Merthyr Town 1 Poole Town 0

FA Trophy 1Q

31 October 2015

A disappointing end to a lovely day in Wales set against the backdrop of rolling hills and sunshine with Poole holding their own until the last quarter but then conceding a soft goal to go out of a competition they have never prospered in. The game as a whole lacked quality from both sides and we spent 90 minutes waiting for someone to take it by the scruff of the neck. There was plenty of huffing and puffing and commitment in challenges but the small crowd witnessed a dull midfield battle for most of the match. Whether this was contributed to by the artificail pitch I'm not sure but the ball did seem to run on when otherwise it would hold up in the grass making it more difficult for the players to get control of it.

In the first half there was little in the way of attacking play from Merthyr, and Poole started brightly. Roberts could have done better with a free header in the box which the keeper gathered easily and the game was punctuated with fouls and yellows for both teams. Merthyr did get the ball in the net from a free kick but it was ruled offside. The staggeringly low shot count of 2 to Merthyr and 3 to Poole indicates the lack of attacking creativity from both teams.

More of the same followed in the second half with Poole pressing better but picking up yellows for Lindsay and Spetch. Poole nearly took the lead when a free kick fell to White whose shot was deflected on to the post but nothing came of the corner. With Merthyr upping the effort in the last quarter a cross was cleanly headed into the net unchallenged at the far post for the winning goal. Dickson and Holmes entered the fray but couldn't change things although Holmes burst through on a ball which the Merthyr defender just managed to shepherd past the post.

This was a game which I am sure we could have won comfortably but we particularly missed Devlin with Lindsay looking lost in midfield. For me Roberts doesn't look as effective in a central role and we have all seen what Gillespie gives us when he is fit. It does seem that when players are missing we have a thin squad and the consequence of that is that we may have to take defeats like this more often that we would like which may well jeapordise the promotion push.