National League North - Matchday 8
Attendance : 1429
Merthyr Town 2 Vs Worksop Town FC 0

Ricardo Rees’ 100th goal for Merthyr Town set them on their way to a hard fought but deserved 3 points against Worksop Town, to cap off a huge six-point week in the National League North.

After the fantastic 3 - 1 away win to Macclesfield midweek, Merthyr were keen to make it back to back wins and to get their stuttering home form back on track. Paul Michael made two changes from midweek, with Tom Handley (after his hattrick heroics) – and making his 150 appearance for the club - slotting back into his familiar role on the right and Cawley Cox starting up top, with Livermore and Sambu dropping to the bench.

The game was less than 2 minutes old when a Worksop ball came into the box from the left allowing Hughes to rise first and connect with the header, which crashed against the post. If Merthyr needed a wake up call, this was certainly it. This seemed to be the pattern of play for the next 10 minutes, with Worksop happy to put the ball into the box at any opportunity. Cogman and the defence were kept busy, with Waterfall again causing problems and heading just wide of the post following a corner.

Merthyr started to get a foothold into the game, continuing to try and get the ball on the ground and get balls behind the opposition's high line. Twamley was starting to cause major problems with his dribbling and speed, no more so than on 11 minutes where he picked up the ball deep in his own half, drove through the middle of the CMs and continued to take the ball around the CB, and was unfortunate not to score.

Worksop were unlucky to not take the lead on 14 minutes, with Redford cutting inside and a last ditch clearance from Ryan-Phillips saved a certain goal. Taylor in goal seemed increasingly nervous, parrying out a shot from Rees after he cut in on the right and again a few moments later from Cox.

A stray ball from Harris on 34 minutes went straight to Starcenko, who was more than happy to step onto his right foot and unleash a curling shot towards Cogman’s top left hand corner from outside the box, with Cogman producing a fantastic save to tip the ball over the bar.

A very open first half from both teams, but you could see that Merthyr wanted to get the ball down and play, whereas Worksop were content to put long balls and throws into the box and use their height advantage. Rees and Twamley were starting to cause the visitors real problems.

Half Time 0 - 0.

Merthyr started the second half well, with John, Lucas and J. Evans starting to control the middle of the park. After good build up play on the edge of the area on 51 minutes, the ball fell to Cox who was able to get off a shot which hit a defender's arm. Despite Cox putting the rebound into the net, the referee had blown the whistle and awarded a penalty to Merthyr. Up stepped Ricardo Rees who coolly slotted the resulting penalty to Taylor’s bottom right and reached the impressive 100 goal mark in Merthyr colours. Never in doubt. Merthyr 1 - 0.

Despite going a goal down, the visitors continued to press Merthyr, almost catching out Cogman with a shot from a free kick but was tipped over. Smerdon was unlucky not to make it 2 - 0 following a great ball across the face of the goal, but sliding into the box it hit the side netting. Merthyr were starting to catch out Worksop’s back line, who seemed to be tiring and the constant running of Rees, Twamley and Cox was starting to take its toll.

On 67 minutes, Cox picked up the ball in the middle of the park and allowed the advancing defender to press, before nutmegging him and slotting through a delightful ball to Rees, who rounded the keeper with ease to slot in his second of the match. A great goal. Merthyr 2 - 0.

Harris, who had marshalled the backline superbly with Ryan-Phillips was the first to give way for Jarvis, with Cox following shortly after for Smalley. Rees had a fantastic opportunity to finish off his hat trick, Twamley once again picking up the ball and causing the midfield problems, before slotting Rees though on goal who put it over the bar. Despite Worksop continuing to put balls deep into Merthyr’s box, Cogman was comfortable in clearing his lines, much to the frustration of Martin, their big number 9.

Smalley could (and probably should) have put the game to bed after Twamley put him through on a 1 on 1 with Taylor, but he lost the ball at the last moment and the chance was gone. Final changes late in the game with Williams replacing Lucas and Lewis replacing Twamley, allowing Merthyr to move to a back 5 to see out the game.

To the visitors' credit, they continued to push forward and put the homeside under pressure, with Cogman pushing a shot against the bar in injury time but a clean sheet was fully deserved. Both teams were on the deck at the final whistle after putting in a massive shift.

That caps off a fantastic 6 point week for Merthyr, with FA Cup action against Torpoint Athletic to now look forward to.

Gavin Burns