Merthyr Town v Chippenham Town, Tuesday 13th December, 2016

As the name suggests, ground-hopping involves dropping in to a football club, watching them play and then moving on to the next ground. Tonight I was in the rare position of watching a team for the second time in a week. Here I was at Penydarren Park in Merthyr, watching them take on Chippenham who I'd witnessed play Slough in a thrilling 3-3 draw last Tuesday.

Originally for this Tuesday I'd planned to travel to Newport to watch their FA cup replay against Plymouth. Due to T.V. scheduling this had been moved and so I found my self looking for a football fix elsewhere. The game at Merthyr seemed the obvious option and not just because I had been so entertained by Chippenham last week. I'd been wanting to visit Penydarren Park for a while, having heard tales of it's charms from various fellow travellers.

I was also aware that Merthyr Town are one of the growing number clubs owned by their supporters which was an attraction. In addition, they have a rich history stretching back over 100 years. In the mid 20th century they had a period in the football league and then in the 80's pulled off one of the great European shocks when they beat Atalanta from Serie A in the Cup Winners cup.

The dawn of the 21st century saw Merthyr Tydfil struggle financially before they were eventually wound up 2010. Fortunately the supporters trust which had formed in 2006 was on hand to reform the club immediately as Merthyr Town FC. A lot of hard work and a couple of promotions followed and the club nicknamed 'The Martyrs' now find themselves towards the top of the Southern Premier league. 

                         

                        

On entering the ground the first thing that struck me was it's size. The big terraces and stands hint at the history and success of the club in years gone by. It also felt like quite an open ground with the stands set back from the pitch with a fair bit of shiny tarmac in between. I wasn't surprised to find out that it once accommodated a greyhound track. This was the first time I'd seen a 4G pitch in the flesh and it's lush greeness was very easy on the eye. Along with a very shiny silver building which I think houses the club offices, the artificial pitch juxaposed with the rest of the ground, much of which looked like it had remained unchanged for many a decade.

                             

The old and the ....

...Very futuristic looking building next to the main stand

Initially I found my self in a covered stand behind the goal to which Chippenham were attacking in their green away kit. It was a good sized stand with a mixture of terracing and seating. In addition the stadium comprised of a seated main stand with the dug outs in front and the futuristic building next to it. Behind the other goal is an open terrace which with the rain coming down wasn't very busy as I arrived. The final stand is a beaut, a large covered terrace stretching the length of the pitch and then some. Whilst a lot of lower non league grounds have terraces stretching the length of the pitch it's rare to find such a large one these days. It reminded me a bit of the one at Bath City's Twerton Park. 

                           

                               

From inside the terrace it felt even bigger. It's roof over hangs and it doesn't have much in the way of lighting, so from opposite it's hard to see quite how far it goes back or how many people are in there. The darkness added to the feel of the stand as a big cavernous enclave from which to peer out at the football below.

The ground seemed so big that it felt like corners and sections of it had literally been forgotten about and had been close to being reclaimed by nature.

  

                            

Whilst I enjoyed the seemingly never ending expanses of concrete terraces around me, the game was in full flow. Travelling from Bristol after work on a Tuesday night, I knew I was pushing it trying to make it for a 7.45 kick off. As it turned out, due to not being able to find my wallet at home and a closed lane on the M4, my fears proved well founded and I arrived ten minutes after kick off. The man on the turnstile informed that I'd missed a goal. Merthyr were already 1-0 up courtesy of a headed goal from Ryan Prosser.

Fortunately I didn't have to wait long to witness the second goal of the evening and it was that man Prosser again. The bearded target man displayed some strong hold up play before playing a one two with Jarrad Wright, slotting home the return with a low shot to the keepers right from inside the box. 

With Merthry taking an early 2-0 lead, the away team looked to get back in to the game. The good news for them is that in Pratt and Sandell they have what must surely be the most feared strike partnership in the Southern League. Chippenham have scored more goals than any other team and Sandell is comfortably the top individual scorer in the league. Though they struggled to make inroads in the first half, it wasn't hard to see why they are such an effective duo. The running that Pratt does is incredible, nothing seems to be a lost cause for him and aswell as the goals he scores himself, the space he creates for Sandell must help explain why their partnership is so prolific.

                        

2-0 at the half time saw me head for the bar at the back of the main stand. It was a good size, with plenty of T.V. screens on the walls, it certainly wasn't as old or as characterful as much of the ground. Devoid of much club memorabilia, it had a bit of bland feel to it. The beer was cold though and I had a nice chat with a couple of locals who filled me in on on some of Merthyr's fortunes over the season to date.
                               

It got a lot busier than this

The home side looked to pick up where they left off after the break but soon found their lead halved as that man Sandell pulled one back. Chasing a through ball after some neat passing in midfield, he was strong and composed enough to shrug off his marker, round the keeper and from a very tight angle, pass the ball in to the net in off the far post.                                  

Merthyr were soon on the front foot again and had a period of sustained pressure resulting in a flurry of corners at the Chippenham end. I was watching from the second half from the main stand where a few vocal away fans had chosen to sit and were soon enjoying some banter with the Merthry fans as they both sought to 'encourage' the linesman on the near side to give decisions their way.  

  

                             

Merthyr came close to restoring their two goal cushion when Barrow hit a fierce left foot shot from distance which Chitty in goal did well to acrobatically turn over the bar. Merthyr continued to win more corners but they couldn't convert one and soon Chippenham had a golden chance to level. Sandell was adjudged to have been bought down in the box by centre back Curtis McDonald and stepped up himself to take the penalty. He smashed it past the keeper and it was all square. 

A couple of minutes later the linesman called the ref over and after a hushed conversation and much confusion, McDonald was summoned and promptly shown a straight red card. Word in the crowd was he must have said something to the lino over the award of the penalty. 

      

McDonald see's red after ref consults with the "whispering assassin"

With 12 minutes left on the clock, Chippenham had the chance to push for a winner. Merthyr looked to the bench to sure things up and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that Eliot Richards was among their substitutes and was coming on. Richards started his career at Bristol Rovers and broke in to the first team as a teenager, going on to make over 100 appearances. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance when he scored a hatrick in a 7-1 demolition of Burton Albion. Still only 25 he is rebuilding his carer having battled through cancer. It was nice to see him back on a football pitch.

Chippenham were unable to exploit the numerical advantage and the final few minutes passed without either team coming close to grabbing a winner.

                     

Full time: Merthyr 2 Chippenham 2.

An enjoyable evening amongst the 386 in attendance at Penydarren Park. Now in safe hands and with a big stadium and catchment area, Merthyr feels very much like a club on the up.
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