Sholing v MERTHYR

Just got back from Durham , after the Durham Exiles ACL knee op....hope he can play like Aaron Ramsey now....nice to have some good news....let's hope the National Team can mirror the Town and get a big away win...looking out for the Merthyr flags now....Boz

Kettering drew, now 4 points less than M T. we would be home if we can hold the lead of points.

SwanseaJack wrote:
can we get promoted Saturday then? or wait until Monday??

Realistically, we would be promoted with a win next Saturday.

Mathematically - unless Stratford fail to beat Clevedon at home on Tuesday night (which is probably unlikely) - we would still need another point.

Merthyr Imp wrote:

SwanseaJack wrote:
can we get promoted Saturday then? or wait until Monday??

Realistically, we would be promoted with a win next Saturday.

Mathematically - unless Stratford fail to beat Clevedon at home on Tuesday night (which is probably unlikely) - we would still need another point.

Stratford don't have any games in hand, a win means you're up mathematically.

Markymark88 wrote:

Merthyr Imp wrote:

SwanseaJack wrote:
can we get promoted Saturday then? or wait until Monday??

Realistically, we would be promoted with a win next Saturday.

Mathematically - unless Stratford fail to beat Clevedon at home on Tuesday night (which is probably unlikely) - we would still need another point.

Stratford don't have any games in hand, a win means you're up mathematically.

Stratford have a game in hand - at home to Clevedon - next Tuesday night. They could still finish with 92 points - including beating us at Penydarren Park on the last day of the season!

Markymark88 wrote:

Merthyr Imp wrote:

SwanseaJack wrote:
can we get promoted Saturday then? or wait until Monday??

Realistically, we would be promoted with a win next Saturday.

Mathematically - unless Stratford fail to beat Clevedon at home on Tuesday night (which is probably unlikely) - we would still need another point.

Stratford don't have any games in hand, a win means you're up mathematically.

Stratford have 6 games left and play Clevedon on Tuesday night in their game in hand.
They can achieve 92 points if they win their remaining 6 games. (Unlikely, but you never can tell in football). So we need 4 points to be certain of being crowned champions.
See the Remaining Fixtures thread for more info.

On another note; good win for County last night to put them back in the Play-off places.

A win on Saturday would give us 92 points , no one can get 93 so goal difference would make us champions.

4mad.anubis wrote:

Markymark88 wrote:

Merthyr Imp wrote:

SwanseaJack wrote:
can we get promoted Saturday then? or wait until Monday??

Realistically, we would be promoted with a win next Saturday.

Mathematically - unless Stratford fail to beat Clevedon at home on Tuesday night (which is probably unlikely) - we would still need another point.

Stratford don't have any games in hand, a win means you're up mathematically.

Stratford have 6 games left and play Clevedon on Tuesday night in their game in hand.
They can achieve 92 points if they win their remaining 6 games. (Unlikely, but you never can tell in football). So we need 4 points to certain of being crowned champions.
See the Remaining Fixtures thread for more info.

On another note; good win for County last night to put them back in the Play-off places.

I was looking at Taunton, be good to not have to look at anyone else's result on Saturday, I'm sure quite a few County fans will be going up.

correct me if im wrong but we are 13 points ahead of 2nd place Evesham, and there is 5 games left for both teams to play, meaning there is 15 points to play for,
should we win on Saturday and Evesham also win then there is still 13 points between us and only 12 points to play for.

correct me please, but doesn't that mean a win Saturday crowns us as champions regardless of any other results?????

SwanseaJack wrote:correct me if im wrong but we are 13 points ahead of 2nd place Evesham, and there is 5 games left for both teams to play, meaning there is 15 points to play for,
should we win on Saturday and Evesham also win then there is still 13 points between us and only 12 points to play for.

correct me please, but doesn't that mean a win Saturday crowns us as champions regardless of any other results?????

Evesham can get to 91 points and Taunton can get to 90.

Stratford in fourth place are currently on 74 points and have 6 games still to play so that means they can still get 92 points.

If we win next Saturday we would be on 92 points, so realistically, with our much better goal difference that would be enough. But mathematically we would need a further point from four games to be certain.

This is assuming Stratford win on Tuesday night. If they fail to beat Clevedon then, yes, a win for us next Saturday would do it.

jeffh wrote:A win on Saturday would give us 92 points , no one can get 93 so goal difference would make us champions.

Yes we have +71 goals, Stratford have + 30 goals. Can't see them scoring that many to catch up

Sholing beaten 1-0 at home by Southern League Division One South & West leaders Merthyr Town
Southern Daily Echo

SHOLING were beaten 1-0 at home by table-topping Merthyr Town this afternoon as the Welshmen took another stride towards the Southern One South & West title.

But the Boatmen walked off the pitch with a sense of pride, knowing they had made their thoroughbred visitors work every inch of the way for a result settled by Ryan Prosser’s 13th-minute strike.

The Boatmen welcomed back defender Pete Castle from a quad muscle injury, but skipper Byron Mason had to sit out the visit of the league leaders after his troublesome Achilles tendon flared up again. Brother Barry Mason took the captain’s armband, while new loan signing Lewis Blackmore from Gosport Borough made his home debut up front on a grey, blustery afternoon in Portsmouth Road.

Sholing looked full of running and well organised from the off, giving their high-flying visitors no chance to set an early rhythm.

Martyrs midfielder Gavin Williams overhit one crossfield pass, sending the ball out for a Sholing throw-in and, when visiting goalkeeper Tom Bradley sliced an attempted clearance out of the ground, the Sholing Ultras burst into a rousing rendition of “Top of the league, you're having a laugh!”

But the joke wore thin on 13 minutes as the Welshmen turned on the style to seize the league. The tall bearded figure of Ryan PROSSER worked his way into the box where he exchanged passes with Guillermo Bauza before calmly sliding his shot past Matt Brown in the clubhouse end goal.

Sholing took until the 20th minute to get their first shot on target. It came from the boot of defender Castle who had pushed up for Kev Brewster’s deep free-kick, but his effort flew straight at Bradley.

Three minutes later Merthyr came within a whisker of doubling their advantage. Ian Traylor turned beautifully inside the right of the area and drove the ball across the six-yard box where ex-Saint Kayne McLaggon was a hair’s breadth away from turning it in.

The Welshmen then forced two corners on the right – Jarred Wright nodding the first one over and then his central defensive partner Ryan Green, the Merthyr skipper, heading the next one into the ground and safely into Brown’s hands.

For a side lying 17th with nothing left to play for in the league, the Boatmen’s work rate was admirable and, with half-time approaching, they began to assert themselves as an attacking force.

Winger Tobi Adekunle knocked the ball past the left-back and went on a powerful run down the right, but his cross was cut out by keeper Bradley before it could reach the on-rushing Marvin McLean. The lively Adekunle then fired a couple of ambitious long-range efforts off target before Merthyr hit back with some strong play by McLaggon who drove in from the left before thumping an angled shot over.

McLaggon mustered the first two chances of the second-half, drilling one shot into the side netting and fizzing the next one over.

Sholing responded by forcing a corner when, not for the first time, Merthyr were hard-pressed to deal with one of Brewster’s expertly delivered free-kicks. And it was from another Brewster set-piece that the Boatmen went their closest yet to scoring on 61 minutes when the full-back’s corner was headed onto the crossbar by Castle.

Another spell of Merthyr pressure was only to be expected and McLaggon had a goal ruled out after the referee had spotted a push in the area, while Brown ushered Traylor’s effort wide.

After a flurry of substitutions the game settled down again with Williams delivering a deep Merthyr free-kick which Prosser swung a boot at – and missed – as it bounced in front of Brown.

Much of the play was now condensed in the Sholing half, but still the Boatmen kept their shape and worked doggedly to frustrate the visitors. Sholing had one last opening in the dying seconds with Blackmore racing free down the left and hanging a cross up to the back stick, but there was no one on hand to meet it.

I think that's a pretty accurate summary.  Only thing missing was the idiot in black.

At the end of the match, one of the home fans (I presume) informed me he "thought he'd had a good game"!  Immediately afterwards he tripped over his Guide Dog and narrowly missing impaling himself on his white stick (this is me being facetious). I can only assume this ancient Gadgee in question was his dad!

Ps Everyone get back OK? I thought Old S*d would have had his report up by now.

Ps. I did tell him to summarise!

Phil - you can keep the bit about the idiot in black telling SJ the extra time came as a result of our time wasting tactics!!! #totalincompetent #wheredotheyfindthem?

I’ve had a few things to do today hence the lateness of the usual report.  In saying usual, it won’t be, as the report from the Southern Daily Echo sums up the game rather well although there was no mention made of the hopeless official.
 
Jake Harris was named as a substitute and whether or not this competition spurred Ryan Prosser on I don’t know but Prosser had a superb game.  To be fair to Ryan he’s done very well over the last few games and is looking sharp and dangerous as well as being gigantic, in parts of Oxfordshire at least.
 
We were on top from the start with Sholing rarely threatening and it was no surprise when Prosser scored a goal for Merthyr in the 13^th minute which eventually decided the game.  Adekunle broke down the Sholing left and got past Summerfield but his cross was intercepted by Wright who cleared it to Traylor just inside the Merthyr half.  He sent a longish ball into the Sholing half which was picked up by Prosser.  He got past 2 Sholing defenders and slipped the ball to Bauza.  Bauza sent a pass forward into the area and Prosser burst through after it, controlled it with his right foot and hammered a left footed shot past Brown and into the back of the net and it was a truly excellent goal.
 
Bradley did have one save to make in the first half when he got down well at his near post to save from a Castle shot but apart from clearing a few back passes and taking a few goal kicks he had very little to do.
 
We could have made it two when Davies sent a ball forward to Prosser, which he held up well and found Bauza on the right.  He sent it further down the line to Traylor who got into the area and sent in a great low cross towards McLaggon but he missed it on the 6 yard line and it went away for a goal kick.  Wright & Green both went close with headed efforts from corners but we couldn’t increase our lead.  McLaggon did well when he held the ball up on the left and cut inside Smith but his powerful shot went just over the Sholing bar. 
 
The second half was largely more of the same and McLaggon again managed to get a shot away which went just wide.  On the hour mark, Sholing got as close as they did all game when a corner from Brewster was headed towards goal by Castle but it hit the top of the bar and away for a goal kick.  Shortly afterwards Bauza was replaced by Harris (M) who immediately got in the game by heading on a long Bradley clearance towards McLaggon who got into the area but the ball bobbled up and came off his knee and went behind for a goal kick.  A few minutes later Harris sent the ball wide right to Traylor and exchanged passes with Harris and then Traylor cut inside and then sent it right to Summerfield who sent in a great cross into the area and McLaggon rose well to power a header into the back of the Sholing net from 6 yards, but strangely the referee chose to disallow it, presumably for a foul.  Shortly afterwards, McLaggon was replaced by Morgan and later still Jenkins came on for Traylor and all 3 substitutes contributed to the game with Jenkins bursting past Brewster on a few occasions but there was no end product.  Harris was strong in the tackle and got forward when he could and Morgan buzzed about as usual. 
 
It was a routine win and we controlled the game from start to finish and we could have been comfortably ahead but when you are only 1 up there is always the danger that a defensive lapse or a lucky strike could cost us dear.  However our back 4 played well, particularly Green & Wright in the middle and Bradley had his pipe & slippers out for most of the game.  We did well in the middle although we did miss Leek’s energy but Harris did manage to supple some when he came on.  McLaggon was unlucky on a few occasions and Traylor caused problems throughout.  However my MOTM was Ryan Prosser who was excellent throughout and took his goal really well.
 
I won’t say too much about the referee as Solihull summed up his performance admirably.
 
4 points needed to be mathematically sure of the title and hopefully it’ll be a happy Easter for us all.
 
Onwards and upwards!

Old Sod wrote:...McLaggon rose well to power a header into the back of the Sholing net from 6 yards, but strangely the referee chose to disallow it, presumably for a foul.

Verbatim as you put it at the time...!!!

Yes, Pross played like a man possessed, and I would think was most peoples MotM. I felt sorry for Kayne – he had one of those games where, because he was trying so hard, it didn’t quite fall for him.  On a normal day he’d probably have got a hat-trick! My eldest came along, and also commented on the centre backs.  Both Green and Wright must be good shouts for player of the season, although there’s probably a fair few who could lay claim to that title.

Sholing is a funny little ground, but generally the folk are dead friendly (apart from the Refs dad!). Best of luck to them for what remains of the season.

Ps. Excellent report!!

One thing I forgot to mention was the performance of Kyle Patten who has improved game by game and he will be missed.  He has certainly contributed to our promotion push and thanks are due to him for that.  It may be worthwhile keeping an eye on him for the future should the Cewnty decide to dispense with his services.

cliffyboy wrote:

jeffh wrote:A win on Saturday would give us 92 points , no one can get 93 so goal difference would make us champions.

Yes we have +71 goals, Stratford have + 30 goals. Can't see them scoring that many to catch up

It looks as if Mangotsfield are coming to the lions den on Saturday. Whether or not Stratford reach the total of 92 points, their goal difference is vastly inferior to the Martyrs, therefore a win for Merthyr on Saturday will almost certainly give them the title.

The Mangos have been on a good run but it will be a difficult game for us with so much expectation from a large crowd urging you on.

Looking forward to it, whatever happens!

Look forward to seeing you, Bob.  Hopefully you'll go home pointless!