Weymouth v merthyr

Goal disallowed for merthyr 13 min

Same team as Saturday apart for Robbie Patten in for Jaye Bowen.

1 nil up traylor

1-1 Penalty 40 mins

Another four and I will take a draw.

1-1 Pen....Curtis McDonald foul on Weymouth Twitter Feed.

Boz

1-1 h/t

Traylor is certainly a man in form atm, 9 in his last 8

2-1 down

2-2 elliot richard

2-2, Eliot

As Bob Marley said to Ownes....I'll take a draw....Boz

3-2 down

Three Two down....Hattrick for Goodship...Boz

Lollipops.

Lost 3-2 but sounds like a great effort from the boys.

Boz

Cannot ask for more

That's a tricky place to go to on a Tuesday night. Unlucky lads.

We have another hard away trip on Saturday at Hitchin as well so it doesn't get much easier. Keep plugging away boys.

Defensive lapses cost Merthyr dear as the Martyrs succumbed to defeat at Weymouth when their overall play deserved better.

Merthyr kept their 3-5-2 formation with Davies and Jenkins playing wingbacks in front of Davies with a back 3 of McDonald, Wright & Kyle Patten. Robbie Patten was recalled to the midfield and played alongside Evans and Richards with Traylor, having a free role and Fleetwood upfront, the latter playing against his former club.

Merthyr started brightly and had most of the early play and after 5 minutes, Traylor made a good break down the right and sent in a good low cross which was safely gathered by Travers, in the Weymouth goal, unchallenged. Traylor also had a goal bound effort charged down by Down after a good ball to him by Evans. In the 7th minute, Traylor again got in a good cross from the right which Fleetwood just failed to reach and the Weymouth defence were happy to get it away for a corner to Merthyr on their left which was headed clear. Richards had a shot on target well saved by Travers going down to his left after good play on the Merthyr left by McDonald, Evans and finally Jenkins who got the cross in. Weymouth managed to gain a corner on their left as Davies got in a good tackle but the Merthyr defence cleared easily.

Further Merthyr pressure followed with Jenkins heavily involved and then after 25 minutes they got the deserved opening goal. Ollie Davies had a rare touch of the ball and launched a long punt down the field which was allowed to bounce and Wells failed to clear the danger which allowed Traylor to nip in and from about 12 yards beat Travers with a delightful chip.

Weymouth hit back gaining a corner which was easily defended out to Fleetwood but his header went back towards the danger area but Weymouth failed to take advantage and a resulting cross from Davis missed everyone apart from the alert Ollie Davies who cleared. Weymouth were pushing forward in an attempt to get the equaliser and gained another corner on the left when Davies got in a tackle to get the ball out of play. The corner came in and K Patten did well to head the ball out of play for a throw which was cleared easily. Brooks was starting to cause problems on the Weymouth right and he managed to get in a good cross from the by-line which Patten did well to get away or a corner. Davis’s kick was taken low into the area and a combination of Fleetwood and Richards cleared the danger.

Merthyr retaliated and Traylor robbed Buckley inside the Weymouth half and found Fleetwood who returned the compliment but his pass forced Traylor wide but he still managed to get a cross into the area but there was no Merthyr player there to meet it and Weymouth got it clear. A free kick given for a foul on McDonald in the Weymouth half after he charged down a clearance and Richards’s kick was cleared for a throw and from that the ball came across goal towards Richards and his pressure led to a corner kick which was taken by Traylor which was partially cleared to Richards but he sent his shot wide of Travers’s right hand post.

Traylor and Jenkins switched wings as Merthyr changed things but Weymouth were looking more dangerous and Buckley got in a good cross from the left which was met by Brooks as he nipped in between 2 Merthyr defenders but luckily for the Martyrs his touch went straight into the arms of Davies, making his first real save of the half. Merthyr were looking good to hang onto the lead going into half time when disaster struck when with about 5 minutes of the half left, Brooks made another good run down the right and got into the Merthyr area and got the wrong side of McDonald who brought down the Weymouth full back and Mr Robinson had no hesitation in awarding the home side a penalty and a yellow card to the Merthyr defender. Goodship hit his right footed penalty wide of Davies’s dive to the left and into the net to level the score and parity was maintained until the halftime whistle was blown by the referee.

With Jenkins and Traylor reverting to their original positions at the start of the second half, another long ball by Davies caused further problems in the Weymouth area and Traylor was just beaten to the ball by Travers and his clearance went up in the air and Fleetwood was fouled as he challenged for the loose ball. Traylor took the resulting free kick from about 25 yards with his right foot and Travers did well to tip his goal bound effort away for a corner. Goodship got a good shot in which went over the Merthyr bar as Weymouth tried to reassert their superiority of the last 5 minutes of the first half and Goodship was again the thorn in the Merthyr side when he made a good run across the 18 yard line outwitting both Patten and Wright and sent a powerful right footed shot which nestled in the right hand corner of the Merthyr goal past Davies’s despairing dive and Weymouth led 2-1 after 53 minutes.

Weymouth were now in charge but the Martyrs were clawing their way back into the game and Merthyr gained a corner on the right and Traylor’s kick came off the head of a defender and skirted on to Evans’s head but he just failed to keep his effort on target. Weymouth then had a shot which cleared the Merthyr bar and then with about 53 minutes on the clock, a long ball out of the Merthyr defence found Fleetwood on the right and he did really well to get into the Weymouth area and from the by-line he cut inside and sent in a near post shot which rebounded off Travers’s legs and up in the air and Richards hooked a right footed volley from about 12 yards high into the top right hand corner, hitting the stanchion at the back of the Weymouth goal and Merthyr were level at 2-2.

The game was now up for grabs and both sides went for it and Merthyr were forced to make a substitution when Traylor felt a slight hamstring niggle and was replaced by Morgan. McDonald was forced to make an excellent tackle in the Merthyr area which led to a Weymouth corner which was headed towards the Merthyr goal but it slipped just wide. Goodship was unlucky when a cross from their left was met by the Weymouth striker but his shot cannoned off Davies’s left hand post and away to safety. Fleetwood made way for Touray and 3 minutes from time Weymouth clinched the game when that man Goodship latched onto the ball after indecision in the Merthyr backline to send a good shot past Davies and Weymouth were 3-2 up. Merthyr made a late substitution with Copp replacing Evans in a last ditch effort to retrieve something from the game but when Mr Robinson brought the game to an end Weymouth ran out 3-2 winners.

After the game an obviously disappointed Gavin Williams asked me to pass on his thanks to the 30-40 Merthyr supporters who braved the wind and rain and the vagaries of the M5 travelling to Weymouth on a Tuesday night and was sorry that we were unable to hang on for a deserved draw.

Sounds as though we can take a lot of encouragement from that performance, in spite of the result.