MARTYRS LOOKING FOR FA CUP SUPPORT
MERTHYR Town are looking to take as many fans as possible to Brighton on Saturday for their FA Cup third qualifying round tie at Whitehawk (3pm). Manager Gavin Williams will be hoping he can parade a strong squad after injury problems at the weekend. The Martyrs warmed up for the cup clash, which will reward the winnners with £7,000, on Tuesday night with an Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division game at Banbury United, promoted last season (match report next week). Merthyr have been involved in a spate of away games, winning their previous FA cup fixtures away – at Barnstaple and Portchester. The regular day-trippers are urging more fans to join them for the journey to the suburb of Brighton to boost the team as they will start as the underdogs. Whitehawk play a level above them, in the Vanarama National League South. But they are only in 17th place of 22 teams. They have a tough defence to breach. On Saturday they won 3-0 at home to lowly Oxford City but have scored only five goals from six home league games, conceding just three. They average a little more than 300 fans, about 200 below Merthyr’s figure this season. Danny Mills is The Hawks’ top scorer for the past two seasons. He has been with Croydon, Crawley and Peterborough, with loan spells at Torquay, Rushden and Diamonds, Histon, Kettering and Tamworth before moving to Carshalton, his previous club before Whitehawk. Mills netted twice on Saturday, the other goal coming from Reece Connolly, with Basingstoke last season. One Whitehawk player who may be able to give some information to his team-mates on The Martyrs is Duncan Culley, who has played against them when he was with Shortwood, and it is believed that Merthyr were once interested in signing him before he had a trial at Cheltenham. Since then he has been with Bromley, Farnborough, Hampton and Richmond, moving to Whitehawk in the summer. Outside football, he is a fitness instructor and part-time model. When with Shortwood, he scored in every FA cup round until they lost to Port Vale. But Culley hasn’t appeared in recent games for The Hawks. If the tie is drawn, the replay will be at The LoadLok Stadium, Penydarren Park, next Tueday at 7.45pm. At present that date is scheduled for a home game with Cinderford in the Southern League Cup of which Merthyr are the holders. They beat Cambridge City over two legs.
HITCHIN TOWN ............ 1 MERTHYR TOWN ......... 1
INJURY-HIT Merthyr did well to hang on for a point in Hertfordshire on Saturday. All the players, especially in defence, deserved praise for a brave, competitive performance. With Gethin Jones, Ryan Prosser and Adam Davies absentees through injury, the team suffered more problems with Scott Barrow, Jon Brown and subsitute Corey Jenkins all having to cut their performance short. But it was Merthyr who scored first. A free kick from the busy Elliot Scotcher saw Curtis McDonald get the final touch to score on seven minutes. It was the former Forest Green player’s first goal for the club. But from then on, Hitchin threatened and equalised in the 15th minute through a rocket of a shot. Midfield play led to Robbie Burns bursting through and firing in from 20 yards, giving goalkeeper Glyn Garner no chance. A Burns header before the break almost made it 2-1 but former Welsh international Garner pulled off a stunning stop. After the break, it was mainly Hitchin with the away side battling to preserve a point. Substitute Will Wright hit the post for Hitchin while at the other end, Keyon Reffell had a shot charged down by Stuart Pearson. Late in the game, Garner tipped an effort from Matt Lech over the bar. McDonald had a fine game for Merthyr and as well as getting the goal stood firm against sweeping attacks from Hitchin. During the second half Gavin Williams replaced injured Jenkins and played upfront. “The players deserve a lot of credit for what they have done over the last few weeks with the plethora of away games. Our lads work their socks off on the pitch and also have day jobs to do and I can’t speak highly enough of them,” said a Merthyr director later. Midfielder Jaye Bowen, son of Merthyr-born ex-Welsh international Jason, has received international clearance to sign for Cinderford Town “on loan” from Merthyr.
ST IVES TOWN .............. 0 MERTHYR TOWN ......... 0
IN a dour battle, Merthyr earned a useful point, this game having been re-arranged after the teamcoach broke down on the way to the Cambridgebased team at the end of August. A bumpy pitch made things difficult, Merthyr starting well but being let down by the final ball. Jon Brown threatened the home goal early on while at the other end, Merthyr’s back three stood firm. Trebes in the home goal pulled off a fine save from Kayne McLaggon with Scott Barrow setting up many attacks on the Merthyr left flank. St Ives opened the second half with more confidence but as time went on it was both sets of defence that took the plaudits. McLaggon was replaced by substitute Gavin Williams, the Merthyr boss making his first league appearance this season. Immediately, he set up Barrow to pass to Jenkins whose effort went just over the bar. Towards the end Merthyr looked the more likely to score and St Ives seemed glad of the point. After the Stratford Town game was abandoned (lights failure) recently, the Merthyr board have decided to make the next home league game – with Dorchester Town on Tuesday, October 11 – Pay What You Want. If fixtures have to be rearranged, the offer will go forward to the next available home match.