Its matchday 23 in the Enterprise National League North and the Martyrs take the boxing day trip to 20th place Oxford City. Last time out Paul Michael's side returned to winning ways as goals from Ricardo Rees and Lee Lucas helped guide the Martyrs to a 2-1 victory at home to Curzon Ashton. Oxford City's last game saw them travel away to playoff chasing Spennymoor Town, and 'The Hoops' managed to pick up an important point on the road as they drew 1-1 despite taking the lead following a goal from Campton-Sturridge.

Please note - 1pm kick-off.

Previous Encounters

Merthyr have had 4 encounters with Oxford City since 2008 and the Martyrs have won 1, lost 1 and drew 2 out of these previous encounters. The last time Merthyr travelled to Oxford City was in 2009 and the game finished 2-2. The last time the two sides had an encounter was in 2010 as Oxford City travelled to Merthyr and picked up a 3-2 victory away from home for 'The Hoops'.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | KEY STAFF

Manager | Ross Jenkins

Manager Ross Jenkins was appointed manager of Oxford City in September 2024 as he returned to the club following a brief spell as manager of Boreham Wood. Prior to coaching Jenkins had a solid playing career that started in the Watford FC youth ranks. Jenkins signed a two-year academy scholarship with Watford in 2007 before making his first team debut in August 2008 in League One. Ross Jenkins went on make 81 appearances for Watford in his time there from 2008-2014 where he scored 2 goals. His time at Watford also saw him have loan spells at Plymouth Argyle in 2012 and Barnet in 2013. After departing Watford in 2014 Jenkins made the move to Crawley Town where he only made 14 appearances before terminating his own contract to pursue a move to Romania as he signed for Poli Timisoara. Jenkins made 9 appearances for Poli Timisoara prior to signing a 6-month contract for Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad in February 2017. After the conclusion of his 6-month contract at Pirin Blagoevgrad Jenkins made the move to Norway as he signed for Viking where he made 12 appearances before being released at the end of the 2017 season. After his departure from Viking Jenkins made the final move of his playing career to Scottish Premiership side Hamilton Academical in February 2018 where he appeared 11 times. After persistent injuries led Jenkins to retire from professional football at the age of 28, he made the move into a coaching role at Oxford City. In January 2022 First Team Manager David Oldfield departed Oxford City and Jenkins was placed as Caretaker Manager with the club sitting in 4th place. Then in March 2022 Jenkins was appointed as Head Coach on a permanent basis. The 2022-23 season was Jenkins' first full season as Head Coach, and he guided Oxford City to promotion to the fifth tier for the first team in the club's history as they defeated St Albans City 4-0 in the playoff final. Despite this, Oxford City suffered an immediate relegation back to the sixth tier and in May 2024 the club confirmed the departure of Ross Jenkins. Following his departure from Oxford City Jenkins was appointed manager of National League South side Boreham Wood but left after just 8 games in charge and rejoined Oxford city as manager in September 2024.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | SEASON SO FAR

Following a tough 2024/25 season, Oxford City came into the 2025/26 season with hopes that they could progress up the table after a disappointing 19th place finish in the season prior. Their campaign started with a tough away trip to AFC Fylde which resulted in a 3-2 loss. However, Ross Jenkin's side instantly bounced back as they defeated Macclesfield 2-1 at home following goals from Josh Parker and Alfie Potter. However, the next 4 games were extremely disappointing for 'the Hoops' as they only picked up 1 point from a possible 12 with the poor run of form including a 5-1 thrashing at home against Chester FC. Ross Jenkins' side picked up their second win of the season as they put in a 5-star performance at home against Alfreton Town to beat them 5-0. Despite this, the next 8 games saw Oxford City lose 6 times and draw twice. With the side deeply involved in a relegation scrap early into the season they knew they needed to pick up some important points and Ross Jenkins guided his side to win their next two games as they defeated Hereford 3-0 and Worksop Town 2-0 with the hopes that their season could now improve massively. After two home wins in a row for 'The Hoops' their hopes of an improved season were dented as their next 4 games saw them lose 3 times and drawing once. In their last two games prior to the clash with Merthyr Oxford have beat Darlington 5-1 at home and picked up a solid 1-1 draw away from home against Spennymoor Town. The top goal scorer for Oxford City so far this Enterprise National League North season is midfielder Tom Scott who has bagged himself 5 goals this season.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | 2025/26 SQUAD

Goalkeepers | Sam Lewis, Max Treml

Defenders | Byron Wilson, Jacob Roddy, Chris Francis, Darnell Johnson, Charlie Wiggett, George Burroughs, Geneiro Maragh

Midfielders | Josh Ashby, Jack Bearne, Zac McEachran, DJ Campton-Sturridge, Tom Scott, Alfie Potter, Ewan Clark, Latrell Humphrey-Ewers, Brayden Daniel

Attackers | Isaac Westendorf, Josh Parker

Match Details

Date | Friday 26th December 2025

Competition | Enterprise National League North

Time | 13:00

Stadium | The MGroup Stadium, OX3 0NQ