If you had handed me a point before the game I’d have been happy with that. Our preparation was blighted by players arriving late and as a consequence it may have contributed to our start.

As a Manager ideally you want to produce our 2nd half performance from the first minute to the last. You don't get time in this league to ease in, teams will take advantage and that was a good Merthyr team, they play good football and have pace and power. After 25 minutes we were in serious danger of coming away with nothing. At 2-0 down we had a lot of work to do but throwing in the towel is not something I see within our ranks.

There were still encouraging signs in the 1st half as we were making their keeper work but Merthyr were always dangerous on the break and simply better in front of goal. Once John scored our first I knew what sort of 2nd half to expect from us. It changed my half time talk and probably changed theirs.

The response was magnificent and if I’m honest not surprising. That came from the players, it didn't come from anything I said at half-time. Yes myself and Nursey gave guidance and changed a few things but the response has to come from the lads and they didn’t let the club or themselves down.

It is only a point but it’s a very good point. It’s now down to me to work out how we turn a point into three.

On the player front we have signed Charlie Wassmer from Woking on loan. I’ve been trying to add a centre back for a while. I just felt we needed a bit more competition in that area. This won’t be a long term signing, Charlie will return to play a huge part in Woking’s season after the loan period. He’s very experienced and will help our younger players.
I’d like to thank Alan Dowson for making this happen. Charlie was due to go elsewhere and something went wrong, I’m happy that he’s with us and hopefully he can help us.

We now look forward to a week of preparation before we welcome Needham Market in the FA cup.