High-five for the Martyrs
MERTHYR Town face the third of five successive home fixtures this Saturday when relegationhaunted St Neots, Cambridgeshire, face the long haul to South Wales (3pm kick-off).
And fans should note that the Boxing Day clash at The LoadLok Stadium, Penydarren Park versus bottom side Cinderford Town, will start at 1pm, the number of former Merthyr players and others with Welsh connections making it a Celtic meeting.
Ex-Merthyr keeper Cameron Clarke suffered a leg injury on Saturday as Cinderford’s home game with Cambridge City was abandoned with 10 minutes stoppage time left after heavy rain.
Clarke was taken to hospital with knee and shin damage but nothing was broken. He joined Merthyr last season, having previously been with Cardiff City, but made only 13 first-team appearances. After a loan-spell to Risca United, he signed for the Foresters.
Kayne McLaggon’s brace of goals for Merthyr at the weekend boosted his tally to 17 goals in all games this campaign before Tuesday night’s clash with promotion rivals Chippenham Town.
St Neots were fourth from the bottom of the table on Saturday night, smarting from a 5-2 setback at Stratford Town – three down in the first 13 minutes. They have six wins, four draws, 12 defeats with 34 goals netted and 50 leaked. They were without a midweek match.
The Saints have occupied a relegation spot for three months and on Saturday they gave what was felt their “most inept performance of the season before a tough visit to Wales” despite several players returning from injuries.
They include brothers Jonny and James Hall in their squad. The latter has netted 11 league goals for St Neots this season.
The rearranged home fixture for Merthyr with King’s Lynn will now be on Tuesday, January 24, 7.45pm, after the Norfolk club first suggested a date of Thursday, December 29.
MERTHYR TOWN ......... 5 KINGS LANGLEY .......... 0
AFTER a meagre return of two points from four matches, the Martyrs needed a win to boost festive spirits and maintain their play-off challenge in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division on Saturday.
Central Division champions last season, the village side, located close to Watford, looked better in the warm-up than during the game which could have seen double the score so much were Merthyr on top. Merthyr, as a result of the win, kept their fifth spot – teams two to five figure in the end-ofseason play-offs.
Ryan Prosser opened the scoring, saw a spotkick saved, had a goal disallowed and missed one fine chance near goal.
the Kings Langley rearguard could hardly get a foot on the ball facing the silky skills of Ian Traylor, Kayne McLaggon and Keyon Reffell. And in the engine-room captain Ashley Evans and Jarrad Wright stopped their opponents in mid-run and provided plenty of supply to the attack.
Adam Davies returned to the home defence after his transfer back from Hereford, and with Scott Tancock, Curtis McDonald, and Scott Barrow also in defence, Jarrad Wright was able to maintain a midfield role.
Merthyr Football secretary Jamie Mack said: “We are, of course, delighted to welcome Adam Davies back to the club... His return is a big boost to us as we move into a key stage of the season.”
Merthyr kept their unbeaten home league record with ease and went ahead on 12 minutes. Traylor sent over a cross for Prosser to head past Spanish keeper Xavi Comas.
An easy win looked likely when on 29 minutes it was 2-0. An error let in Davies who centred to find Kayne McLaggon unmarked and he finished with ease from about 10 yards.
The visitors broke well into attack occasionally, quite often through Steve Ward, but were frail under every Merthyr raid. It was virtually game over after 41 minutes. A free kick led to Curtis McDonald sending a ball into the goalmouth and McLaggon got his head to it for a welltaken goal.
Merthyr made early second-half changes with Gavin Williams, manager, and Corey Jenkins, replacing Scott Tancock and McLaggon, the latter looking as if he might have suffered a knock.
On 64 minutes Evans was fouled but Prosser’s penalty was stopped by Comas. Kings Langley made one or two forages into the Merthyr half but largely their tactics were to keep the tally down as it was mainly the Martyrs on the charge.
In the final minute it was 4-0 Traylor neatly got past a defender, forcing Comas to block his shot. But Traylor latched onto the rebound and found the net.
Kings Langley were nervous at the back and in stoppage time, susbstitute Ben Watkins, only on the field for a few minutes, made it 5-0 after connecting with a cross from Jenkins whose forceful running also bewildered the Saints defence.
After a slip in the previous gate, the club were pleased to see the attendance of 478, the biggest in the division.
Members of the Syrian community in Wales were at The LoadLok Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon, to take on a group of Martyrs supporters in a friendly match.
The Syrian Association In Wales aims to strengthen ties in UK by involving their members in community events and promoting its cultural and social profile in Wales.
Community officer Elliott Evans said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate that football can bring people together and welcome minority groups into our community.”