Merthyr Town   0 – 1   Cirencester Town   

Match Report by Dave Pyzer  

The Centurions made a Boxing Day visit to The Principality to face The Martyrs who currently sit in 17^th place in the Premier Division table - one above Cirencester. The two sides are level on points in both the League and ‘6-Match Form Guide’ tables, Merthyr 19^th and Cirencester 20^th in the latter table.

As a result of Ellis Dunton being suspended for this match, due to his Red Card against Kettering Town, Brian Hughes had to re-organise his back line with Matt Liddiard moving to right back and Shayne Anson to centre back. The return of Charlie Griffin to lead the attack and James Mortimer-Jones in midfield resulted in Brad Hooper taking a seat on the bench alongside Jamie Reid and Mark Pritchett.

The journey to Wales had given the players an insight into the fortunes of the Christmas Turkey as the coach suffered a malfunction in the heating system that meant it was impossible to turn it off and it remained at full blower velocity and heat for the entire journey resulting in several stops and a late arrival at Penydarren Park – somewhat de-hydrated.

Cirencester kicked off and within the first minute an attempted clearance from the home side reached James Mortimer-Jones in the left channel, 15 yards inside the Merthyr half, and he made a controlled header inside to Charlie Griffin who spotted Ross Langworthy on a charge just forward of him and he slipped the ball into his path. Langworthy’s momentum took him to the front edge of the home penalty area, slightly right of centre, where he fired a right footed shot wide of the right post – a promising start.

Within the next minute Merthyr released Ian Traylor down their right channel and he too smashed the ball wide of the right post from the edge of the Cirencester penalty area.

After this initial flurry the game began to settle and eleven minutes in Cirencester began a move that started from defence and was carried forward down the right flank for Zack Kotwica to cross from the right corner but too near to Tom Bradley in the home goal who caught it comfortably at his left post.

As the quarter of an hour mark approached Merthyr were awarded a free kick on half way that was aimed towards Kayne McLaggon on the left flank and as it dropped into the penalty area Matt Liddiard produced a wonderful piece of control when facing his own goal and with the ball coming over his right shoulder he stretched out his right leg to ‘kill’ the ball turn and clear the danger before McLaggon could reach it.

This was quickly followed by Aidan Bennett showing good anticipation to clear a dangerous cross into the centre of the 6 yard box before Traylor could get to it. 

As the mid-point of the half approached Liddiard played a back-pass to Glyn Garner that looked to be routine but the ball popped up off the artificial surface resulting in a miss-control from the ‘keeper that provided a corner kick for the home side that was sent to the back post where Cortez Belle, who had the build and appearance of Vincent Kompany, headed it into the grateful hands of Garner.

Just after the half hour Merthyr mounted a break down the right channel through Traylor and after carrying the ball for ten yards to draw the Cirencester defence he slipped it to his  left for McLaggon, 25 yards out, but Liddiard made a superb recovery challenge to concede a corner kick that was headed wide of the target.

The two sides cancelled one another out for the next ten minutes or so but with five minutes of the half remaining McLaggon collected the ball, 15 yards inside the Merthyr half - left channel, and moved forward - as he entered the Cirencester half he slipped the ball to his left for Jon Brown who took it to the front edge of the penalty area before unleashing a left footed shot towards the far post. The agile Garner launched himself to his left to tip it around his post. 

Half Time:       0 – 0

Five minutes after the interval a through ball from the home side reached Traylor on the right side edge of the Cirencester penalty area and his cross sped past the front edge of the 6 yard box and out to the left flank where Chad Bond collected it. Bond’s cross to the back post was met by the head of an onrushing team-mate but it struck Liddiard on the visitor’s goal line and was subsequently cleared.

Six minutes later Ollie Knight intercepted a cross-field pass (something he repeated a couple of times as the half progressed) and immediately drove down the centre of the pitch until he was stopped in his tracks by an Ashley Evans tackle that produced a free kick for the visitors. Charlie Griffin took the kick, from 30 yards, but a well positioned Bradley caught the ball comfortably. 

During the next fifteen minutes Merthyr really put Cirencester under pressure as Traylor had a shot deflected wide of the target and Bond found himself in a 1 v 1 with Garner who as in previous matches spread himself to save with his legs. Garner then thwarted Bond again as he tipped his header from a corner kick over the bar.

Cirencester survived and thirty minutes into the half Knight chased a Leigh Henry punt, down the right channel, into the home penalty area to the bye-line. Running out of space he headed the ball back in the direction it had come from, turned and fired a low left footed shot towards the near post where Bradley managed to get down quickly and save.

A few minutes later Griffin won a throw-in on the right flank, 10 yards inside the home half, and instead of moving inside to be able to receive the throw he quickly took it himself and sent it down the line. The bounce of the ball beat the towering Belle enabling Kotwica to collect and drive to the bye-line where he crossed towards the 6 yard box for a rapidly approaching OLLIE KNIGHT to finish from two yards.  0-1.

Encouraged  a couple of minutes later Kotwica was breaking down the right channel again but this time he was stopped on half-way by Traylor who received a Yellow Card for his troubles.

With time running out Merthyr pushed forward and put the Cirencester defence under increasing pressure but The Centurions held on to secure the three points. 

Final Score:     0 - 1

This was a very valuable three points for Cirencester against difficult opponents and whilst the match never reached the fever-pitch of previous encounters it required some determined defending and all the back five plus James Mortimer-Jones and Adam Connolly contributed to a clean sheet. The wide players got back to help out and relieve the pressure with counter attacks and the front two also put in a shift against a solid home defence.

Another good team performance with everyone playing their part.

Attendance:     535

Referee:          Robbie Dadley (Bedworth)

Merthyr Town:

1.    Tom Bradley
2.    Adam Davies
3.    Chris Hugh
4.    Ashley Evans
5.    Cortez Belle
6.    Jarrad Wright
7.    Kayne McLaggon
8.    Chad Bond
9.    Jon Brown
10.   Ryan Prosser
11.   Ian Traylor

12.   Rhys Baggridge                            
13.  Cameron Clarke
14.   James Bloom                                
15.   Jaye Bowen                                   (Chad Bond-78mins)
16.   Kerry Morgan                                (Kayne McLaggon-65mins)

Cirencester Town: