Hereford v MERTHYR

Team:
Davies
Davies Tancock Wright Pring
Robbie Patten Richards Evans
Touray Fleetwood Jenkins
Subs:
Watkins Kyle Patten Bowen Copp Morgan.

Hereford: Molyneux yellow card on 19 mins.
We've yet to have a shot on goal. Hereford have had about half a dozen corners, comfortable dealt with so far.

0-0 half time. Chances few and far between! Hereford have had about 10 corners but no clear cut chances.

Crowd given as 3356, hope for the same boxing day,or more.

1-0 up Copp direct from a free kick 72.

1-0 up!!! Copp free kick straight in from 20 yards!! 72mins.

Elliott Richards sent off second yellow for throwing ball away. 75mins.

1-1 84th min.

1-1 full time. A fair result. Not many chances for either side, and neither side did enough to win. Still unbeaten, and a draw is a decent result here!

Excellent result,shame Eliot Richard's threw the ball away having already been booked,but upwards we go.Thanks for updates.

Former Martyr Gethyn Hill got their goal, 359 Martyr's supporters there today.

Good point away from home, draw away, win at home - recipe for promotion

10 man Merthyr survived a late Hereford onslaught at Edgar Street to come away with a deserved point. Hereford had the majority of possession during the game but created little in the way of clear cut chances.

Merthyr started the game with the same back 4 that had done so well so far this season with Oliver Davies – who received a warm welcome from the Meadow End faithful – in the Merthyr goal. However manager Williams brought back the fit again Evans in midfield instead of the unlucky Copp who took a place on the bench. Touray made his first start at the expense of Morgan who was also on the bench.

Early exchanges were cagey to say the least and Hereford sent the ball forward a few times and on each occasion the ball went over the goal line. Reffell showed the first bit of class in the game when after 5 minutes he made an excellent run down the right and Pring got in a superb tackle to get the ball away for the first of many corners Hereford gained in the first half. Bowen took a left footed in swinging kick which was well fielded by Davies which set the tone for further corners gained by the home side in the first half. Wright then put in an excellent tackle to give Hereford another corner which was missed by Davies but Mr Wilding awarded a free kick to the Martyrs for a foul on the keeper. At this stage Merthyr were struggling to get a foothold in the game with their forwards living off scraps and Hereford were very much on top and from a Merthyr throw deep in their half, Hereford got the ball back and Mills had a good shot from about 25 yards which went wide of Davies’s right hand post. More corners were won by the home side, some of which went over the bar and others easily dealt with. In a rare Merthyr attack, Touray did well to get the ball out to Fleetwood on the right but his cross went straight across the Hereford area and out of play for a goal kick.

Evans picked a loose ball near the halfway line and in the action of passing it, Molyneux’s tackle went over the top straight through the Merthyr skipper leaving him writhing in agony on the ground and it earned the Hereford player a yellow card and it could have easily been a red. In keeping with set pieces so far in the game, Pring’s free kick went straight out of play. Hereford gained another corner which was taken short by Bowen to McGrath who broke into the Merthyr area where he was fairly shoulder charged off the ball by Patten and the ball ran free to Davies who sent the ball towards the halfway line amid cries for a penalty from the Hereford supporters.

Pring took a free kick just inside the Hereford half on the half hour and after some good play on the right involving Richards and Evans, Davies’s cross was put behind for Merthyr’s first corner of the game. Richards’s kick went high into the area and Tancock got his head to it and found Evans outside the area who sent it right to Richards who pushed it down the line towards Fleetwood and his cross went across goal and came off a Hereford defender which rebounded to Jenkins but his shot was charged down by O’Shea and away for another Merthyr corner with both protagonists lying prone in the area. Jenkins got up but the Hereford defender required treatment and had to leave the field. Richard’s corner was headed clear at the expense of a throw to the Martyrs which came to nothing. Merthyr were now causing problems to the Hereford defence and a long pass from Davies towards the edge of the area aimed at Touray was partially cleared by the Hereford defence but the ball bounced up and as Patten went for it he seemed to catch a defender’s elbow on his head and the referee gave a free kick to Merthyr but took no further action. Richards took the kick into the area and Wright stooped low on the six yard line to head the ball towards goal which was well saved by Horsell going down to his right. There was little threat on either goal as half time approached but a ball into the Merthyr area saw Tancock slip and the ball bounced up and may have hit his hand but the referee gave a free kick to Merthyr for a foul on the Merthyr defender by Mills and the half finished as it started with no score and Mr Wilding left the field to a fusillade of boos from the home fans. Hereford had most of the play in the half but Davies had little to do other than to deal with corners whilst Horsell had to make a good save from Wright.

Merthyr kicked off the second half and Hereford continued to have the upper hand possession wise. Good play down the Hereford right but Molyneux’s cross was miscontrolled by Haysham and Tancock cleared. A minute later, Mills had a shot deflected away for a corner but again the kick caused no danger. Merthyr gained a free kick after a foul on Evans and Richards sent in a good ball across the area and Tancock stretched to get his head to it at the far post but he couldn’t keep it on target. Merthyr were having more of the play but were making less headway than the home side and it was no surprise when the Martyrs made their first substitution with Copp replacing Jenkins.

Reffell was fouled in the Merthyr half and from the resulting free kick, O’Shea headed a bouncing ball towards goal which Davies dealt with easily. Touray, who despite his best efforts was getting no change from the Hereford centre backs was replaced by Morgan. Then just after the hour, after another corner from Hereford came to nothing Merthyr attacked down the left and Copp was adjudged to have been fouled when he and a Hereford defender both went for a bouncing ball about 20 yards out from goal. Copp took it with his right foot and sent around the wall and Horsell seemed to be a little late in going for it and the ball eluded his outstretched hands and into the back of the net and Merthyr were leading 1-0. It was Merthyr’s turn to have the next corner which was taken by Morgan and after a scramble in the area the ball came out to Patten but his shot cleared the Hereford bar.

Hereford tried to redeem the situation and gained further corners but mirrored their earlier efforts and Merthyr made their final substitution with Patten replacing Patten. With 15 minutes to go there came the incident which gave Hereford the upper hand when Richards received his second yellow card for throwing the ball away after a free kick was given against Merthyr for a fairly innocuous challenge down by the right hand corner in the Merthyr half. The resulting free kick was easily cleared. By this time Hereford had made a couple of attacking substitutions but were unable to make significant inroads into the Merthyr defence until in the 84th minute Hereford got the equaliser. A long ball got to the edge of the Merthyr area and Hill had the time to control the ball and turn and fire in a low shot across Davies and into the far corner, giving the Merthyr keeper no chance levelling the score at 1-1.

Hereford went for the winner against 10 man Merthyr but they could not get past a resolute defence