MERTHYR v Bristol Manor Farm

Updates here (hopefully)!

Perry, Williams, Griffiths A, Thomas A, Welsh. Thomas J, Greening, Hartshorn, Prosser, Traylor & Newman.

Subs: Griffiths M, Shephard, Harris, Newall & Howe

twitter says 3-0 with goals from Traylor, Newman and Hartshorn

1 up Hartshorn 2mins

excellent stuff
swans winning too

2-0 Newman 5mins

3-0! Traylor 10mins

h/t 3-0!

4-0! Prosser 48mins

sgoooorrrrrioooooooooooooooo

64th min sub. Traylor off and Marcus Griffiths

Bristol Manor Farm pulled a goal back. 65th min. 4-1

73rd min. Sub. Greening off and Harris on

im sure we can hold out for this win

80th min sub. Hartshorn off and Howe on. Very heavy rain now!

F/t 4-1. Great result!

fantastic result

well done

Yay!

and, would you believe it, Corsham beat Larkhall

Crowd of 525 richly entertained. Lets hope they're all back Saturday!

The Trekker wrote:and, would you believe it, Corsham beat Larkhall

Indeed - bottom beat top! Funny old game!

Willard won 4-0. Still, can't be greedy!

Today's team:

Perry;
J.Thomas,A.Thomas,Welsh;
Williams,Hartshorn,Newman,Greening,A.Griffiths;
Prosser,Traylor:

Subs:
M.Griffiths for Traylor (66 minutes)
Harris for Greening (75 minutes)
Howe for Hartshorn (80 minutes)
Shephard
Newall

With both Kris Leek and Ryan Dorrian unfit both the Newport loan players came into midfield, with Ryan Newman the one pushing forward behind the front two.

We got off to a great start after about 3 minutes when Bristol were unable to clear a corner. The ball came out to Ian Traylor on the right of the area and he crossed it for Lee Hartshorn to score with a glancing header inside the far post.

Two minutes later, again following a corner, it was 2-0. Ryan Prosser drove the ball across the goalmouth from the right and it reached Ryan Newman on the left. He hammered a shot across goal and in off the far post.

After about 10 minutes we scored again when a great long ball out of defence by Jason Welsh put Ian Traylor in the clear for him to comfortably lob the ball over the keeper to make it 3-0.

We had been all over Bristol Manor Farm in the opening period, and it was the old cliche about them seeming to be still in the dressing room.

What proved to be the only moment of danger from Bristol in the first half came after about 20 minutes when Joe Perry had to come out of his area to deal with a long ball on the right. He failed to win it cleanly, and a Bristol player's lob towards goal had to be cleared by Lee Hartshorn.

Apart from a good shot by Steve Williams that just cleared the bar there was little else of note in the first half as Merthyr had been the only team in it, winning just about every tackle in all areas of the field.

Ten minutes into the second half it was 4-0 with a simple goal after Troy Greening got the ball on the right of the area and laid it back to Ryan Prosser for him to roll a shot inside the post.

After about 66 minutes Marcus Griffiths came on in a straight swap for Ian Traylor. A minute later Bristol pulled a goal back with what was just about their only effort on target all game, apart from a goal disallowed for offside late on. With Steve Williams caught upfield the ball came across from the right and was squeezed in at the far post despite the efforts of Joe Perry and a defender.

With 15 minutes to go we were able to bring on Matthew Harris (to a big cheer) for his return to the side following his brokern leg. He replaced Troy Greening. He was in action a few minutes later, with a good ball sending Steve Williams away down the right. But although his ball across reached Ryan Prosser beyond the far post he could only turn the ball wide.

With about 10 minutes to go Jack Howe came on for Lee Hartshorn, with Alun Griffiths moving into midfield.

So it was a very comfortable win, with a scoreline which didn't really reflect how much the better side we were. We perhaps eased up a bit midway through the second half, and/or Bristol raised their game a little - they did defend well at times. Plus the increasingly heavy conditions after half time when the freezing rain began to fall meant we couldn't knock the ball around as we had done early on.

It was a good team performance, with just about everybody having good games, but I'd say Ryan Newman was man of the match, especially in the first half.

Good to see the biggest crowd of the season rewarded with a good win. Let's hope most of them come back again on Saturday.

swanseajack wrote:swans winning too

I know - I was there!

Despite frequently having 11 men behind the ball, and not averse to the odd bit of time-wasting, the Jacks gave Villa a footballing lesson today. 2 didn't do them justice - they could have at least doubled that on chances. The only shot of note I can recall from the home side was hitting the crossbar deep into injury time.

And the Swansea fans were superb from start to finish: "Men of Harlech" sung with gusto pretty much throughout! Apart from the entertaining "Is this a library?" or "Is there a fire drill?"! Admittedly home fans very quiet, but pretty sporting in defeat.

Well done 11 men, management and backroom boys. The push starts here! Consistency needed now. If we win our games in hand we'll still be 1 point behind Willard and 2 behind Larkhall, who got beaten by lowly placed Corsham -- who mentioned form against Hallen? Obviously this is as things stand. The other 2 teams could drop points in their next games and everything changes. Goal difference improved, M.T. = 23, LARKHALL = 25, WILLARD 26.
Only criticism -- another late goal conceded (sort of late). These late goals are a question of concentration.
Well done. Hope the fans turn out in force for the next 3 home games which could really get our momentum going. 4 big home wins on the trot will send out a positive message in our League.

What's more, the football was thoroughly entertaining, free-flowing end-to-end stuff in spite of the atrocious second-half conditions. Bristol MF were no pushover but the result showed what can be done when the chances are taken. There was definitely a buzz around the ground today. Roll on next Saturday!

joan of ark wrote:Well done 11 men, management and backroom boys. The push starts here! Consistency needed now. If we win our games in hand we'll still be 1 point behind Willard and 2 behind Larkhall, who got beaten by lowly placed Corsham -- who mentioned form against Hallen? Obviously this is as things stand. The other 2 teams could drop points in their next games and everything changes. Goal difference improved, M.T. = 23, LARKHALL = 25, WILLARD 26.
Only criticism -- another late goal conceded (sort of late). These late goals are a question of concentration.
Well done. Hope the fans turn out in force for the next 3 home games which could really get our momentum going. 4 big home wins on the trot will send out a positive message in our League.

Larkhall play Willand next, so somebody there has to drop points.