Merthyr v Chesham United

Merthyr 1 Chesham 3. Merthyr's seven wins in a row ended as they lost to a better side. It was 2-0 after 17 minutes with the game looking over. Martyrs improved after the break but the match never lived up to home expectations with too many players seeming off form.

A great crowd of 1,296 saw Ricardo Rees score a penalty on 82 minutes. Bur another Ricardo- Ricardo German got a hat trick in 10, 17 and 58 minutes for the away goals.

Was a reality check for us thats for sure,playing from the back put us immediately under pressure,plus we missed a few sitters but in truth we struggled in the final third where the midfield could break through to find our strikers.
Merthyr are too scared to take a chance and shoot.

It was a bit of a let-down after all the publicity in the week. Chesham just got on with the job. If a couple of early chances for Merthyr had gone on, it could have been different. But 2-0 down after 17 minutes and there didn't seem a way back. Their hat-trick hero Ricardo German has had experience with Chesterfield and Crawley.
They were physically stronger than Merthyr. After the Rees penalty, we battled away but with eight minutes left, the cause was really lost. Good crowd with lots of people from outside Merthyr. Grandstand was filling up before 2.30pm. Long queues at Webley's Bar= it was hot !!
We need to re-organise for next Friday as Taunton will be another big challenge.

We’ve done exceptionally well with our start to the season and have been fortunate that our limited forwards have been virtually injury free. When the going got tough today, being 0-3 down at one stage, we had no other forward to come on. All we could muster, was to exchange a centre back with a midfielder. With Lewis Powell out on loan and Gethyn Hill still sidelined, I feel, that against other, more recognised and organised sides, we will struggle to break them down. I know it’s our first defeat, but better to act early than too late.

Yes, limited choice from the bench today. I like to see ball played on ground but no use in high crosses as no big target man up front. Friday will be tough again.

We’ve played the ‘ball on the floor’ game up to now and it’s got the results, but when we are failing against decent opposition (as proved yesterday,) if you haven’t got a Plan B, then these results are going to crop up more often. Even with Tom Hillman returning, his duties are normally wing play. We are physically lightweight throughout the team anyway, but it is so obvious in the final third.