Cinderford Town 3, Merthyr Town 3.Red Insure Cup

First Round

Cinderford Town.....3

Merthyr Town........3

(Merthyr win 5-4 on penalties)

A PAIR of wonder strikes from Lee Smith and Joe Turley were cancelled out by an industrious Merthyr side to send Cinderford Town out of the Red Insure Cup.

Both teams fielded weakened line-ups but provided an entertaining spectacle, with Cinderford including Jamie Merry and Ricky Tingle for their debuts, and the former in particular shone with an inspiring display between the sticks.

Gloucester City loanee Joe Parker partnered Smith up front again as the newly-appointed player/coach struck a stunning curled effort to put Cinderford ahead after 13 minutes.

Captain for the night Smith shot from outside the area with a perfectly weighted strike that left Merthyr keeper Cameron Clarke with no chance.

Clarke however had the last laugh, saving Smith’s penalty in the shoot-out.

The Welsh side, who played at the Causeway in 2013, started strong and went ahead on 3 minutes. A free-kick was whipped in well to find captain Jarrad Wright, who headed home with aplomb.

Parker got the equaliser for the hosts with a well-taken finish after latching on to Tingle’s long ball four minutes later.

A string of good saves from point-blank range by Merry kept the score at 2-1 at half-time, before substitute Jay Bowen headed past the Cinderford Under-18s graduate just after the hour mark.

Turley then delivered what seemed to be the fatal blow in the 80th minute with an incredible effort to rival Smith’s. Picking up the ball from the impressive Elliot Keightley, Turley shifted the ball to beat his man before rifling a powerful swerving shot onto the underside of the bar and in.

But Merthyr hit back two minutes later through Bowen to send the tie straight to penalties.

After Smith’s attempt, Keiran Thomas, Lorcan Sheehan, Turley and Josh Nelmes all scored for the home side but successful spot-kicks from Jon Brown, Guillem Bauza, Elliot Stocker, Wright and Bowen saw the Martyrs through.