Merthyr Town 1, Walton Casuals 2

There were wild celebrations at Merthyr Town after the final EvoStik Southern League match of the season.

More than 350 spectators watched the Martyrs slip up at their MetCoaches Community Stadium home – and that sent Casuals players, management and fans into raptures.

The Surrey club won their last two fixtures of the season and jumped out of the bottom three, condemning Basingstoke to relegation along with Frome and Staines.

Jay Foulston scored for Merthyr, who finish in mid-table after a season in which they threatened to challenge for the play-offs but were unable to back up their intent.

What a day!

The last two games have yielded six points which have kept us up and the performances have been superb. The players have all put everything on the line and it’s paid off.

A brilliant job from @AnthonyGale1983 and @Justinskinner1 as well from the sideline 💪🦌

— Walton Casuals FC (@WaltonCasualsFC) April 27, 2019

Erratic home form plays a major part in Merthyr’s failure to launch a meaningful play-offs challenge during 2018-19. They have dropped 34 points on their own pitch, which has been a major disappointment.

Manager Gavin Williams, though, has struggled through financial problems and his squad was hit hard by injuries.

Centre-forward Ryan Prosser and Owain Jones both hit the Casuals’ bar before the visitors scored their first with Tommy Brewer heading in after 17 minutes.

Walton made it 2-0 when James Ewington scored after a long, high ball was caught in the wind and cause Merthyr problems. Ewington rounded the goalkeeper and scored after 37 minutes.

Substitute Jarrad Wright headed over from a Kerry Morgan corner, while Foulston pulled a goal back three minutes into injury time.

Weymouth won 3-0 at home against Farnborough to win the Premier title and earn automatic promotion, while Taunton, Metropolitan Police, Salisbury and Poole are in the play-offs.

Basingstoke’s 2-1 home defeat against Taunton sent them crashing out of the Southern League top flight

Merthyr Town FC: Lewis Webb, Corey Jenkins (Tom Meechan), Jay Foulston, Matthew Harris (Jarrad Wright), Adam Davies, Jamie Veale, Ashley Evans (capt), Kieron Lewis, Ian Traylor, Ryan Prissier, Owain Jones (Kerry Morgan), Substitutes: Kyle Patten, Ben Swallow.

EVO-STIK LEAGUE SOUTH PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH – 2018/2019

	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	-Pts	Pts
	Weymouth	42	25	11	6	96	51	45	–	86
	Taunton Town	42	26	7	9	89	56	33	–	85
	Metropolitan Police	42	22	12	8	91	64	27	–	78
	Salisbury	42	22	11	9	97	69	28	–	77
	Poole Town	42	20	10	12	84	59	25	–	70
	Kings Langley	42	21	6	15	65	61	4	–	69
	Harrow Borough	42	18	9	15	97	77	20	–	63
	Hartley Wintney	42	17	12	13	82	70	12	–	63
	Farnborough	42	18	8	16	72	72	0	–	62
	Chesham United	42	15	14	13	54	55	-1	–	59
	Swindon Supermarine	42	16	10	16	70	59	11	–	58
	Beaconsfield Town	42	15	13	14	65	65	0	–	58
	Merthyr Town	42	15	9	18	68	67	1	–	54
	Wimborne Town	42	15	7	20	72	75	-3	–	52
	Dorchester Town	42	14	10	18	67	75	-8	–	52
	Hendon	42	14	10	18	64	74	-10	–	52
	Walton Casuals	42	14	9	19	69	78	-9	–	51
	Tiverton Town	42	13	12	17	65	75	-10	–	51
	Gosport Borough	42	15	5	22	63	70	-7	–	50
	Basingstoke Town	42	14	7	21	81	82	-1	–	49
	Frome Town	42	11	4	27	45	74	-29	–	37
	Staines Town	42	4	–	38	40	168	-128	–	12