Martyrs Head to South Bucks For Southern League Test

Merthyr Town are intent on firing up their EvoStik Southern League play-off hopes when they travel to South Bucks on Saturday (3pm).

The Martyrs take on Beaconsfield Town, who are two points behind the Welsh club, at Holloway Park, and then entertain title-chasing Weymouth at the MetCoaches Community Stadium in Merthyr next Tuesday.

Merthyr then have another home date, against Hendon on Saturday, February 16.

Manager Gavin Williams was able to strengthen his squad in January, adding Jamie Veale, Ben Swallow plus Jay Foulston, and Merthyr have earned four points from their last two fixtures.

Merthyr Town centre-half Jarrad Wright. Pic: Peter Harman.

Tenacious midfield player Veale, aged 21 and from Merthyr Tydfil, made the move from Cardiff City’s under-23 development team, while Barry-born Swallow switched to the Martyrs on loan from Weston-super-Mare.

Wales semi-pro international Swallow spent seven years in Cardiff’s youth development programme before moving on to Bristol Rovers, Newport County, Taunton Town, Bridgwater Town, Chippenham Town, Mangotsfield United, Bath City, York City, Bromley, Dartford, Havant and Margate.

He helped Newport earn promotion to the Football League in 2013, scoring two goals in 23 appearances. 

Swansea-born defender Foulston, a 19-year-old centre-back, is on loan from Newport until the end of this season.

Merthyr Town manager Gavin Williams and his coaches. Pic: Peter Harman.

The arrival of the three new boys eased the pressure on a squad hit by injuries to Craig McDonnell, Kyle Patten, Joe Hunt and Corey Jenkins. McDonnell looks likely to be out for the rest of this season, while Merthyr are assessing the progress of the other three.

Merthyr were left without a fixture last weekend because of the bad weather. Their scheduled home fixture against Dorchester Town was due to be played at the MetCoaches Stadium, but heavy snow meant it had to be called off.

The new date for that fixture is Tuesday, March 12 (7.45pm).

Merthyr Town, from: Lewis Webb, Matthew Harris, Jay Foulston, Ashley Evans (capt), Jarrad Wright, Connor Young, Owain Jones, Craig Reddy, Ryan Prosser, Tom Meechan, Ian Traylor, Ben Swallow, Jamie Veale, Reuben Mackay, Cavan Williams.

LEAGUE TABLE: EVO-STIK LEAGUE SOUTH PREMIER DIVISION

	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	-Pts	Pts
	Taunton Town	28	17	5	6	68	39	29	–	56
	Salisbury	28	16	7	5	68	45	23	–	55
	Weymouth	26	15	7	4	61	37	24	–	52
	Metropolitan Police	26	15	7	4	61	41	20	–	52
	Harrow Borough	28	13	6	9	69	57	12	–	45
	Poole Town	28	12	8	8	56	39	17	–	44
	Kings Langley	27	13	5	9	47	46	1	–	44
	Merthyr Town	27	12	6	9	45	40	5	–	42
	Farnborough	28	12	5	11	49	52	-3	–	41
	Beaconsfield Town	28	10	10	8	49	44	5	–	40
	Swindon Supermarine	28	11	6	11	54	46	8	–	39
	Wimborne Town	28	11	4	13	55	53	2	–	37
	Hendon	28	9	7	12	44	49	-5	–	34
	Tiverton Town	27	8	9	10	46	46	0	–	33
	Hartley Wintney	27	8	9	10	49	54	-5	–	33
	Walton Casuals	27	9	6	12	47	53	-6	–	33
	Basingstoke Town	28	9	5	14	46	55	-9	–	32
	Chesham United	27	8	8	11	27	45	-18	–	32
	Dorchester Town	27	8	7	12	33	52	-19	–	31
	Gosport Borough	28	9	2	17	41	56	-15	–	29
	Frome Town	27	8	3	16	35	47	-12	–	27
	Staines Town	28	3	–	25	29	83	-54	–	9