15th November 2025
FA Trophy - Second Round
Attendance 614

Merthyr Town 2 Vs Hanwell Town 3

“Back to earth with a bump and a poor day at the office” was the verdict from Paul Michael as Merthyr disappointingly exited the FA Trophy at home to the hands of Hanwell Town.

“We are a hard working team with sprinklings of quality throughout, but if we come off that hard work then at any level football can undo you” as the Martyrs put in a disjointed performance against their Southern league opponents.

A slightly different looking side from the past few weeks, with Ryan-Phillips, Jarvis, John and Smerdon moving to the bench and Smalley, Williams, Lewis and Spiers starting, with Handley slotting in at centreback.

A scrappy start to the game from both sides, with a number of loose passes not allowing either team to settle. Smalley was unlucky not to open the scoring early on after good work from Twamley who was able to cross from the by line, but Beasant was able to stop at close range with his legs. A few minutes later it was Rice who was put through on goal, but Cogman rushed out and bravely dived at his feet.

The majority of Merthyr’s success was coming down the right hand side, which led to the opening goal for the home side. Spiers fed Twamley who was able to skip outside pressure and dribble the majority of the Hanwell’s half before taking on Hall in the box and was hacked down. A clear penalty and one that Rees confidently dispatched past Beasant to give the Martyrs a 1-0 lead.

Despite going a goal down, Hanwell continued to push forward but were lacking quality in the final third. Livermore and Woodcock were having an ongoing battle all over the park, which would eventually lead to Merthyr going down to 10 men. Pendlebury and Rice both went close, but were denied by last ditch blocks with the Merthyr backline very disjointed at times. Twamley was unlucky not to make it 2-0 before the break, as he nutmegged Duncan on the edge of the box but his shot was blocked at the last moment.

It was Hanwell who were able to make their pressure count in first half injury time. A needless freekick was given away allowing Carr to swing in a cross which was deflected and looped across to Hall on the left edge of the box. He dispatched the volley straight across into Cogman’s top left hand corner - a great goal for anyone, let alone a CB!.

Disappointing to concede just before halftime but the hope was the break would give the homeside time to reset.

The Geordies picked up where they left off, with Rice going close but couldn’t keep his volley down before Duncan mis-timed his header at close range. Livermore was shown a straight red on 50 minutes after a crunching tackle in the middle of the park (poor match reporting but I missed the challenge and have seen different opinions on it). The visitors should have taken the lead immediately after but Hall put the ball over from about 5 yards out - harder to miss than to score! Bettamer was more clinical a few moments later when a deflected ball landed at his feet and he was able to coolly slot it past Cogman. A mountain to climb for Merthyr.

A number of changes were made but Hanwell grew with confidence and were dominating midfield. Pendlebury was causing a number of problems up top and got Hanwell’s third of the match after touching the ball past Handley into the box and casually taking it around the on rushing Cogman to slot in. A lovely goal for Pendlebury but a poor goal to concede from the backline.

Smerdon was able to pull a goal back in the 96th minute after Jarvis picked him out inside the area but it was too little too late. The away side celebrated their deserved victory with the 15 or so fans that had travelled from West London whilst the home side and fans saw their winning streak come to an abrupt end.

A bump in the road and no doubt everyone wants to concentrate on the league, but a poor performance all around which I am sure they will all agree. All eyes on next Saturday as Alfreton visit Penydarren Park.

Gavin Burns