Appreciating The Punisher.

Darren Thomas, Nathan Craig and Jamie McDaid are names that I feature often in my Caernarfon Town match reports. The reasons for this are numerous, and include the fact that they create and score goals regularly, are amongst the club’s highest profile signings, and are local talents who would grace the top tier of Welsh football (despite what Neville Powell may think, when you consider the lack of opportunities Jamie had at Bangor recently). Every good team has players that stand out and can make things happen in matches and, in my opinion, these are the three that seem to have done it more than most for Caernarfon Town in recent months. All are excellent footballers and I would go so far as to say that all three would have been pushing for places in John King's FA Cup team in the mid-eighties. Imagine how good Darren would have been in a team consisting of Martindale, Higgins, Ray Woods, Steve Craven and Austin Salmon! What a thought!!

Of course, other players influence matches in different ways and, whilst the plaudits are usually handed out to playmakers and goalscorers, I believe the Canaries have a number of unsung heroes in the squad who have proved an essential part of another impressive campaign.

Before continuing with this theme I’m sure that some people may question why I’m calling this a successful campaign, as it seems that may not achieve our goal of winning the league. In fact, judging by one or two comments I have heard recently, I have felt obliged to check the league table for confirmation that the team is still in the top three! However, the fact is, we’re currently second placed in the Huws Gray Alliance League, behind an excellent Llandudno side that is enjoying a wonderfully consistent season.

Yes, we would all love for the Canaries to be top of the table, and no one more than Lee and the players, but to be behind just one team in the second tier of Welsh football at this stage of the season is something we could only dream of just two seasons ago, so I think it’s been a pretty successful campaign up to this point. Maybe people have become accustomed to unequivocal success in the last three seasons and expect nothing less than trophies and titles, but it intrigues me that many were quick to criticise the team in January when results were not the best, but very few have mentioned the unbeaten run we’re now on, which was extended to eight matches following the excellent victory over Conwy.

As always, the three points were secured by a lots of effort, great teamwork and a little magic and I was really pleased to see one of this season’s unsung heroes getting on the scoresheet as reward for another excellent performance. Carl Owen arrived at the Oval last summer with a good reputation and not a little air of expectancy amongst Cofi supporters. Looking at his career in the game, Carl represented four clubs during a decade long period in the Welsh Premier League, where he scored 64 goals in 213 appearances, 39 of which were as a substitute. Having started out with his home town club, Bangor, he found first team opportunities limited (now there’s a surprise!) and moved on to Porthmadog, where he enjoyed five excellent campaigns, before winning the WPL title with Rhyl in 2008/9. He spent two seasons at Airbus returning to Porthmadog and despite suffering a broken leg in 2011/12, Carl fought his way back into the first team, where he remained before he joined us at the Oval.

I imagine this has been a difficult season in some ways for Carl, who has found himself in and out of the team. Having said this, he has been involved throughout the season and made a substantial, if somewhat overlooked contribution to the team. I was really pleased when Lee told me that Carl had signed, as I knew of him, and had always liked him as a striker. A good leader of the line, he is strong in the air and, as his Welsh Premier League record proves, he also has an eye for goal.

Unfortunately for Carl, he did not start the season in goalscoring form and has found it hard to get into the starting line-up. It took him six matches to score his first goal for the club but the manager obviously has great faith in him as he has featured in twenty eight of the team’s thirty two matches thus far, finding the net on seven occasions.

However, these statistics do not paint an accurate picture of Carl’s contribution this season and I think it’s fair to say that he has been something of an unsung hero. Carl’s strength is in leading the front line, holding the ball up and bringing others into the game. By effectively doing this, Carl has given his team-mates, such as Darren, Jamie and certainly Steve Lewis recently, the space to make their mark in the game. Of course, I’m not saying that their good form is solely down to Carl, but he has certainly been a part in giving them the platform to affect matches. He has an impressive workrate and even found time to work on his fitness by doing some press-ups at Conwy (above left) whilst the defence were thwarting a home attack! 

It’s been great to see Carl named the supporters’ man of the match in the recent victories over Rhydymwyn and Conwy, in which he has scored three goals. His second against Rhydymwyn was probably his best for Caernarfon up to now, and showed the quality he possesses in front of goal. Judging by the photo I took of the celebrations after the net-finder (right), Nathan Craig also believed it was a special strike!

He seems to have struck up a good partnership with Steve Lewis and, judging from Steve’s comment on Twitter after the Conwy match, the ‘Beast’ agrees: “He's a quality player. He leads the line and allows me to drop in and get on the ball.”

There are only four more matches to play this season and I hope Carl manages to carry on his good form. I also hope he’s with us again next season, as I would love to see ‘The Punisher’ at the Oval for another campaign.   

** Incidentally, I should point out that I predicted Carl’s excellent performance in the Rhydymwyn match, as the poster (left) proves!