Town v Merthyr

[Forest Fred]

Cheers Stu... Good thinking

[daver]

24 hour forecast says 3 degrees at 3 pm and 6 pm 1 degree at 9 pm so as long as ground is playable at 3 pm we should be ok. Do your best TMT (thats Trust Me Tait)

[stuart]

Further update Inspection now taken place at 4.15 , Merthyr are leaving 4.45 so we thought the later the inspection the better

Hopefully catch You all later

[Forest Fred]

Good decision Stu, leaving as late as poss... Just nipped past, there's a bit of give and the seagulls are worm hunting amid the snow flurries.... Retracting the roof and turning on the underground heating has helped.

Not to build up too many hopes, and I'm just a little bloke with a funny accent from Upper St Whites, but I reckon - ON

[shaggythetaff]

is the game on or off tonight as i dont fancy driving from caerleon all the way up to find its off i heard inspection 415 news anyone

[stuart]

GAME ON see you all later

[jamesdavis]

It's should go ahead I'm really hopeful but wait for news to be safe

[jamesdavis]

There it is haha come on the boys

[Bev]

Notchy has just phoned from the ground - the game is ON

[Big Mac]

Yahoo!

[boxxon]

Hi Shaggythetaff, I`m a Cinderford Town supporter and will be travelling up to the hallowed Causeway Tump from Caerleon with 3 other taffs.Here`s to a good game .If the mighty Notchy said its on -its on UNLESS the match ref decides otherwise,of course. The 4.30pm decision was made by an official ref,so fingers crossed .We want to get it played and look forward to meeting you guys from Penydarren.
BOXXON THE TOWN.

[Big Mac]

0-0 fairly even game, with no Matt Barnes, Ashly Malcom, Dale Evans or Matt Smith , the players who came in did well.
Both teams had chances to win it, Merthyr play well going forward and go forward in numbers, but they dont like getting back to defend and nearly caught them a few times on the break, take a point with some of the players out, 8 games unbeaten now.
My man of the match would be Andy Lewis.

[jamesdavis]

Very good point the team worked so hard and that was the reason we got the point we deserved,on another night we would of had a few goals and won lee smith and Andy Lewis nearly scored a few each,josh emery played well tonight but my mom was Dave bird well done lads

[Forest Fred]

Tonight wasn't the usual game of to halves - away team dominating the first 45, and Town coming back for the second...

With a pitch in surprisingly good condition, there as no excuse for either team playing poorly... Both teams came into the match with similar past records - unbeaten for the last seven games which would assume it was going to be a tight match.

Town set-up with an unfamiliar back five, Thomas, Lewis, Lewis, Harrison, and Archer, with Camm, Bird, and Emery in midfield. Sommers and Smith upfront. With the absence of manager Peters, plus regulars Malcolm, Evans, and Barnes, Assistant Boss Haines didn't really have too many options, other than fortify the defense and look to strike on counter attacks. It almost worked several times...

The Martyrs opened strongly and pressed hard for most of the first half going close several times with good attack play, and failed several goal mouth scrambles without testing Harris in goal for Town. At the other end, Emery went close with a low drive which most of the crowd though was in... Last weeks Town hat-trick hero Lee Smith, and Merthyr's hat-trick man Prosser both had chances before half time.

The second half started as normal, Town applied the initial pressure, but for a change - the visitors held tight and gradually turned the game back in their favour. Neither side looked like opening the score, and 0-0 looked probable from early in the match. Things almost changed when Andy Lewis broke out and ran the length of the field, only to be brilliantly tackled at the death by the Merthyr center half. Merthyr then missed the best opportunity of the game in the last 10mins with a shot at the back post, brilliantly saved by inform keeper Harris.

Merthyr's attacking tactics suggested an away in was badly needed. Town, although conceding an abundance of corners and several free headers, didn't look too unsettled and were probably the happiest with the scoreless draw. Merthyr will almost certainly feel that they were the better team and deserved all three points

Tonight's Ref had a good game, which was a surprisingly clean encounter with Kerian Thomas being the only card of the evening. It was also nice to see the players accept the Ref's decision and not adopt the mass gangster technique.

Good result for Town, but although Merthyr dominated for long periods, you can't help thinking that we could have had all three points if we still had Scott Wilson to pray on those infrequent counter attacks.

[boxxon]

Alex Harris`s save was breathtakingly superb.Fair match report Fred.Keeping a clean sheet was special and the tactics proved correct.Without Matt Barnes our attacking options were pretty limited,but Lee Smith put in a very good shift and Lewis Sommers layoffs were accurate and caused them a lot of trouble with his ability to win the ball in the air. MOM Andy Lewis,who put out a lot of fires.Good match,enjoyed the banter with the Martyr fans-good bunch.