Hopperational details
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date & Venue
|
Saturday 25
September 2017 at Loadlok Stadium (Penydarren Park)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Result
|
Merthyr Town 1 Dorchester Town 1
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Competition
|
Southern
League Premier Division (Step 3)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hopstats
|
Ground 627 on
the lifetime list. I am here from a
shortlist of three because there were more shots on goal (26) in the SECOND
period of last night’s NHL ice hockey game between Anaheim Ducks and Winnipeg
Jets. The first and third periods had
been linked to Athersley and Whitby.
It’s random-ish. See previous
post for details of my niche.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Context
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dorchester
are in the lower half of the table but will have noted that Merthyr (aka The
Martyrs) lost 13-1 at Chesham last week, as did everyone else in
football. The development side
fulfilled the fixture after a turbulent week off the pitch. Since then there have been boardroom resignations
from this fan-owned club, the creation of an interim board, a huge and
well-supported financial appeal, and a week of exhortations to the locals to
#packthepark. Local papers, Argus and
Echo, gave some reasonable coverage to the financial issues and the public
support of Cardiff and Newport managers (Neil Warnock and Michael Flynn),
alongside the pages and pages of rugby.
The All Blacks are in Cardiff and that clash kicks off just after this
match ends.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In one sentence
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dorchester
coped well with the occasion and a draw was probably a fair result.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
So what?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The clubs lie
14th and 20th.
First signs are that Merthyr will have enough backing, and enough
character on the pitch, to survive as a club and even hold on to their Step 3
place. They probably need about
another 18 points or so, with plenty of games left. Dorchester may feel that today was two
points dropped but near the bottom an away draw is usually not to be turned
down.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match Report
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Members of
last week’s development team were introduced to the crowd before kickoff and
received a heroes’ welcome. Once the whistle
went, Ian Traylor could have given Merthyr a dream start with a good turn in
the box but his shot was over the bar.
Dorchester weathered that early storm and the first half-hour was
pretty ordinary but earnest fare in the sunshine. The visitors had a half-chance of their own
from a fluffed clearance. After the
half-hour mark, the game settled into a more open and adventurous phase with
Merthyr threatening to take the lead.
The exact opposite happened after 37 minutes with a classic away team
counterpunch. Dorchester poured
forward when the ball bounced for them on the left flank. A dangerous cross was duly volleyed in by
Blake Davies. Good goal, and they saw
out the rest of the half.
Merthyr’s
equaliser came fairly early in the second half. A through ball found Adam Davies in an
advanced position and he set himself well for a good, calm finish as the
keeper came out. Game on.
The home side
showed visible belief that a win could be had. Kerry Morgan shot just wide and then a
deflected Traylor volley hit the post.
Dorchester’s Twitter feed suggests that it hit both posts, but I was
unsighted. The two sides continued to
slug it out, mainly in midfield and with defences on top, keeping up a
reasonable level of entertainment for this passing neutral in the encouraging
crowd of 923. We were somewhat
entertained too by the ever-increasing number of detailed announcements about
cars and vans to be moved from the vicinity.
At the end of
the day, Dorchester did enough as the away side to earn their point and
Merthyr certainly did not deserve to lose.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ground Pix
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lots of them today. This place
is a good example of why I have become a daylight groundhopper in the last
couple of years. Lots of character and
an interesting setting.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match Pix
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Merthyr are in the white-and-black.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Green drew
with Orange today which has no effect on the standings.
Results so
far:
Based on conventional 3pts for a win,
1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean
sheet (CS). Colours ranked on a points
per game (PPG) basis. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking
half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper in a
different colour. The Fire Cracker
colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK, and
it deserves to be last, trust me. All
of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best
colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around
the box.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What Next?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Follow
@GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!
Always difficult to plan ahead at this time of year but my four “priority”
Step 3 grounds to complete “The 232” landmark are: Ashton United, Tiverton
Town, Whitby Town and Athersley Recreation (Shaw Lane’s landlords). In the event of bad weather it will
probably be somewhere closer to home.
Coverage of the Varsity Match (rugby union) will also follow in early
December.
|
Saturday, 25 November 2017
Martyrs Will Survive Unless it's Dorchester Flash in the Pan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment