MERTHYR v Street

Can anyone say what the prize money was for today's 50/50 draw? I wasn't able to hear the announcement through being in the cafe with my Junior Martyr.

Not sure but I think they said the 50/50 prize was £120-odd. if it was, seems surprising as the gate was only 301.
The attendance dropped by about 25 per cent from the previous match. There has been forum debate on how far Merthyr can be expected to progress in the English pyramid and this was highlighted in today's match programme.
With that considered, today's gate for a eam unbeaten at home in the league this season and going for promotion, was disappointing.

NP23 jack/martyr wrote: nice to see a bit of OCS on the thread as well, Moseley Shoals & Marchin Already classic albums

Brum band. Used to bump into them fairly regularly when I lived in Kings Heath! Riverboat song was the guest intro to the TFI Friday show.

Merthyr Imp wrote:Can anyone say what the prize money was for today's 50/50 draw? I wasn't able to hear the announcement through being in the cafe with my Junior Martyr.

Yes, here you were not in your regular spot, but found lurking in the family stand!
BTW - "my Junior Martyr" is open to all sorts of interpretation...!

The prize was £128 and it was claimed - not by me unfortunately!

It was a shame that the numbers attending dropped quite dramatically and those that weren't there missed a good game with some good goals. It was good to see our wingbacks score 2 of the goals showing that having a notional 5 at the back is not a defensive move. Jack took his well putting it into the roof of the net when he sneaked unmarked into the box. Willo did really well to appear at the far post to head in across the keeper. Maybe next time he heads a goal he'll keep his eyes open! In between Sheppy scored a cracker from 20 odd yards which went in off the post. Street didn't threaten all that much and scored with a free header in the box from an incorrectly given free kick. We started the 2nd half well and Traylor did well to turn in the box and slip it past their keeper. Ryan Prosser who didn't have much luck scored with a good hard shot from about the penalty spot after Welshy's header came off the post. You could visibly see his confidence grow after that and he came into the game a lot more.

We could have got a few more before the end but it was a well played and deserved win although it was the 2 goals in a minute that woke us up after a relatively quiet start. A couple more home games to come and we need the 6 points to keep up the pressure on the leaders.

Very dissapointed with todays attendance .Unless we are seen to be capable of challenging or good enough for a top two position we will probably stay at this figure.Todays win was engouraging but we still need a few more additions of quality players more so now that mathew is injured again .I know money comes into the equation but when our gate has dropped from 500 down to 300 in a matter of weeks we need to ask our selves why .It just shows our fickle the supporters are outside our staunch 300 hundred martyrs

There have been a few smaller attendances this season. The first game saw a bumper gate of 513 and the following week for the FA Cup clash, the attendance went down to 323.
The gate for the Street game was 309 whereas the previous game saw a gate of 433 when we played Bishop Sutton.
These gates are exceptional for this level of football. The club have a playing budget, so I don't know how they could finance some "quality players" or where these would come from!
It must be said that the previous game saw a poor performance which probably contributed to the drop in attendance.
We must remember that our average gate in our last season in the SL PD was about 300.
Some fans seem to cherry-pick their games but also remember the economic times and the jobless rate in Merthyr
I know the Business Development Manager has included in his remit the need to improve gates but I think this will be a very difficult task although I have a few ideas on this.
People are posting comments here on how far up the pyramid Merthyr can climb rather than getting grips to the present task in hand, to try and make progress one step at a time. I am sure that is what the club are aiming at.

Great result today with impressive performances from lan Griffiths and Jack Howe inparticular.

Ref the attendance of 301 i find it hard to understand how people can complain and be disapponted by this attendance give the fact that Cardiff were at home , end of January traditional not the best time of the season for attendances and the weather conditions.

It will be intresting at the Wells game how the initiative with the Cardiff fans works.

In the match programme it contanined a match review of our game against Chippenham in our last season in the Southern Premier attendance 288!!.

I am far from being complacent ref a drop in a match attendance, our attendances are impressive given our level of football , a credit to the commitment of the supporters as we strife to return to the level of league we were relegated from . We must continue to look at ways to increase our supporter base that is without question, but at the same time look at the bigger picture.

Positive thinking its the way forward.

Merthyr Town 5-1 Street
Wales On Sunday

MERTHYR romped to a convincing win over mid-table Street at Penydarren Park, two goals just before half-time providing the platform for another three points to maintain their unbeaten home record.

Jack Howe gave Merthyr the lead on 18 minutes, racing in at the far post to convert a wayward shot from Garry Shephard. But, Street hit back inside three minutes as Lewis Lambert won a free-kick on the right and Steve Murray headed in unmarked at the far post.

That frustrated the hosts and the next goal was to be crucial as both sides pushed for the breakthrough. That came on 38 minutes and was worth the wait as Shephard crashed in a volley from 25 yards to restore Merthyr’s lead after Steve Williams’ long throw was partially cleared.

And, with Street still reeling Merthyr struck a killer blow 60 seconds later as Williams crept inside defender Mike Constanza to head home an Ian Traylor cross.

Traylor added a fourth inside a minute of the re-start, turning in the box to fire home and Ryan Prosser completed the rout on 55 minutes as Jason Welsh’ header rebounded off the woodwork for the striker to volley home.

Solihull Martyr wrote:F/t 5-1. Hope the Imps pencil stood up to the task!
half a dozen behind with two games in hand.

Acording to todays Non-League paper we are seven points behind Willand Rovers with 2 games in hand.

Wandering wrote:Merthyr Town 5-1 Street
Wales On Sunday

MERTHYR romped to a convincing win over mid-table Street at Penydarren Park, two goals just before half-time providing the platform for another three points to maintain their unbeaten home record.

Jack Howe gave Merthyr the lead on 18 minutes, racing in at the far post to convert a wayward shot from Garry Shephard. But, Street hit back inside three minutes as Lewis Lambert won a free-kick on the right and Steve Murray headed in unmarked at the far post.

That frustrated the hosts and the next goal was to be crucial as both sides pushed for the breakthrough. That came on 38 minutes and was worth the wait as Shephard crashed in a volley from 25 yards to restore Merthyr’s lead after Steve Williams’ long throw was partially cleared.

And, with Street still reeling Merthyr struck a killer blow 60 seconds later as Williams crept inside defender Mike Constanza to head home an Ian Traylor cross.

Traylor added a fourth inside a minute of the re-start, turning in the box to fire home and Ryan Prosser completed the rout on 55 minutes as Jason Welsh’ header rebounded off the woodwork for the striker to volley home.

Cheers for that, NOTHING in my WOS! although I get the North/Mid edition (first off the print) in Bristol.

How many regular Martyrs fans watch Cardiff's home games?
As I said, the Martyrs' gates are good for Western League football but with the club battling to balance the books, a reduced gate means a drop in income. The same wages and outoings have to be paid.
And some supporters who watched Merthyr at Taff's Well no longer watch them at P Park.
Leamington had an amazing fan base when they formed their new club in the lower reaches of the pyramid!
I don't think it will be easy to increase gates substantially but if we could average 400, that would be an achievement. And that is what is needed when we are on the promotion trail.
Yesterday was cold in the wind but but it was a bright day. And people say we can't expect good gates before Christmas nor in January! And in August some people are still on holidays!!!! So....
However, with lots of people unemployed in Merthyr, some can't afford to see every home game. I recognise that!
And imagine the admission prices if we were in the BSP.
By the way, who is Ian Griffiths?

Regarding the drop in the attendance from the previous game, my guess is that a good many of those people who pick and choose their games would have seen that we had home games for 3 Saturdays in a row starting yesterday, and might have decided that in view of the disappointing result/performance against Bishop Sutton they would not bother with yesterday's game, see how it went, and then come back next week if it was a good result. Well - it was - so let's hope I'm right!

Re the attendance on Saturday many people get payed monthly and i would say that most got payed befor Chirstmas and will not get payed now until the 31st of January some 5 weeks, with the extra expense that comes with Chirstmas and nodoubt with 4 home games in January some may be feeling the pinch, 301 is not a bad attendance and brings the total from 3 games sofar in January to 1259 not bad for a level 5 team.

Fantastic result!

Out of interest, do season-ticket holders get counted regardless of if they actually attend? I couldn't make it Saturday but I am a season-ticket holder. Just wondering, if anyone knows.

Anyway, UP THE MARTYRS OF MERTHYR TOWN!

The published attendance is a physical count of the number of people in the ground by half time.

It therefore includes season ticket holders, children, guests and sponsors (none of whom have actually paid at the gate) plus those who have paid at the gate. The latter is currently ascertained after the game when the gate money is counted by the treasurer.

Consequently the physical number can vary considerably depending variation of the categories described above.

What about Season Ticket holders who don't attend?

What I did notice on Saturday was that only a small group of fans gathered near the tunnel at the end to applaud the players off the field. And is seemed then that there was a considerable number of regulars not present as they are nornally around to show their appreciation.
Finances can be a problem for many at this time of the year and I couldn't really estimate how many of the supporters are in regular employment or how many rely on State benefits etc.
Several people told me they would watch Merthyr once they were back at the Park. Only one of them has so far, and that was for one game- FA Cup against Cinderford Town.
But many ask me at the weekend :"How did the Town get off?"

'My final League table as webmaster is updated.'

Does the above quote from an earlier posting on this thread mean that Paddymartyr is standing down as webmaster? If that 's so, I think thanks and appreciation are owed to him for doing such a good job, especially from such a distance. Having an informative and up-to-date website is pretty important for the credibility of any club these days, and our website is both of those things.

If Paddy is stepping down, is there someone else to take the job on? Don't look at me - I don't even know how to highlight quotes!

Yes, my information is that a new website produced by the club is due to start soon. As you say, 'Paddymartyr' deserves a lot of thanks for producing the website for the last year or so, expecially when you consider that - as his nickname implies - he's based in Ireland.

Hi hirwaunman unfortunately it is.
Steve Lloyd is working on a new pitchero website for the club to take over from mine, and I believe he will be ready for it to online in a few days. And thanks for the sentiments much appreciated, have to say I have had more help from MTFC from more individuals than any of my previous clubs I have been involved in, and must give a big thanks to the club for keeping me so well up to date this past 13 months.
Up the Martyrs

Thanks paddymartyr for your work and my regards to Limerick.
I am not really keen on those pitchero websites, to be honest, as they all look the same.
Still, it is important to keep the supporters informed!

Tim Drummond wrote:
I am not really keen on those pitchero websites, to be honest, as they all look the same.

Funny enough, that was pretty much my thought too, they seem to be pretty much generic with little scope for customisation beyond a logo and colours.

MERTHYR had to field a makeshift midfield duo against Street on Saturday after Ryan Dorrian and Matthew Harris joined long term casualty Tareq Khalil on the sidelines through injury and Kris Leek was only passed fit enough for a spot on the bench.

And, whilst Street would feel they were in the game up until the 38th minute the temporary midfield duo of Lee Hartshorn and Alun Griffiths were more than a match for the visitors.

Indeed, after Jack Howe had slid in at the far post to fire Merthyr ahead on 18 minutes, it was beginning to look comfortable for the home side but a soft free-kick three minutes later changed all that.

Steve Murray was left unmarked and he was able to head in from six yards.

A stunning strike from player-manager Garry Shephard turned the game in the Martyrs favour on 38 minutes and Steve Williams and Ian Traylor added goals either side of the interval.

Ryan Prosser completed the scoring.


SOUTH WALES Echoe

Mountain Ash wrote:

Tim Drummond wrote:
I am not really keen on those pitchero websites, to be honest, as they all look the same.

Funny enough, that was pretty much my thought too, they seem to be pretty much generic with little scope for customisation beyond a logo and colours.

There are two advantages with pitchero. 1. It doesn't cost any money. 2. You don't need any web design skills, if Jamie could set one up anyone can (sorry Jamie couldn't resist that )
Agreed their about as common as Mo off Eastenders and no individualist skills needed or allowed.
But that's what the club want.