ENTERPRISE NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH. SATURDAY, 24th OCTOBER 2026.

Morecambe ride the latest storm at Merthyr.

Let’s start with some bad – but hardly unexpected – news from the Shrimps Trust concerning a Panjab Warriors outfit who assured us last year that they would communicate with us so frequently and so thoroughly that we would all be sick of the sight of them. This, of course, had turned out to be a complete nonsense and yet more of the drivel apparently aimed at shutting up what Mr Momi and his cronies see as a nuisance at their club. Morecambe FC belongs to the Sikhs and we ordinary saps who actually go to the games clearly don’t matter as far as they are concerned. This is what the Trust has told us:

So Normal Service has been resumed…

Anyway, some good news on the field is the loan signing of a Sunderland forward on a (very) short contract: just four weeks. 18-year-old Australian Marcus Neil has arrived to bolster Adam Lakeland’s creaking squad.

Unusually, we didn’t look at what Morecambe Manager Adam Lakeland had to say after his team’s utter humiliation at Rushden last Saturday.

Then, a part-time team from two whole divisions lower in the English Football Pyramid simply overwhelmed the allegedly professional Shrimps and won far too easily by two goals to one.

Nobody could justify the pathetic performance put on by men who only play football for a living against other men who actually need to earn a proper crust as well.

To be fair to him – Adam didn’t even attempt to do so.

But what he did say will have set alarm bells ringing as far as all Morecambe supporters are concerned:

“I want to apologise to our supporters who have travelled and sold-out the allocation that we got. As for the game itself, I’m incredibly frustrated. I’m saying the same things and getting the same outcome and… (long pause and a very wistful look here) maybe I’m the problem. So… that’s all I really have to say about that.”

Personally, I think that the last thing the club needs now is another change of Management.

This time last year, that was exactly what the club needed but it didn’t happen because our omniscient owners – who always know better – wanted to persevere with one of their own until it was far, far too late and the folly of the appointment in the first place belatedly dawned on even these charlatans.

Mr Lakeland must often wonder why on earth he left a higher status club in the shape of Halifax to drop down the football pyramid. The people currently in charge at Morecambe presumably offered him more money to do so – and loads of corporate bullshit (as is their wont) with it.

Since he arrived, the Sikh owners have attracted lots of completely unwanted –and wholly avoidable – further notoriety. Taking the club down to a new low was their first `achievement’. Other people – loyal staff most of all – have paid the price for the utterly blind stupidity which led to this situation. Other unwelcome developments have included embargoes from the league hierarchy; sanctions from the Pension Regulator and – most shameful of all – the singling-out of Morecambe as the first English club ever to be officially warned by the new English Football Regulator.

You simply couldn’t make it up…

Given his time all over again, I wonder if the ex-Halifax boss would have been quite so keen to leave the Shay…

He probably wouldn’t.

It is what it is, though – as they say.

Adam is not much older than some of his squad and clearly still has a lot to learn.

But he equally also has a lot to offer: his CV so far is exceptional.

Is it really going to stall now?

In our current diminished circumstances, I personally doubt that we are likely to get anyone better to take up the reins of a clearly misfiring squad. This man is on the up and we need to go there with him

Today, our heart-searching Manager led his men over the border to the west of England.

What did we know about today’s opponents in Morecambe’s international adventure today in a supposedly `Northern’ English league – apart from the fact that is has been really wet there during the last few days?

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in the south Wales valleys to be found 233 miles south from Morecambe. It is famous for several iconically Welsh things such as coal; steel and slag heaps. Sixty years ago to the day last Wednesday, the infamous Aberfan disaster was global news. One hundred and forty-four people (including one hundred and sixteen children) died when a saturated spoil heap collapsed and engulfed the village school, virtually wiping-out a whole generation as it did so. As distraught parents and volunteers from all over the area scrabbled with their bare hands in the rain to recover their lost children from the saturated rubble, the Chairman of the Coal Board culpable for the collapse – one Lord (Later Baron) Robens – flew down in his private jet eight days after the disaster with only one thought in his mind: to deny all responsibility. It has left a bitter taste to this very day right across the locality. Aberfan shares the same valley and is just five miles away from Merthyr.

But the town which hosts the “Martyrs” also has a perhaps unexpected claim to fame.

The BBC tells us:

“Men from Merthyr Tydfil, including ex steelworkers desperate for cash during the town’s industrial decline, went to a local research centre to volunteer as medical guinea pigs. Little did they know the trial they were agreeing to take part in helped change the world.

At the start of the 1990s, drug company Pfizer was testing a compound called Sildenafil UK-92,480 in an effort to treat high blood pressure and angina. It contracted medical studies out of a research house in Merthyr Tydfil and recruited local young men to test it.

Idris Price was one of the men who signed up to test the new drug in 1992. At the time he was going from job to job having been laid off in the local steelworks.

“If I was short of money, I’d go down this place called Simbec,” Idris said. “The money from the trial was very important to my family as we had nothing in those days. It allowed us to get in extra food and instead of having two bags of coal for the fire, we had five. It was actually a doddle, easy money which came in handy.”

But when the trial was over, unforeseen side effects from the drug proved the “lightbulb moment” for Pfizer.

“Volunteers started coming forward and saying ‘it’s a little embarrassing, but I’ve noticed I’m getting more erections than usual – and the erections are a lot harder than usual’,” said Dr Pete Ellis, Pfzier’s former discovery and development lead.

Sildenafil UK-92,480 was marketed as `Viagra’ It hit the shelves in the USA and UK in 1998 as the first approved oral treatment for erectile dysfunction in a blaze of publicity and quickly became the fastest selling drug in history with annual sales peaking in 2008 of almost $2bn.”

Traditionally, Wales has been considered to be a Rugby (Union) playing nation. That has changed in recent years with the relative success of the country’s soccer team and Merthyr Tydfil has long had its own Association Football club. The first iteration arrived in the shape of Merthyr Town. This started life in 1908 and – along with Cardiff City; Newport County and Swansea Town – played in the English Southern League, Second Division. During 1920, the club became a member of the English Football League by default as all members of the Southern League became the new Third Division – as northern English clubs were uninvited and completely overlooked. In its new, exalted surroundings, Town struggled right from the off. Having repeatedly come bottom of the table, the club failed to be re-elected in 1930 and then failed altogether in 1934, when it went bust.

It started life again after the Second World War in 1945 as Merthyr Tydfil FC. They became members of the Welsh League and soon found themselves back in the English Southern League all over again. The new club was initially really successful, winning the Championship repeatedly as well as several Cup competitions. In 1987, following another Welsh Cup success, they played one game in the European Cup-Winners Cup, losing narrowly to Italian team Atalanta. Two years later, their sixth Southern League Championship saw them promoted to the Football Conference. They lasted six years before relegation back to where they had come from. But once again, the Martyrs went bust.

They started all over again a year later in the Western League without a ground of their own but moved to Penydarren Park in time for the 2010-11 season. They were promoted once again back to the Southern League in 2012 and finally won it again in 2025. Their reward was promotion to the National League North. Last season, the club finished eighth in the final table.

Merthyr Tydfil is not just a meaningless place name. In Welsh, it actually means something. Merthyr is synonymous with `Martyr’; Tydfil is a woman’s name. This particular Tydfil was the daughter of Christian Welsh King Brychan Brycheiniog. (Whether or not he was related to the more famous Noggin, I really cannot say.) The unfortunate woman was murdered by pagans quite some time ago (480AD) and was elevated to the Sainthood for her (literal) pains. You don’t mess with those Druids, Boyo (even though Druids are strictly non-violent by nature and Welsh people’s use of the term `Boyo’ is limited solely to irony – or the English imagination.) But that’s why the club’s nickname is `The Martyrs’.

Morecambe will be making the long journey to Penydarren Park on Saturday 24^th October 2026 at 15:00hr s. They will then entertain the Martyrs on Saturday 20th February 2027. Kick-off at 15:00hrs.

The Welsh club was fifteenth in the National League North prior to the match. Morecambe were four places and a single point behind them, having played one game fewer.

This was the Shrimps’ third away game in a row. Two weeks ago, Morecambe conceded two really poor goals in the first half at Worksop and then chased the game to lose 2-1. Last Saturday, the club hit a new low as a club of Northern Premier League part-timers in the shape of AFC Rushden & Diamonds knocked us out of the FA Cup. The Shrimps conceded two really poor goals in the first half and then chased the game to lose 2-1. At Harborough during the first away game of the latest campaign, Morecambe conceded two really poor goals and then chased the game to lose 2-1. At Radcliffe – bottom of the table at the time – Morecambe conceded two really poor goals and then chased the game to lose 2-1. In Southport last month, the Shrimps conceded two really poor goals and then chased the game to lose 2-1.

Could there possibly be a pattern here?

Morecambe’s overall away form is absolutely dire. The only league game they have actually won all season on their travels away from Lancashire was at high-flying Chester in August. Perhaps the last thing they need at the moment is a Manager who suspects he `is the problem’ as far as this dreadful record is concerned.

I have no idea what Adam Lakeland said prior to today’s game because he seems to have dropped totally below the radar since the humiliation in Northamptonshire last Saturday. Did he see today’s fixture as a chance for his mis-firing team to get back on track? Further proof that maybe he is not the right man to be in charge? Or a statement of future intent? We shall never know.

Anyway, there was a surprise return for Liam Hogan in the Shrimps’ defence today and an equally welcome return to Jake Cain in midfield. Taelor O’Kane started up-front but new signing Marcus Neil only warmed the bench.

One of the problems both teams would have to deal with today was the dreadful weather. With Storm Austen already having engulfed the whole of South Wales yesterday, the next one – Boleo – was flexing its muscles before, during and after the match. A club video of the pitch at Penydarren Park taken this morning showed rain still falling and standing water in places on the saturated 3G surface. So Hats Off, first of all, to the Ground Staff there, who clearly had their work cut out to make the pitch playable: if this had been a grass one, I can’t imagine the game even starting.

The game started with a minute’s silence to commemorate all those poor souls who were killed at Aberfan sixty years ago: the only thing you could hear was the incessant rain still falling heavily from the leaden skies above.

Morecambe had the first chance of the game when Joe Garner took a shot which was brilliantly blocked by Lloyd Humphries inside the second minute. Garner then forced the first corner of the game after six minutes which Jake Cain took from the Shrimps’ right. Cain then took a free-kick with ten minutes played which led to Matty Daly blasting a shot just over the angle of post and bar when he had the whole goal to aim at. Cameron Coxe, Elliot Newby and Daly then made brilliant progress into the Merthyr half only for our number ten to have a golden change to hit the back of the net from eight yards – but he completely missed the target once again.

Following a poor clearance by Australian goalkeeper Jaimie Cogman, Morecambe had another chance shortly afterwards which came to nothing. As the home team offered nothing going forward, Coxe then again missed a reasonable chance with a poor effort with eighteen minutes on the clock.

Merthyr won a free-kick about thirty yards out with twenty-three minutes played and it required a fine save from Miles Boney to tip Sam Pearson‘s resultant shot over the bar for a corner. At the other end, Taelor O’Kane was denied with almost half an hour played by a last-ditch clearance by Ben Margetson off the Town line after he had beaten Cogman with a low shot.

The visitors then had a let-off with 32 minutes played as the wind took hold of a cross by Will Spiers and took it beyond Myles only to bounce harmlessly off his far post. However, Morecambe took a deserved lead when Paul Lewis scored his third goal of the season from a tight angle as Daly had headed the ball forwards for him to run onto with 37 minutes on the clock to smash it between the home keeper’s legs.

Town had the next good chance of the game as the tricky Spiers’ cross from the right was walloped over the bar by Cole Jarvis in the fortieth minute. The Welsh team then called for a penalty in the forty-second minute but were rightly only awarded a free-kick. Humphries’ attempt from the edge of the penalty area was blocked by Garner for a corner which came to nothing.  In injury time, Boney again came to Morecambe’s rescue as he turned Pearson’s powerful strike away for another corner which was wasted by the hosts.

So the two teams trailed back to the Dressing Rooms through the wind and rain with Morecambe one goal to the good. Given the poor conditions, this had been quite a good game to watch but I think it’s fair to say that the Shrimps played the more effective football and deserved their narrow lead.

The hosts – with the swirling wind probably just about favouring them – started the second half on the front foot. But on the break, Coxe tried his luck after 52 minutes to provoke a good save from the home goalkeeper. The visitors then conceded another free-kick on the edge of their box after 57 minutes. It was played towards the far post where Cole Jarvis equalised with an emphatic header. They could have fallen behind as Cain was caught in possession and Jarvis turned provider for Pearson to take a shot from about fifteen yards out which Myles again did well to keep out down to his right.

The rain continued to bucket it down and the ball was not always running truly on the saturated surface by this stage of the match. Cain then almost found the head of Lewis with a long pass after 68 minutes as Paul was bearing down on goal and then tried his own luck with a shot which was blocked for a corner which he took himself. Hogan’s effort from this was blocked for a further corner which came back off the post as the Morecambe Skipper rose higher than anyone else to get his head to it.

The Shrimps then won a free-kick with 71 minutes played and after the ball pinged around in the home penalty area, O’Kane walloped it through a forest of legs to score on what was his first start of the season.

As the wind turned into a gale blowing into the faces of the visitors, a shot from all of 25 yards out by substitute Japhet Matondo bounced back off the away crossbar with Boney stranded with five minutes scheduled to play. Then the same player put the ball wide of the target with 88 minutes played after fellow-sub Isaac Buckley-Ricketts needlessly gave the ball away. Isaac redeemed himself deep in injury time though, when he went on a brilliant solo run on the right, beat his man, cut inside and slipped the ball home faultlessly past Cogman to secure all three points for the visitors.

So Morecambe bounced back after last Saturday’s disappointment, which is all anyone could hope from them. To win 3-1 on a 3G pitch in absolutely appalling conditions which got progressively worse the longer the game went on was just what the doctor ordered today. This was a well-deserved second league victory on the road and guaranteed an unassailable 100% record in Wales for the Shrimps this season. Clutching at straws? Why not? The win saw the Shrimps rise to eleventh place in the National League North. Merthyr, meanwhile, fell to eighteenth.

This is what Adam Lakeland had to say about it as Storm Boleo raged around him and – hopefully – a storm in a teacup as far his own self-esteem is concerned had been well and truly blown away:

“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. We found another level; found another gear; started being brave; played some great football and deservedly won the game. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for us but we’ve now got yet another monkey off our back. It’s an important win for us and it’s important how we build on it.”

Merthyr Town: 1 Jaimie Cogman; 5 Ben Margetson; 6 Lloyd Humphries (Y); 8 Jacob Maddox (9 Kane Simpson 84’); 10 Sam Pearson; 14 Jack Evans (C); 15 Noah Smerdon (17 Matthew Harris 89’); 19 Kieran Evans (11 Elis Watts 73’); 31 Lee Lucas (Y) (28 Japhet Matondo 78’); 35 Will Spiers (7 Morgan Wigley 73’); 40 Cole Jarvis.

Subs Not Used: 2 Callum Ryan-Phillips; 21 Jay Williams.

Morecambe: 13 Myles Boney; 2 Cameron Coxe; 4 Liam Hogan (C); 6 Lewis Baines; 9 Joe Garner (Y) (24 Luca Davis 89’); 10 Matty Daly; 11 Elliot Newby; 17 Paul Lewis; 18 Taelor O’Kane (14 Isaac Buckley-Ricketts 85’); 20 Jake Cain; 22 Ruben Curley (Y) (3 Ben Williams 85’).

Subs Not Used: 1 Joe Young; 7 Teddy Collis; 19 Ronnie Blois; 23 Marcus Neil.

Att: Unknown.