Two promotion hopefuls met at the Loadlok Stadium on Tuesday evening, as Merthyr Town hosted Tiverton Town. BN watched the game.
Merthyr bagged three points as they beat Tiverton 2-1, taking them up to 8th in the table – one below Hereford.
The home side took the lead in the 26th minute thanks to a well-worked solo-run from Eliot Richards. As he burst through Tivvy’s defence, his powerful strike into the top left-hand corner of the net left the keeper well beaten.
Tiverton’s Jordan Rogers was then sent off after picking up a second yellow with just 37 minutes on the clock.
Things then went from bad to worse for the visitors as they conceded a second. After the referee played advantage, Ian Traylor was on hand to redirect ex-Bull Adam Davies’ cross home at the far-post.
Merthyr’s 3G pitch allowed the home side to play some neat passing football at times as they enjoyed large spells on possession. But the Martyrs were penalised after giving the ball away cheaply in midfield. After intercepting a sloppy pass, Levi Landricombe was brought down by Scott Tancock 25-yards out. The Tivvy marksman stepped up, firing the ball past goalkeeper Oliver Davies.
A couple more chances for either side failed to come to anything, but Stuart Fleetwood was shown a straight red five minutes from time as both teams finished the game with ten men.
But both sides proved that they will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, with Tiverton perhaps taking time in the first half to adapt to the different playing surface.
The game, which was apparently watched by 403, was fairly even, but ten-man Tiverton always faced an uphill battle in the second half as they trailed 2-0.
Hereford have already faced these teams once this season, with both games proving stern tests for Pete Beadle’s men.
Firstly, a solitary John Mills penalty was enough to secure the Bulls’ first win of the season back in August, before later in the month Hereford battled to salvage a point at home to Merthyr.