Merthyr 2 Gosport 3

For a second successive Saturday, Merthyr threw away a two-goal lead. But whereas they beat Beaconsfield last weekend, today they went down to a late winner from Gosport.
Merthyr had most of the first half and created many chances. When Frazer Thomas was brought down on 28 minutes, Ricardo Rees stepped up for the spot-kick but failed to score. From the resultant corner, however, Jack Evans cracked in a fine goal. On 42 minutes Alex John set up Curtis Jemmett-Hutson who found the far corner of the net past keeper Albert White.
As against Beaconsfield, Merthyr conceded just before the break, Brett Williams scoring. And on 51 minutes Daniel Wooden levelled after the home defence failed to clear.
Gosport were a strong side and piled on the pressure for a while. Merthyr hit back but were held back,And then in the late stages (before five minutes of stoppage time), Bradley Tarbuck hit the Gosport winner as again Merthyr disappointed before their home fans. Merthyr were still without several injured players. The only other game to beat the freeze in the SL Premier South was Beaconsfield 2 Salisbury 1.

After listening to Paul Michael’s post match comments, at least he admits that, we have defensive issues. It was disappointing to see there were three absentees missing in that department today. We were told during the interview that, Angel was working but, the names of Ryan-Phillips and Rhodes weren’t mentioned. If Angel will miss games due to work commitments, we should naturally have back up. In today’s case the players that I mentioned may be injured but, the manager didn’t name either. Having a make shift defensive pairing will get you through a few games but, over time will get caught out, as was the case in today’s defeat. A decent crowd of 450+ considering all told. At least there was a bit of news from HQ.

martyrmark wrote:After listening to Paul Michael’s post match comments, at least he admits that, we have defensive issues. It was disappointing to see there were three absentees missing in that department today. We were told during the interview that, Angel was working but, the names of Ryan-Phillips and Rhodes weren’t mentioned. If Angel will miss games due to work commitments, we should naturally have back up. In today’s case the players that I mentioned may be injured  but, the manager didn’t name either. Having a make shift defensive pairing will get you through a few games but, over time will get caught out, as was the case in today’s defeat. A decent crowd of 450+ considering all told. At least there was a bit of news from HQ.

It was mentioned in Paul Michael's notes in today's programme that Ryan-Phillips and Rhodes are still a few weeks away from full fitness. Nick Rhodes dislocated his shoulder on his debut against Hanwell at the beginning of November.

Ryan-Phillips ankle ligament problems, and Nck Rhodes on way back after breaking collar-bone at Hanwell, the manager says in his programme notes. Lewis Powell targets a comeback at Yate,

It  didn't look like a gate of 462, tbh. But there were others in the  hospitality boxes. Sparse crowd in main stand. Rows of empty seats in grandstand, especially on the right side. Always lower attendances this time of year for many reasons.

Thank you for the updates Tim. I didn’t get a programme today. Didn’t realise that the Rhodes injury was that serious and it doesn’t look too promising for Ryan-Phillips so, especially after hearing Paul’s thoughts, perhaps he’ll be looking to strengthen in that area. Just nice to hear some news from the squad, albeit not the news we’d like.