Merthyr Town extended their unbeaten record to three matches and their EvoStik Southern League Premier Division future looks assured.

They came from behind to beat St Ives 3-2 thanks to an injury time penalty and are 32 points ahead of bottom club Gosport Borough with only one club to be relegated.

The Martyrs have played the bottom three teams in their latest fixtures, winning two and drawing the other to stay well clear of the strugglers.

New signing Owain Jones, a former Swansea City youth player, marked his debut with an outstanding goal, while Kerry Morgan and Ian Traylor, from a late penalty, were the other scorers.

Swansea-born Jones began his career with the Swans and had a loan spell at Yeovil Town in 2017. He is an attacking player who has represented Wales at u-16, u-17, u-19 and u-21 levels.

Before kick-off there was a minutes silence in memory of supporter Clive Smith, who was a regular at the ground and a member of the club’s walking football team.

The Martyrs were also due to make a presentation to Ryan Prosser after he made his 300th appearance for Merthyr, but that ceremony was postponed because the centre-forward was ill.

It was a lacklustre match won by an injury time penalty.

Jones was among the substitutes and went on after 11 minutes when Corey Jenkins was injured and he struck with a spectacular goal, firing into the top far corner from outside the penalty area.

That came five minutes into his debut, but Danny Watson equalised from a penalty just before the half hour. Defender Scott Hancock was penalised for a foul on Peter Clark.

St Ives went ahead when Ben Baker netted after 63 minutes and substitute Kerry Morgan levelled the scores with eight minutes left. The former Swansea winger, who had replaced Harry Franklin, took possession from a Lee Price pass and drove home a beautifully taken goal.

Merthyr kept battling and snatched what was a fortunate victory when St Ives captain Charlie De’ath fouled Traylor, who got up to fire home the resulting penalty.

The Martyrs have moved up to 17th place in the Southern League table with 41 points from 35 games.

Merthyr Town: Oliver Davies, Adam Davies, Scott Tancock, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans (capt), Kyle Patten, Jarrad Wright, Corey Jenkins, Matthew Harris, Harry Franklin, Jaye Bowen, Ian Traylor. Subs: Miles John, Lee Price, Kerry Morgan, Owain Jones, Craig Reddy.

St Ives: Tim Trebes, Miles Smith, Jordan Tappold, Rogan McGeorge, Charlie De’ath (capt), Danny Kelly, Tom Knowles, Ollie Snaith, Peter Clark, Danny Watson, Ben Baker. Subs: Luke Warner-Eley, Phil Draycott, Declan Rogers, Dubi Ogbonna, Lloyd Groves.

Attendance 427.

EvoStik Southern League Premier Division

Merthyr Town remaining fixtures 2017-18

Saturday 24 v Royston Town A

March

Saturday 3 v Chesham United H

Saturday 10 v Dorchester Town A

Saturday 17 v St Neots Town H

Saturday 24 v Biggleswade Town A

Saturday 31 v Bishops Stortford A

April

Monday 2 v Frome Town H

Saturday 7 v King’s Lynn Town A

Saturday 14 v Kings Langley H

Saturday 21 v Banbury United A

Saturday 28 v Redditch United H

EvoStik Southern League Premier Division table  

#	Team	Pl	HW	HD	HL	AW	AD	AL	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1.	Hereford	31	12	1	2	11	4	1	23	5	3	79	26	53	74
2.	King’s Lynn Town	34	12	4	1	10	3	4	22	7	5	77	30	47	73
3.	Weymouth	35	12	3	3	10	3	4	22	6	7	78	39	39	72
4.	Kettering Town	32	13	2	1	7	5	4	20	7	5	79	37	42	67
5.	Chesham United	35	8	5	4	8	5	5	16	10	9	72	44	28	58
6.	Slough Town	28	11	3	3	6	3	2	17	6	5	71	33	38	57
7.	Royston Town	31	11	1	4	6	3	6	17	4	10	58	44	14	55
8.	Banbury United	35	5	5	7	10	4	4	15	9	11	70	47	23	54
9.	Tiverton Town	32	11	1	3	6	1	10	17	2	13	50	49	1	53
10.	Frome Town	32	6	3	8	9	2	4	15	5	12	64	60	4	50
11.	St Neots Town	34	8	4	6	5	7	4	13	11	10	60	61	-1	50
12.	Hitchin Town	33	9	4	4	5	3	8	14	7	12	51	49	2	49
13.	Stratford Town	33	7	6	4	5	3	8	12	9	12	51	53	-2	45
14.	Farnborough	35	8	2	8	5	3	9	13	5	17	65	84	-19	44
15.	Basingstoke Town	32	9	3	2	3	3	12	12	6	14	66	52	14	42
16.	Redditch United	33	8	7	2	3	2	11	11	9	13	56	51	5	42
17.	Merthyr Town	35	7	5	6	3	6	8	10	11	14	58	74	-16	41
18.	Biggleswade Town	33	6	5	4	5	2	11	11	7	15	37	40	-3	40
19.	Dorchester Town	35	9	1	7	1	7	10	10	8	17	52	69	-17	38
20.	Bishop’s Stortford	33	5	3	8	4	4	9	9	7	17	47	63	-16	34
21.	Kings Langley	34	3	7	7	2	4	11	5	11	18	42	72	-30	26
22.	St Ives Town	32	2	4	8	4	2	12	6	6	20	41	74	-33	24
23.	Dunstable Town	35	2	1	15	1	2	14	3	3	29	22	111	-89	12
24.	Gosport Borough	32	1	2	13	1	1	14	2	3	27	21	105	-84	9