Match Preview - by Fin Keens
Tiverton’s 2nd game in 4 days see’s the yellows travel venture into Wales as they take on Merthyr Town on Tuesday night in a 7:45 KO.
2 games in through the Martyn Rogers era and a draw and a loss to kick off his time fully back in the dugout as last week the Yellows took on Basingstoke Town to the Ian Moorcroft Stadium which ended in a 2-2 draw and on the road on Saturday saw a 5-2 defeat at Hayes & Yeading.
Tiverton didn’t have the best of luck on Saturday afternoon as Hayes & Yeading was looking to get their season at home swiftly underway and through 2 goals from Sam Ashton they were comfortably in the lead. Cam got a goal back for tivvy just before half time and Josh Jones was sent off for a straight red after a big slice in to their number 10.
Tiverton would eventually level up the scoring with Matt Britton scoring a contender for goal of the season as an acrobatic attempt from the midfielder saw tivvy double their lead and the travelling support in a state of awe of what we’ve just witnessed.
However Dylan Jones then got sent off taking it down to 9 men for Tiverton after a double yellow. It would always be a mountain to climb after that and hayes piled on the counter attack with goals from Omar Rowe, Steve Ngunga and Jamie Hanlon. Full time 5-2 for Hayes.
We do thank Hayes and Yeading for their hospitality that game and certainly for letting our media team take a tour around the set that was used for the Apple TV Show, Ted Lasso. On our TikTok is a collab of our game with the club and a couple of Easter eggs.
Back to the game at hand and we Travel to Merthyr Town for our first midweek game this season and it’s a fair trek for any Yellow making the journey. Being wales’ only Non League club within the English Pyramid now due to Wrexham’s promotion to the Football League they’ve got a reputation to hold up.
Merthyr Town Football Club is a Semi Professional Club based in the mining town of Merthyr Tydfil, near the valleys of South Wales. The club was formed in 1908 but then a reformation of the club took place in 2010 by the Supporters Trust as the fans own their club.
They play their games at Penydarren Park which has a capacity of 4,000 with a 3G Pitch so it can be used throughout the year without the need of big amounts of maintenance and so the community can use the stadium as a leisure spot for themselves.
Merthyr have a relatively interesting bit of history back in the 80’s as they played Atalanta in the European Cup Winners Cup where they won 2-1 at home against the side but when they travelled to Italy they lost 2-0.
Merthyr Town (their first incarnation) did have a stint in the football league between 1920 until 1930 but then the club folded presumably to financial issues with being in the English leagues. Then they reverted to Merthyr Tydfil until 2010 and then just to Merthyr a year later.
The club played in the 5th tier of English football for 5 years, from 1988-89 to 1994-95. In 1991-92 they finished 4th in the National League the clubs highest ever placing in the English football pyramid. They were relegated in 1994-95. Merthyr have reached the second round of the FA Cup on 5 occasions, in 1946–47, 1954–55, 1973–74, 1979–80 and 1990–91. Most recently they reached the competitions first round in 2021-22.
Merthyr’s summer signings include Joe Woodwiss who has left League Two side Newport County after his contract expired and joined up with the The Martyrs. He’s an exciting centre back who plays energetic football and can keep any attack relatively under locks and could be due to their great start of form within the league this season.
Other signings for Merthyr Town include Olly Mehew from National League South Weston Super-Mare, Tom Hillman from Welsh side Llanelli, Anuerin Livermore from Hereford and 2 youngsters come into the fold in Joe Keeping and Tom Stokes from Cardiff and Newport respectively.
Merthyr have kept most of their squad from last season with a few fringe players pushing off to smaller clubs within the welsh pyramid but other than that they’ve kept their frame in and made strong additions.
Head to Head
19/11/22 - Tiverton 2-2 Merthyr
16/08/22 - Merthyr 2-0 Tiverton
18/12/21 - Tiverton 2-2 Merthyr
28/09/21 - Merthyr 1-2 Tiverton
18/09/19 - Tiverton 1-0 Merthyr
26/01/19 - Tiverton 2-2 Merthyr
20/11/18 - Merthyr 5-1 Tiverton
28/11/17 - Tiverton 3-1 Merthyr
26/09/17 - Merthyr 2-1 Tiverton
How to Get to Merthyr Town from Tiverton
By Public Transport: Board the train at Tiverton Parkway and get the train which heads to Cardiff Central where you exit to join up with a train to Merthyr on a Transport for Wales service and it’ll take you directly to the town centre and just on foot you can navigate it to the ground as it’s well signposted.
By Car: From The Ian Moorcroft Stadium head towards the A361 and join up with the M5 where you’ll continue up the country towards Bristol until you get to what I refer to as brizzle spaghetti junction where you head onto the M4 going this time towards South Wales or alternatively you can come off just before Avonmouth and get on the other bridge.
Then you head through South Wales on the M4 around Newport and Cardiff and turn off at what I presume is called the Pantmwar junction (it’s the closest place on maps to the turning off) and head towards Merthyr through some of the valleys.
You’ll weave through brilliant villages and towns such as Nantgarw, Pontypridd, Cilfynydd, Troedyrhiw and finally you’ll end up in Merthyr as you take the roundabout next to their maccies, third exit and straight on the roundabout and go through a bit of the town itself and it’s signposted throughout.
Merthyr Town’s Social Media’s
Instagram: merthyr_town_fc_official
Twitter: MerthyrTownFC
Facebook: Merthyr Town FC
TikTok: MerthyrTown
#Yellowblackarmy 🟡⚫️
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