Interestingly they beat Poole Town in the previous round who of course beat us at the Pilot Field in the FA Cup, could have been a replay of that game!
Agree Phil its another 100 miles journey in total ( 470 mile return journey ) longer than Wroxham!!! No replay thanks!!
Remember in the old Southern League days driving to Merthyr, to watch us play Merthyr Tydfil on the Saturday afternoon , then stayed in Newport hotel and played Newport on the Sunday morning before driving home again. Can't imagine anything like that nowadays.
Merthyr also played last night ( and won ) against a weaker local side in their county cup and rested some but not all of their first team so at least they've played a game the same time as us as well.
Spoke to Zac on Saturday and he is still struggling to get answers to his on going Achilles problem but hoping to be back in the next few weeks. And what has happened to Vickers? been on the bench for last few games and no sign of him on Tuesday. Is he still injured? Could be the ideal replacement for Walder in a back 3, something he did very well before he hurt his neck.
So, according to the Observer, Cole is out for 3 to 6 weeks and Walder has a 4 game ban. We have had no update from the club on Zac since the first day he was out and now I see on instagram that Vickers might have deep vein thrombosis. This was a criticism of past regimes and so would like to hear this info from the club before reading elsewhere. There really has been very little info on Zac and Tom, apart from odd rumours, for a very, very long time. Lets keep the fans updated please because lack of info results in rumours and wrong information circulating amongst the supporters.
-- Edited by johnw on Friday 13th of November 2015 11:56:59 AM
Going back to what this post was about personally I would start starting 11 against Crawley for this game they all look like they wanted it not sure who to replace walder with if vickers is injured maybe play four at back with sam Adams coming into midfield keeping cruttwell at left back and play hollobone and Adams in the centre
good that walder has agreed to not becaptain and that it is handed on but think i would like it to go to Razor Pells or Adams. Think we should start with as close a side as Crawley and hope no tiredness in players but think temba and tyrell could be a menace and if we defend like we did on tuesday we have a good chance. is there pitch inspection tomorrow with not good weather ?
Appreciate Liam put this in one of the programmes a few weeks ago, but for anyone who has not seen it, here is a picture of the Pilot Field.
This was taken from the wood end, long before the barrier was moved closer and the Cole Warren stand was erected. It would not be possible to replicate this picture, as your vantage point would be behind the Cole Warren stand. Ironically, this photograph was taken by Michael Cole.
The match in question is Hastings United v Merthyr Tydfil dated 3rd October 1953, final score 4 - 6 and the attendance was 5,080.
It would be nice to see a crowd of over 500 tomorrow, let alone over 5,000.
Excellent picture ! Although , despite the rumours , I am not old enough to have seen at that game , I do however remember that view of the ground well . In the the early 70's you would have had to have been very brave to stand there as there were 3 foot stinging nettles all the way behind the old rusty barrier behind the goal and god did they sting ? It was almost an area that would have been out of bounds to supporters then accept for ball boys , like myself and my mates . We were made to wear shorts on match day . Very little protection against the nettles !!!! Painful memories !!
Match abandoned at half time with Merthyr 2-0 up but down to 10 men. Merthyr looked the stronger side and more at home in the conditions. The first goal from a header from a corner after an excellent save by Josh; the second was a drive from distance on our left after the ball held up on the pitch. I didn't see clearly the incident which led to the red card - but it was likely a push or elbow on Medlock.
I think the ref made the right choice to abandon. The ball was holding up at various places on the pitch (which wasn't cutting up) and players were finding it difficult to maintain balance. There was a genuine risk of injury so the ref really had little choice. Yes, I suppose we would have been happier than Merthyr with the decision (because I saw no chance even against 10 that we would score three against them); but our fixture list is really beginning to look alarmingly conjested; and, of course, it is getting to the play-offs which has to be our priority.
I doubt that the game would have started if we were playing a league game but obviously we had to try and play this one due to the distance Merthyr had to travel.
I think the sight of their centre back lunging two footed with studs up at the end of the half might have also been a deciding factor as well as the weather.
Merthyr looked pretty comfortable and thoroughly deserved their lead,whereas we looked void of ideas.
We are lucky to be given a second bite of the cherry,but I wouldn't expect too much if we perform like that again
The FA Trophy Rules state that after an abandoned game the match must be replayed on the same ground on or before the following Thursday. Looks like Merthyr will have the long midweek trip !
huge sigh cos we were dreadful as weather. watched warm up and players look heavy leg and Merthyr was far better side and strong against us that look heavy leg from Tuesday and cup game at Crawley. Merthyr coped with conditions well and managed to play some nice football and pass well and always look like they could run through us with ease. we could hardly run or pass and think the bench were pray for rain to continue and got there wish. think second half in those conditon tho we might have got some joy aganst 10 men especially if we got an early goal. feel sorry for merthyr as we deserve nothing from our effort today but we get another chance. anyone know when rearrange game is
Merthyr, like quite a few sides, looked too big and strong for us. We are conceding an alarming number of goals from corners, free kicks and crosses and could really do with a big, strong defender to help Sean. No winners from the postponement as I'm guessing we, as the home club, might have to pay Merthyr's travelling expenses. Thought Billy escaped a red card as well as I thought he kicked out at the Merthyr defender. Was beginning to think back to the Mertsham game of a few years ago when we were 6-0 down at half-time!
You have to feel sorry for Merthyr. To come all that way and then have the game abandoned when two up is a sickener. Think how we would feel. I had a few friendly words with some Merthyr supporters who were calling the abandonment a 'terrible decision' and while I felt for them I could not agree. You could see the ball was stopping dead in that puddle in the area and with rain still pouring down it would have become a farce, a dangerous one at that. The same happened to us when two up a couple of years ago and you just have to accept it.
We will certainly have to be 'up' for the next match because they will be twice per as determined next time.
As for the game...well it was going the same way as Poole. We huffed and puffed but made little impact and they were pretty comfortable throughout. That said both their goals were poor and avoidable from our point of view.
I just hope the second game is a better watch than today.
Got to feel for Merthyr and their fans. I too thought billy was lucky to stay on after reacting to the elbow/headlock. (He had medlock in a headlock - move over pan ayers)
As I mentioned earlier,it was definitely the correct decision to call a halt to the game but we seem to be the only game affected by the weather at our level,which I find surprising.
For some reason our pitch holds water on the surface worse than most. But in contrast to most it drains exceptionally well and quickly. Its not ideal as it makes abandoned games inevitable if it rains heavy during the game. Another advantage of 3g.
Just hope we learn from the first 45 mins today and work on what we saw where their strengths and weaknesses. Weve got a rare escape here let's make it count.
Having been working on the pitch today from about 1.30 and at half time I wasn't surprised it was called off despite our genuine best efforts to get it done today but rain just never eased up. Pitch was defiantly more than playable at the start though but conditions got worse very quickly.
our effort in what was played was dismal. saw work going on to get game played and much more effort from them than players. Sure tuesday big factor and seeing manager on pitch at half time in ref face rather than get players up for second half said it all. dont say decision wrong to call game off but think back to a game 2 years ago there was nowhere near as much water on pitch as then. as chris says the pitch does look to hold water on surface. look excellent when got to ground at 2.15 but cant see any other game off on ryman or trophy today so surprise it abandoned today. anyw news on replay anyone and refunds ?
We have a problem with big, well organised, physical sides like Merthyr, Poole and Faversham. That problem is compounded when due to conditions we can't easily play along the ground as appears to be our preferred option. This is an issue we really need to address if we are to get out of this league. We need a 'plan B' when we are knocked out of our comfort zone. 'Boot it up the middle' is not the answer. But nor is 'tip tap and hope for the best'.
I have great admiration for all the management team have achieved; but we, in the (home) games I have seen, appear to lack resilience and the ability to change the game when we get under the cosh. Unless we can come up with some other tactic, Merthyr's next visit is likely to end in disappointment; without, this time, a reprieve.
One of our local referees said he would have started the second half and see how the players coped with the conditions.That would have been preferable to the three officials kicking through puddles.
Merthyr looked the better side even with ten men. Would have rather lost yesterday than have all these games in hand. Only going to get worse now.
I think that would have been good idea. read some othermatch reports yesterday and quite a lot of report say became a lottery , condition tracherous etc etc so not sure our any worse. also saw highlight of football league games and similar conditions in those as to our yesterday. remember old st leonard hastings derby once where the ball literally not roll in mud and the pitch yeterday was not muddy and think could have given it a few minute of second half and the rain was not as heavy then. forcast this week bad an pitch must be damaged so can not see it going ahead at pilotfield this week
