| Merthyr Town FC 2 – 3 Chorley FC |
| Rai 11′ | Clarke 32′ |
| Handley 25′ | Popoola 38′ |
| Carr 90+5′ |
Merthyr Town FC suffered injury time heartbreak as they conceded in the 95th minute to give Chorley their first away win in the league since August 2025.
On a day where a number of games succumbed to the weather, Penydarren park almost fell victim to the torrential rain. A big shout out to everyone who spent their time ensuring the game was on, even Paul Michael was on the brush! A 10 minute delay to kick off was enough to get the game on.
A number of changes were made from the defeat at Darlington following movement in the transfer window. Lee Lucas’ suspension had now kicked in and with Cole Jarvis moving to Newport County, it meant Paul Michael started all three of the new additions in Jacob Maddox, Jordan Garrick and Kiban Rai.
The opening 10 minutes gave the fans a glimpse of Rai, Maddox and Garrick linking up positively for the first time, whereas Chorley were keen to put high balls into the box, particularly from a number of long throw ins. Popoola looked dangerous early on, with Harris and Ryan-Phillips both cutting out balls over the top.
The Martyrs opened the scoring on 11 minutes after Twamley’s corner dropped at the back post, where Handley was left in acres of space to head across goal. Rai was on hand to stab home from a few yards out to announce his return to the fans at PP. Merthyr 1- 0.
Despite going a goal down, Chorley continued to press the Martyrs backline and were successful in picking off loose balls in the middle of the park. Ibbitson went close but pushed his shot just past Cogman’s left hand post after picking up a deflected ball in the area. Merthyr were struggling to clear their lines at times, which the visitors were taking advantage of.
Merthyr scored their second of the game on 25 minutes through Handley. Some neat play between Twamley and Garrick allowed Twamley to jink his way past 3 defenders to the by line, before squaring across the face of goal for Handley to slot in past Urwin. At this point the Martyrs were in cruise control and it felt like the goals would continue to flow. Merthyr 2 – 0.
A few minutes later a mistimed Maddox lunge deep in the Merthyr half gave Chorley a dangerous freekick which Wilson struck at the wall. As the ball looped into the Merthyr area, it bobbled around a number of players before falling to Clarke who struck a fierce left footed strike past Cogman. A great finish. Merthyr 2 – 1 Chorley.
Buoyed by their goal, Chorley were starting to dominate the game and were winning the battle for possession all over the pitch. Handley fired over from distance after good link up play between Twamley and Rai but it was the magpies that equalised through Popoola, who broke the offside trap to fire past Cogman. A goal that was certainly coming. Merthyr 2 – 2 Chorley.
Merthyr were reeling at this point and should have been 3 – 2 down a minute later when Wilson was set free down the left hand side past Handley, with his shot hitting the inside of Cogman’s far post and rebounding gratefully back into his arms. Wilson and Ibbitson both tested Cogman from distance on the stroke of half time and I am sure the Merthyr backline were glad to hear the whistle. Disappointing to give away a two goal lead, but the thought from the terraces was we had enough in the second half to see us over the line.
Half Time: Merthyr 2 – 2 Chorley
Alex John came on for Maddox to start the second half and despite the break, Merthyr continued where they left off. O’ Kane put his free header straight at Cogman and would have been disappointed not to score, before Wilson again had Cogman scrambling with his shot from the edge of the area. The Martyrs could not seem to win the first header or second balls and the high press starting through Popoola was consistently causing the homeside to lose possession.
Cawley Cox was introduced and the home side looked like a different proposition, with balls now being dropped over the top to try and exert some pressure on Chorley defenders who were having a quiet second half.
In the 89th minute Ryan-Phillips was beaten for pace by Blakeman on the left, before Cogman pulled off a great save to his right. The rebound fell to Popoola on the edge of the area, with his shot saved by Harris on the line with a last ditch block. Merthyr counter-attacked which allowed Cox to be strong in the tackle on halfway, before feeding Twamley on the right. Cox continued his run and was found in space in the box with a free header, but put it over the bar. A glorious chance to take the lead.
In the final minute of injury time, the Martyrs continued to flood forward looking for a winner. The home side looked for a 20 yard hero ball through the middle of the park, which was easily picked off again. The visitors wasted no time in putting the ball back over the top of the Merthyr defence which was too high, allowing Carr acres of space to run into and despite Harris trying to get back, Carr casually chipped the onrushing Cogman before celebrating with the away fans. Merthyr 2 – 3 Chorley.
Full Time: Merthyr 2 – 3 Chorley
A performance and result that matched the weather. Buzzing. Chorley fully deserved their win as they took 3 points back north. A quick turnaround as we head to Aggborough on Tuesday evening to take on playoff rivals Kidderminster – hopeful that we can get our form back on track.
Gavin Burns
Attendance 1, 031
