MERTHYR v Wimborne

Updates here! (I hope!)

Best of luck to players, management & Board for the new season!

Team: Bradley Willo Davies Harris green wright Morgan Newman mclaggon MacDonald Traylor. Subs: Thomas Summerfield Jenkins Griffiths Prosser

1 down midway through the first half

H/t 1 down

1 1 Newman's great free kick 64mins.

Prosser and sumerfield on for Williams and morgan on the hour.

MacDonald off Jenkins on 80mins

F/t 1-1

Fair result....we knocked at the door several times but weren't quite at the races....they scored with their first real attack....the balance of the side was a little out today and we looked small up front...we huffed and puffed and Newmans free kick flat-footed the keeper who until then was having an excellant game saving with his Cutlanesque frame every time....we looked better when Ryan Prosser came on ...but can't name a man of the match from the Merthyr side ..their left combination was good...3 & 7 the best of the Wimbourne bunch I could identify (the Wimbourne identity?).....draw was fair ...they were a solid but not spectacular outfit....but as Dawn French said to Usain Bolt....it's a Marathon not a sprint...onwards and upwards....Boz

Indeed Boz. Would have been nice to start the new regime with a win, however there is a long way to go!

Today's team:

Bradley;
S.Williams,Green,Wright,Davies;
Harris,Newman;
Morgan,MacDonald,Traylor;
McLaggon;

Subs:
Prosser for Morgan after 57 minutes
Summerfield for Williams at the same time
Jenkins for MacDonald after about 80 minutes
Griffiths
Thomas

Presumably Gavin Williams was unfit. Giles Cutlan was assisting Tom Bradley in the warm-up. Prior to the game an announcement was made welcoming the new signings to the club and Owain Warlow was included in the list.

The first real opening came to Wimborne after about 6 minutes when a cross from the right to the far post saw an attacker beat Steve Williams in the air to put a header inches wide of the top corner. We had our first chance about 3 minutes later when Kayne McLaggon forced his way into the area on the left, the keeper saving with his legs at close range. About 4 minutes after that there was another point blank save by the Wimborne keeper to save from Dan MacDonald, then he tipped a follow-up effort over the bar.

We were having most of the play but a goal just wouldn't come. The slow, patient build-up from the back that we've become used to over the last two seasons was less in evidence, as we were moving the ball forward quicker.

After about 25 minutes Wimborne then took the lead when the ball was slipped past Jarrad Wright on our left and the player ran on to put the ball across the area for Matt Kemble to score with their first effort on target.

The Wimborne keeper then denied Kayne McLaggon again, saving with his legs at close range after about 32 minutes. About 5 minutes later another chance went away after McLaggon played the ball across the area for In Traylor to put a shot over the bar amidst appeals for a corner. But Wimborne came close again a minute later when a cross from the right was headed back across goal with Jarrad Wright pressuring an attacker to put his header wide.

Wimborne scarcely deserved their lead at half time as we'd just not been able to convert our chances, although they were well worth their goal as their pace on the flanks was causing us some problems, with Steve Williams being booked in one incident for pulling back a player inches outside the penalty area.

A couple of minutes after the break Kerry Morgan did well, cutting inside from the right to send two defenders the wrong way, but he put his left-foot shot disappointingly wide of the far post.

A double substitution came just before the hour mark, with Dan Summerfield on in a straight swap for Steve Williams and Ryan Prosser for Kerry Morgan as we changed to 4-4-2 with Dan MacDonald and Ian Traylor playing wide.

About 6 minutes later the equaliser came following a bit of pressure, ending when Dan Summerfield was tripped just outside the area. Ryan Newman curled the free kick in for a simple goal with the keeper caught flat-footed. But he made another point blank save from Kayne McLaggon after about 74 minutes when it seemed he must score after being set up by Ian Traylor.

After about 80 minutes Corey Jenkins came on in a straight swap for Dan MacDonald.

In the remaining time we came close on two occasions, first when Ryan Prossser was put through on the left, but the advancing keeper forced him wide so that when he turned the ball towards goal from a narrow angle there were defenders back to clear. Then right at the end Kayne McLaggon was played through, but a defender got across well to take the ball off his toe as he was about to shoot.

Well, it was a bit disappointing, but the trouble was not being able to put the ball in the net. The keeper deserved a lot of credit, but there were too many efforts off target, particularly in the first half when we were getting on the end of free kicks into the box but headers were all going wide or high.

After the equaliser Wimborne settled for the draw and we couldn't quite break them down.

I thought Tom Bradley looked quite sharp in goal, although he didn't have much in the way of shots to save. Adam Davies did OK at left back and wasn't afraid to trust his left foot on occasion, but on today's evidence I think Dan Summerfield should be starting instead of Steve Williams.

I've not seen Dan MacDonald before today, but I didn't think he was all that effective in what would have been Gavin Williams's position, and was hardly in the game when moved out wide in the second half - but then neither was Corey Jenkins when he replaced him.

I think we need Jamie Rewbury back in defence and any out of Gavin Williams, Kris Leek or Adie Harris in midfield. Matthew Harris and Ryan Newman would be my joint picks as men of the match. We did look quite dangerous going forward in the first half, despite the lack of height mentioned - the trouble was not putting the ball in the net.

Personally I think that Dan Summerfield should be starting instead of Adam Davies, I thought Adam looked to nervous on the ball today but he should settle in more as the games go by. Ryan Prosser was excellent when he came on in the second half and linked up well with Kayne McLaggon. Tom Bradley had not a lot to do today but some of his kicks were wayward or to nobody. As usual Ian Traylor played well along with Ryan Newman who scored a tremendous free kick for our equaliser.

Onwards to Barry now on Monday evening   

I agree that Summerfield should play in place of Steve and also that Adam had a bit of a run around first half by their winger.I admire Steve Jenkins to have the courage to take off one of his backup team during the match.Actually if I was Steve perhaps having players whoever they are as part of the management team is a bit unusual or was it a board decision

Well, we're a point better off than we were after our first game last season but today was a bit of an anticlimax for me.

We could easily have been 3 up before Wimborne scored and we were playing some really good football with Trayls & Kayne prominent but Harvell was having a good game in the Wimborne goal.  Jarrad also had 2 headed chances which on a better day for us would have gone in.  After we went 1-0 down we seemed to lose our shape a bit and MacDonald didn't look at home in the midfield position he played in today but he was very unlucky when Harvell made a good save with his feet to keep his effort out.  Newman had a good game, even though he was caught in possession a few times and his free kick, after Dan was brought down, was excellent and it fooled Harvell completely and anyone wanting to know what being caught flat footed meant, should have been there today.  Both sides could have scored before the end although Wimborne did seem happy with a point as they got more and more players behind the ball in an effort to keep us out and were happy to keep their foot in on occasions.

It was a game in which we had enough chances to win and on a luckier day we would have done.  Bradley could do nothing about the goal and looked secure but we did seem to be a bit open on the left hand side of our defence.  We were chasing the ball a bit in midfield and looked outnumbered at times and our shape looked a lot better when Prosser came on although Kayne seemed to drop back a little and I would like to see the 2 of them link together upfront even if it means sacrificing one of our wide players. 

Still, a point is a point and there's a lot to look forward to this season, starting with the Word Cup game against Barry at Jenner Park on Monday.

scamp wrote: perhaps having players whoever they are as part of the management team is a bit unusual

I remember Richard Jones was assistant manager to John Lewis and a player - although not much of a one - in 2001/02. Do you count player/coaches? There have been plenty of those over the years, going back to Tommy Hutchison (although before my time).

The enforced absence of Gavin Williams through injury caused us considerable problems that we failed to overcome. With Kris Leek and Adie Harris also unavailable, we appeared to be over-run in midfield as Newman and Matthew Harris were too often out numbered and forced into conceding turn-over ball.

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the role that Mr. Russell of Portishead played in the opening goal. Kayne McLaggon appeared to be clearly fouled (he was pushed to the ground), but the official waved play on when he should have awarded us a free-kick in their half. Adam Davies had already committed himself to join the attack and we were exposed on our left flank by the #7 who sprinted clear and crossed the ball for Kemble to score.

We continued to suffer some extremely dodgy refereeing decisions, and by the end there was little else but anger with his overall performance. Even leaving aside the big decisions, it was the little ones that set the tone. We appeared to be penalised on a regular basis that disrupted the flow of play, yet he seemed to allow Wimborne some poetic licence. They benefited from an advantage on a number of occasions (the first goal the most notable), yet the treatment of McLaggon in particular went relatively unnoticed.

That a loud cheer came when he deigned to give us the odd free kick says it all. To be fair, he did spot an infringement in our penalty area that disallowed the visitors a second goal! When he booked Traylor near the end he pointed out two previous challenges that he didn’t like but there were far more infringements, mainly on McLaggon, by various players that he seemed oblivious to.

The save that Jason Harvell pulled off from McLaggon late in the second half was brilliant, but I suspect that the ‘keeper would have been critical of his defenders in the ‘wall’ even if Newman’s free-kick was well placed. We ended with Ryan Prosser winning most of the aerial duals and posing far more threat in the last 30 minutes, especially after the visitors lost their first choice centre back before half time.

It was probably far more frustrating for the players on both sides than the supporters.

I found it quite unbelievable that Dan Summerfield was omitted from the starting line up today. He had an excellent first season last season and has shown his undoubted pedigree in pre season. In the game against Swansea City he had ex Manchester United player Kenji Gorre in his pocket. In the 35 minutes that Dan played today he was excellent, crucially winning the free kick that led to the equaliser. I believe that he had offers over the summer from football league and conference clubs. Surely we cannot afford to leave a player of this calibre out of the starting eleven?

this is why I question in another posting having players as the managers assistant is not a good idea.I like us all have admired Steve Williams and the contribution he has made to the club over the years but Dan is young and top of his game at the moment and he should have started the game.All managers usually pick their assistants and I wonder if this was the managers or the boards decision in this case.Hope by the end of the season the trio now in charge will bring success to the club which it rightly deserves

You're right about the refereeing performance, Rob.  He was pretty poor but maybe we've become immune to that as we've seen so many bad performances from referees - even when we win.  Kayne did get a pasting throughout but the ref gave him nothing and allowed the Wimborne players to get away with some poor tackles - yet we seemed to get penalised for the most innocuous of challenges.

That being said, we had the chances to win the game despite the officials.

Wandering wrote:The enforced absence of Gavin Williams through injury caused us considerable problems that we failed to overcome. With Kris Leek and Adie Harris also unavailable, we appeared to be over-run in midfield as Newman and Matthew Harris were too often out numbered and forced into conceding turn-over ball.

Agree Wandering we were over-run in midfield, we failed to control this crucial area, also was surprised Dan was left out of the starting line-up.

If Gav is fit & Leek is available I hope both will start next Saturday.

I'm sure SJ has learned quite a bit from today's game about the physicality of the SL and will set us up to compete more effectively in future games.

It's only the first game and we have everything to play for and i'm confident SJ will ensure we are competing for that promotion spot next April.

Just posted some images from yesterday's game on club web site

i don't understand why prosser is always on the bench he made a difference when he came on, our front three must have thought they were playing in the land of the giants

PeterHarman wrote:Just posted some images from yesterday's game on club web site

Great pics as always mate

Although there was some tournament or other going on in Brazil recently, it was good to get back to watching proper football at PP. Sadly, the game was rather scrappy and disappointing, not helped by the ref who was whistle-happy against our players but, as others have said, ignored blatant fouls by Wimborne, against K McL in particular. Kayne is an excellently quick and slippery player, but we also need Prosser's aerial strength, as was proved when he came on.
Still, it's very early days and I agree that the management team will have learned a lot.

hirwaunman wrote:Although there was some tournament or other going on in Brazil recently, it was good to get back to watching proper football at PP. Sadly, the game was rather scrappy and disappointing, not helped by the ref who was whistle-happy against our players but, as others have said, ignored blatant fouls by Wimborne, against K McL in particular. Kayne is an excellently quick and slippery player, but we also need Prosser's aerial strength, as was proved when he came on.
Still, it's very early days and I agree that the management team will have learned a lot. Judging by their result against Bashley yesterday, Tuesday's game against Bridgwater  won't be easy - always assuming their ground is playable after the weekend rain.  

Because of the Word Cup game in Barry tomorrow the Bridgwater game has been postponed until September (23rd I think). So. don't go to Bridgy on Tuesday - try Barry on Monday.