For the very first time this season and in the twentieth game, the Martyrs failed to score.  The team may not have done enough to win the game which was evident from the fact that they failed to find a way through the Hendon defence, but they probably didn’t deserve to lose it either, especially when the manner of the goal was frustrating to say the least.

Overall the team played well enough, but even enjoying the majority of possession it doesn’t guarantee you winning matches. The main issue was a lack of cutting edge in the final third and probably taking the wrong option in and around the penalty area.

Looking at the game through the prism of incidents, probably we could have defended the goal better than we did, including the initial build up. This would have rendered everything redundant. A throw-in taken on the Hendon right flank in line with the penalty area saw a quick break between two Merthyr defenders as the low delivery into the six yard box was initially parried by Jamie Cogman, when the ball flicked up off a challenge past the out-stretched arm of Cogman the quickest to react was central defender Ethan Light who dived to head the ball home from close range.

But we went behind at a crucial time just before the half time interval and didn’t really recover from that, even though Olly Mehew had the ball in the net in the second half it was disallowed for offside. Despite the fact that Jack Evans was missing, we still controlled the middle of the park and had more then enough opportunities to stretch the hosts. We saw plenty of the ball, but little in the way of decisive attacking intent or creating many clear opportunities.

It’s perfectly understandable to feel disappointed by the outcome, especially after controlling the game for long periods but there’s clearly something missing in front of goal right now that adds to the pressure of not winning in five matches.