Pre-season friendly
July 15 2023
Four goals in 19 second half minutes saw Carlton Town continue their impressive summer form with a 4-0 win against Merthyr Town at Stoke Lane.
On a marvellous afternoon at the Bill Stokeld stadium, which saw the opening of the Shed End Stand and the Olivia Hinton covered outdoor seating area and live music from local bands Alex and the Christopher Hale and Stuart Pearce, goals from Dan Brown, Alex Howes and a brace from Mussa Jawara earned the Millers a second victory in three days after Wednesday night’s win against Lincoln Utd.
The annual friendly against Merthyr Town has become an enjoyable occasion for both sets of fans and an impressive crowd of 203 made their way to Stoke Lane. Before the game Talk Sport presenter Johnny Owen and ex-England international Ian Storey-Moore carried out the official opening of the new Shed End stand. They then repeated the process to formally open the Olivia Hinton covered seating area outside the clubhouse.
On the pitch Carlton looked the sharper of the two teams in a goalless first half played on a pitch that is clearly benefitting from the new groundsman. Lammin Manneh went close early on and the same player drew a fine save from Martyrs goalkeeper Will Fuller before Fuller did even better to block the follow-up shot from Greg Tempest.
David Adegbola then fed Howes who played the ball into Niall Hylton only for the wide man to see his shot blocked.
Khyle Sargent then did well to win the ball in midfield and, spotting Fuller off his line, tried an audacious lob that only just missed the target.
Merthyr offered little going forward save for one attack which saw goalkeeper Felix Annan handle outside of the area. He was perhaps a little fortunate to get away with just a yellow card and Tom Handley put the free kick high and wide of target.
Carlton made a host of changes in the second half but when they opened the scoring on the hour it was from a surprising source. A short corner routine on the right saw Manneh slip the ball into Brown and he converted from close range.
Nine minutes later Carlton doubled their lead when Michael Ford won the ball in midfield, played a fine pass to Howes on the right and he curled a delicious shot into the top corner from 25 yards in a repeat of the goal he scored in South Wales when the teams met last summer.
More changes followed but Carlton by now had their opponents on the ropes and Jawara made it 3-0 on 77 minutes with a lovely finish after some excellent work by Zac Hill. Two minutes later Jawara completed the scoring with a clever lob after an excellent pass from Shea Thompson-Harris.
After the game the supporters were entertained with two excellent sets from local beat-combos Alex and the Christopher Hale and Stuart Pearce. Expect to hear more from both these bands in the future.
Carlton’s pre-season continues next Saturday, 22 July, with a trip to Clifton All Whites (3pm).
Carlton Town: Felix Annan (Harry Evans 46), David Adegbola (Lamin Seasow 57), Shea Thompson-Harris, Dan Brown, Dean Freeman (Oliver Seeby 57), Khyle Sargent (Michael Ford 46), Niall Hylton (Aaron Coyle 46), Greg Tempest (Omeriki Myles 70), Romello Nangle (Mussa Jawara 46), Lamin Manneh (Joel Daft 70), Alex Howes (Zac Hill 70).
Goals: D Brown 60, A Howes 69, M Jawara 77, 79
Att: 203
Good win for Carlton Town FC against Merthyr Town. They played well and deserved the win.