MERTHYR Town are Steve Riley’s hot tips for the Evo-Stik Southern One South & West title.

The Martyrs were simply too strong for Riley’s AFC Totton side on Saturday, romping to a 4-0 victory on the synthetic surface at Penydarren Park.

Merthyr hit the woodwork twice before Kerry Morgan fired them into a 22nd-minute lead.

That should have prompted a response from Totton, but they got swallowed up in the next ten minutes as ex-Saint Kayne McLaggon squared for Ian Traylor to strike from close range and then Traylor netted again from an assist by Guillem Bauza, who played alongside Fernando Torres at youth level for Spain.

Merthyr’s fourth – Jarrad Wright’s 59th-minute header from a corner – looked to have been cleared in the nick of time by Stags’ Jamie Blackburn, but was adjudged to have crossed the line.

“We were a bit unlucky with the fourth goal, but we’ve been beaten by a quality side today with players who’ve played at a higher level,” said Riley.

“For me, Merthyr are the best side in the league.

“They’ve got quality all round the park, their movement’s fantastic and they play their pitch really well.

“They were better than us in every department.”

While Riley accepts there was only so much Totton’s inexperienced, young outfit could to do contend with Merthyr’s might, he would like to have seen a better response to Morgan’s opener.

“We were OK for 20 minutes, but then Merthyr scored and we didn’t deal with their threat for a ten-minute period,” he said.

“We regrouped at half-time and lost the second half 1-0, but we didn’t threaten enough going forward.

“Sometimes, though, you have to hold your hands up and admit you were beaten by a better side.

“For us to have got a result today, every one of our players would have to have been a ten-out-of-ten and we’d have needed some luck as well. That’s how strong Merthyr are.

“They’re just a good, good, powerful side – and well done to them.

“People say it can be a bit hostile there, but we found Merthyr to be a very friendly club with a good community spirit and we all wore ‘kick racism out of football’ T-shirts before the game.”

Totton, eighth, host fifth-placed Larkhall Athletic in the league on Tuesday before Hereford United come calling in the FA Trophy on Saturday.