Merthyr Town suffered a damaging EvoStik Southern League defeat against Hendon at the MetCoaches Stadium.
The Martyrs are just outside the Premier Division play-off positions, but went down 2-0 against the visiting Greens, who recorded their first win in two and a half months.
Goalkeeper Danny Boness rescued his team with a series of excellent first half saves before Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick opened the scoring from a 40th minute penalty.
Substitute Connor Calcutt netted his sixth goal of the season with a downward header on 70 minutes and Hendon held on.
The visitors had Luke TIngey sent off for a second bookable offence soon after, but the visitors held out against strong home pressure to end a run of 13 matches without a win in all competitions.
https://twitter.com/MTFCOnTerraces/status/1096819060883501058
Merthyr substitute Kieran Lewis fired into the Hendon net, but his effort was disallowed for offside.
Ian Traylor went close after good work by Ashley Evans and Ben Swallow with Boness making a save low down.
Ryan Prosser’s volleys was saved at full stretch and Veale went close when his low shot was turned away.
Merthyr Town: Lewis Webb, Connor Young (Owain Jones 70), Jarrad Wright, Matthew Harris, Adam Davies, Jamie Veale (Kieran Lewis 70), Ashley Evans, Lee Lucas, Ben Swallow (Tom Meechan 77), Ryan Prosser, Ian Traylor. Subs not used: Tom Meechan, Craig Reddy, Jay Foulston.
Merthyr Town have 13 League fixtures left, six of those at home.
Updated: Remaining Merthyr Town FC fixtures
February
Saturday 23 v Weymouth A
March
Saturday 2 v Kings Langley A
Saturday 9 v Harrow Borough H
Tuesday 12 v Dorchester Town H
Saturday 16 v Poole Town A
Tuesday 19 v Beaconsfield Town A
Saturday 23 v Staines Town H
Saturday 30 v Metropolitan Police A
April
Saturday 6 Hartley Wintney H
Saturday 13 v Gosport Borough A
Saturday 20 v Farnborough H
Monday 22 v Taunton Town A
Saturday 27 v Walton Casuals H
LEAGUE TABLE: EVO-STIK LEAGUE SOUTH PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH – 2018/2019
| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | -Pts | Pts | |
 |
Taunton Town | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 71 | 40 | 31 | – | 62 |
 |
Weymouth | 29 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 68 | 44 | 24 | – | 56 |
 |
Salisbury | 29 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 70 | 47 | 23 | – | 56 |
 |
Metropolitan Police | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 67 | 47 | 20 | – | 54 |
 |
Poole Town | 31 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 63 | 40 | 23 | – | 51 |
 |
Harrow Borough | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 72 | 64 | 8 | – | 45 |
 |
Merthyr Town | 29 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 43 | 4 | – | 45 |
 |
Farnborough | 29 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 53 | 53 | 0 | – | 44 |
 |
Kings Langley | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 47 | 49 | -2 | – | 44 |
 |
Wimborne Town | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 61 | 56 | 5 | – | 41 |
 |
Swindon Supermarine | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 56 | 49 | 7 | – | 40 |
 |
Beaconsfield Town | 29 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 46 | 4 | – | 40 |
 |
Basingstoke Town | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 59 | 58 | 1 | – | 38 |
 |
Hendon | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 52 | -3 | – | 38 |
 |
Dorchester Town | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 42 | 56 | -14 | – | 37 |
 |
Gosport Borough | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 46 | 58 | -12 | – | 35 |
 |
Hartley Wintney | 28 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 56 | -5 | – | 34 |
 |
Tiverton Town | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 52 | -6 | – | 33 |
 |
Walton Casuals | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 48 | 56 | -8 | – | 33 |
 |
Chesham United | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 29 | 47 | -18 | – | 33 |
 |
Frome Town | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 37 | 53 | -16 | – | 30 |
 |
Staines Town | 30 | 3 | – | 27 | 33 | 99 | -66 | – | 9 |