| Merthyr Town 1 – 2 Chester |
| Harris 11′ | Shrimpton 5′ |
| Mottley-Henry 90+7′ |
It was a tale of two halves as Merthyr Town conceded in the 97th minute to allow Chester a real ‘smash and grab’ on another wet Tuesday night at Penydarren Park.
There was a welcome return for Jaimie Cogman following his injury lay off, with Nye Livermore missing from the starting line up due to injury and Kiban Rai dropping to the bench.
Following Merthyr’s late equaliser against Chester earlier in the season, it was hoped that the return fixture would again bring the drama – which it did, although unfortunately the joy was not for the home side. It was a quick start to the game as both sides looked to get the ball down and play on the greasy surface. It took Chester all of six minutes to open the scoring through in-form Fin Shrimpton, who was found in acres of space at the back post by Woodthrope and casually slotted past Cogman. A disaster of a start. Merthyr 0 – 1 Chester.
A few minutes later Merthyr were inches away from an equaliser after Jay Williams lifted the ball into Cox, who took it on his chest and fired past Jones but was denied by the base of the post. The Martyrs were looking dangerous and Cox went close shortly after nipping in and stealing a loose ball from Carson’s challenge, but was unable to finish past the scrambling Jones.
Merthyr equalised on 11 minutes after Lucas put in a dangerous corner to the back post which Chester were unable to deal with. As the ball bounced around in the box, it fell to Matty Harris to lash in from 4 yards. Game on. Merthyr 1 – 1 Chester.
Chester’s main threat seemed to come from Mottley-Henry as he continued to chase balls over the top – which was being nullified by both Harris and Ryan-Phillips. The game was continuing to open up, particularly in the middle of the park which was allowing both Lucas and Twamley to push forward and cause the Seals defence problems. It felt like it was only a matter of time before the Martyrs took the lead – with the majority of the success building through the left hand side of Handley & Cox.
Chester were quick to pounce on mistakes and it was that man Shrimpton who almost scored his second after Leigh intercepted a misplaced Twamley pass to slot in Shrimpton, but Ryan-Phillips was on hand with a last ditch challenge.
The final chance of the half fell to the Martyrs after Cox squared across the box from the left to Xavier-Jones who was in space – with Weeks putting his body on the line to block the shot.
A solid first half of football with Merthyr certainly the better side.
Half time: Merthyr Town 1 – 1 Chester
After the break the momentum slowly started to swing towards Chester. Cox’s header went just wide before Shrimpton fired over the bar from distance. The Seals were now holding their shape, particularly in the middle which was not allowing Merthyr to play through with the ease of the first half.
Lucas was brought down in the area by Leak for what looked like a stonewall penalty but astonishingly both the referee and linesman didn’t give it(!) much to Chester’s relief. A Merthyr corner from the left was unable to beat the first man, which allowed Murray to be put in before driving his shot at Cogman, who made a good save down to his left.
As the game wore on, the homeside were having less and less penetration on the Chester backline as they packed the midfield. Shrimpton and Mottley-Henry were now continually causing problems and stretching our defence. A penalty appeal for the visitors was waved away before Woodthorpe went close after cutting out Williams’ pass before running the length of the pitch to test Cogman.
Merthyr started to look out of ideas, passing side to side and then backwards before putting the ball long to the isolated Twamley and Xavier-Jones. Chester continued with their set piece delivery to the back post which in the end was their success.
In injury time the Seals went on the attack down the left, with Handley being caught late just inside the Merthyr half. The referee waved play on (no idea how), allowing Chester to switch the ball to the right with Williams giving away a free kick just outside of the area. You just knew what was coming. It felt like Hereford all over again.
The ball was put towards the back post, with Mottley-Henry winning the first header. The ball went across the top of the box and found its way to a Chester player. A blocked shot allowed the ball to fall to Jack Evans who quickly ran into quick pressure and gave up possession. Que the ball going back across the box a couple of times before the ball was stood up at the back post (AGAIN) for Mottley-Henry to beat two defenders to head home. Another injury time goal. Sickening. Merthyr 1 – 2 Chester.
Full Time: Merthyr 1 – 2 Chester
A real blow, particularly after having Chester on the ropes a number of times in the first half. That is definitely a game that got away from us – too many times this season we are losing games from our mistakes, not from being outplayed.
A bit of perspective – we are still 3rd (just) and with eight games left we have a massive chance to consolidate playoffs. A big game against out of sorts Spennymoor on Saturday.
Up The Town
Gavin Burns
