FA Cup First Preliminary

Round Replay

Merthyr Town 3

Cinderford Town 0

IT'S now that the work really begins for Cinderford manager Steve Peters.

There's no doubting the fact that he's assembled a quality squad of individuals, but for some reason they're not gelling as a team.

A Marcus Griffiths hat-trick either side of half-time dumped Cinderford out of the FA Cup, but the reality of this match was that they were never in it.

Ben John blocked a 15th minute effort from Harris, but most of Merthyr's early efforts failed to hit the target.

Merthyr's opener came at the end of a one-sided first half.

Prosser crossed from the right and Griffiths turned the ball in at the back post.

Three minutes after the restart Griffiths converted a Luke Jones cross, then the same player scored again in the 55th minute to kill the tie off. This time, the striker raced onto the rebound after John had knocked away a Newman effort.

Cinderford lacked punch and created little.

It was an extremely comfortable night for the Welsh boys, who now play Hungerford Town in the next round.

Cinderford Town: Ben John, Warren Archer, Greg Lewis, Andy Lewis, Matt Smith, Craig Tait, Dave Bird, Geraint Bater (capt), Matt Barnes, Scott Wilson, Lee Smith. Subs: Sam O'Sullivan, Danny Haines, Dean Lee, Nick Hancock.

FA Cup First Preliminary Round

Cinderford Town 1

Merthyr Town 1

AN equaliser from Gary Colbourne 13 minutes from time earned Merthyr their replay at Penydarren Park on Tuesday night.

Kris Leek's cross from the right found Thomas unmarked at the far post. His low cross deflected into the path of Colbourne, who slotted from close range.

Both sides played much of the game with 10 men after Merthyr's James Rewbury and Cinderford's Dale Evans were both shown red cards for a 32nd minute scuffle. Town skipper Geraint Bater was booked in the aftermath.

Four minutes later, Cinderford took the lead through Scott Wilson after Merthyr failed to deal with an Archer cross from the right.

The cup tie remained in the balance in the second half.

Merthyr pressed, but Greg and Andy Lewis were solid at the heart of the Cinderford defence.

Cinderford's best chance of the half came from a Matt Smith free-kick, gathered by Cutlan under pressure from Greg Lewis.

Cinderford Town: Ben John, Warren Archer, Matt Smith, Andy Lewis, Greg Lewis, Nick Hancock, Lee Smith (Craig Tait 57), Geraint Bater (capt), Scott Wilson (Sam O'Sullivan 69), Dale Evans, Dean Lee (Matt Barnes 81). Subs not used: Ashley Malcolm, Lewis Sommers, Danny Haines, Dave Bird.