Despite being surrounded by three Hayes & Yeading players, Callum Ryan-Phillips was able to leap the highest and out jump everyone in the 58thminute to score a goal that any established centre forward would have been proud to claim. It resulted from Alex John’s accurate delivery of a corner kick on the right hand side which still provided Ryan-Phillips with work to be done, but he rose majestically and precisely planted his firm header into the top corner that was so well placed it was out of reach of the Hayes & Yeading goalkeeper Jacob Adams.

This eventually gave the Martyrs what may prove to be a crucial point, that their second half performance fully justified.

With only three outfield players on the substitutes bench disaster struck as early as the ninth minute when Kieran Evans landed awkwardly and turned his ankle to be replaced by Liam Angel. This created an enforced tactical change with Matthew Harris moving into a midfield role.

The visitors went ahead just eight minute later with a freak own goal, when a diving save was punched by Jaimie Cogman only to unfortunately strike Nick Rhodes and rebound into the empty goal. The closest that the Martyrs came to equalising before the interval came in the 43rdminute when a sharp spin and volley on the turn by Ricardo Rees from just inside the penalty area, was saved low to his left by Adams.

In the early stages of the second half Adams was booked by the referee for persistently wasting time, shortly afterwards Cogman made a crucial save from a close range effort which helped to keep the Martyrs in contention, just minutes before Ryan-Phillips equalised.

The visitors struck the upright with a great effort from Ronan Silva in the 70thminute, while referee Adam Wilson waved away appeals from the Merthyr players for a penalty when Lewys Twamley went down in the box. Cogman made another finger tip save from a long range effort as the game ended in a mirror image of the away result between the two sides in October.