball into the area towards the Merthyr goal where it was cleared off the line and away to the halfway line. Merthyr retaliated and after receiving a throw from Watkins, Reffell did well to find McLaggon in the area and from a narrow angle sent in a near post shot which Matthews did well to get down to and push it into the side netting and away for a corner. Traylor’s corner was well defended and away for a Weymouth throw. A few minutes later McLaggon went close again when Wright received a header forward from Jones and he sent to towards the Merthyr striker and his right footed shot from just inside the right hand edge of the area looped just over Matthew’s bar.

Weymouth’s attacks were rarely reaching the Merthyr 18 yard area and still created little and Merthyr were looking the more likely with McLaggon and Reffell linking up well but it was Richards who received a good ball from Evans on the right and he got it inside to McLaggon near the edge of the area and his low shot was pushed behind for a corner by Matthews but Traylor’s near post corner was cleared but it fell back to him and his cross was headed just over the bar by Jones.
Weymouth made a few substitutions in a vain attempt to get back into the game and it was Merthyr who gained a corner which was met by Wright who sent it towards McDonald but a Weymouth got a boot in and the ball was cleared.

As the game wore on Weymouth were pushing more and more forward as befits a home team desperate to get back into the game. After defending a Merthyr break, Wells sent the ball forward to Evans and sent it across filed towards Cooper and he passed it inside to Tarbuck who was brought down just outside the area by Watkins. Merthyr erected a 4 man wall and the kick taken by Shephard was easily cleared by Wright. Shephard, one of the Weymouth substitutes was looking quite sharp and Watkins did well to stop one of his forward runs. Merthyr were still defending well but there was always the chance that the home side could get one back but did not seem good enough to do so but they did gain a corner on the Merthyr left when Tancock did well to intercept a cross. The corner went high into the Merthyr area but again Wright did well to clear but the ball reached Wells on the left near the centre circle and he sent it wide right towards Cooper who crossed into the area and Evans sent a good header towards the Merthyr goal but Garner did well to tip the ball over the bar for a corner which was easily cleared and Merthyr broke with Traylor on the ball but although he beat the first defender, Wells got in and sent the ball back to Matthews and as he tried to kick the ball forward, Traylor got in to intercept but luckily for Matthews he managed to win it back and got it clear. Weymouth were pressing forward at every opportunity but lacked any finesse and were leaving gaps which Merthyr just couldn’t exploit. Weymouth made their final substitution with about 10 minutes left as they tried to salvage something and Williams retaliated by replacing Traylor with Barrow who played left wingback with Tancock moving inside to create a central 3. Merthyr were playing the ball about well to deny Weymouth decent possession and were pushing forward when they could and after a good passage of play, Richards was the victim of a poor tackle which resulted in a melee near the centre circle and Shephard received a yellow card for the tackle as did Wright and Evans (D) presumably for their part in the fracas. Merthyr were not really interested in sending many forward for the resulting free kick so McDonald had little to aim at and delayed in taking it which led to him getting booked as well. A few minutes later McLaggon was booked for an innocuous foul on a Weymouth defender as the referee seemed to lose it a bit.

Just before the end of normal time Garner made a great save to preserve Merthyr’s lead. Weymouth’s Evans sent the ball wide left to Cooper and despite a Watkins challenge the ball ricochet to Evans near the byline and he got it inside to Tarbuck who got it back towards Evans who sent in a low shot which Garner did really well to keep out diving low to his left and hanging onto it before getting up and clearing downfield and that was that and after what seemed to be an hour of stoppage time the referee brought the game to and end with Merthyr winning 1-0.

It was not a great or even good game but we scored and they didn’t and we demonstrated that we can win ugly as well as with our usual flare. We defended really well and restricted Weymouth to a bare minimum of chances. McLaggon had a good game and in normal circumstances would have been my MOTM for his overall play and the winning goal but Garner made 2 excellent saves to keep us in the lead and he deserves the notional award although it would have been a travesty had Weymouth levelled.