Welsh Football Magazine

Here is his thoughts on his visit.

Merthyr Saints, 0 Bala Town 6
(Welsh Cup, Round 3)
Saturday, 3rd December: The ICI Rifle Fields. Wintry sunshine, chilly wind

The draw for the Third Round of the Welsh Cup threw up some intriguing ties, but with several of those moved away from the Saturday slot, the choice of where to go proved less difficult than expected: the most unlikely pairing of the round, South Wales Amateur Division Two minnows Merthyr Saints against Bala Town, riding high in the Welsh Premier. A mis-match on paper, but the visitors will be mindful of their Welsh Cup trip south to UWIC last year, when they came off distinctly second-best in another apparently favourable draw.

The ICI Rifle Fields is not a venue I often put high on my list to visit: some way out of Merthyr itself, high and exposed on the very edge of the Brecon Beacons, it’s neither particularly accessible nor hospitable in winter. Nor have the home side done anything, until this season, that would draw the neutral up here. In fact, it’s easier to get to than one might expect – train or bus to Merthyr, then a bus that runs every 15 minutes to Pant. The bus takes an indirect route through the run down streets of Dowlais and then up beyond Pant to the bleak terraces of Caeracca, before running back to Pant cemetery, just along the road from the Saints’ home. As I surmount the hill leading up from the bus stop, a blast of cold wind meets me head on: it’s going to be a blowy afternoon.

The ground, which still meets Welsh League standards, hasn’t changed from my last visit years back, and with a large crowd (351) assembling, there’s a bit of an atmosphere. The home side are staging their big day admirably, with a good quality programme on sale and refreshments on sale in the upstairs bar above the changing rooms. Before kick off, as at all games today, we are to observe a minute’s silence for Gary Speed, and the teams assemble around the centre circle. They stand for a speech several minutes long, then the minute silence, and then break to warm up and get the game underway.

The opening minutes are hectic: the home side are giving everything in the tackle, hoping to compensate for the five division gulf in standard with effort and commitment. For six minutes it works well enough, until Bala put on some pressure and from a parried effort, Mark Connolly fires them into the lead. More of the same follows, and after 10 minutes Stephen Brown is on hand to score with another rebound into an open goal when a lob has caught the Saints out. Game over, really, but to reinforce the point Connolly curls in an exquisite free kick five minutes later for the third Bala goal.

The Merthyr defence is showing signs of panic after this battering, but they do hold out for over twenty minutes, thanks partly to some profligate finishing by Bala. Eventually Brown adds his second in the 38th minute with a persistent run into the box, and to round the half off Bala again outnumber Saints defenders in the box as Steff Edwards fires in their fifth goal.

0-5 at the break and talk is not of giant-killing now, but whether we’ll see double figures. Some feel Bala are going to keep going to prove their point, but it’s rare for a team not to relax a bit. And indeed the game proves to be a bit of a non-event in the strange light of a remarkably early dusk (3.15). It’s not until the 67th minute that Mark Connolly completes his hat-trick, beating the home keeper to a high ball to head home from distance, and after that everyone seems to lose concentration as the game is played out to the full ninety minutes.

A mismatch on paper, and in practice, but not a humiliation for Merthyr Saints, who gave it everything and were a credit to the South Wales Amateur League both on and off the pitch. An enjoyable afternoon in the winter sun, but it’s still nice to get on the bus out of the wind.

David Collins

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The latest issue of Welsh Football - no 154 - was published on 6th December 2011.

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