Cofis 'Refuse To Lose'!

When the season’s fixtures were announced over the Summer, I’m sure I was not alone in thinking the Canaries had been handed a tough opener. The Cymru Alliance is a tough league and there are no easy matches, but I can certainly think of one or two more appealing openers than having to travel to Holywell to face the reigning Welsh Alliance League Champions.

Their manager John Haseldin has been at the club for a number of years and has been successful in turning things around for the Wellmen. He has always had a good side there and, having seen them enjoy a remarkable promotion winning season last time around, I think everyone connected to Caernarfon Town would have expected a difficult challenge on Saturday. And this is certainly what the team got!  

This was my first visit to Halkyn Road since that infamous evening in March 2013, which saw firecrackers, sending offs, a rather disjointed performance from an inexperienced referee and his  linesman and, ultimately, defeat for the Canaries, who were so near at the time to clinching the league title and promotion. It was such an odd and disappointing night that I felt it warranted a chapter in my ‘Oval Ways’ book, which I titled ‘The Battle of Halkyn Road’. A tad over the top maybe, but it conveys how I feel about the experience. 

Thankfully, Saturday was nowhere near as dramatic but one thing is for sure, the football on display  was every bit as good, and exciting, as had been expected. 

Welcome to Halkyn Road.

The first thing I noticed when walking through the old entrance is that the club has built a fence to properly enclose the pitch and added a new turnstile block. It is certainly a massive improvement from the old entrance and, just to finish the job off properly, there was even a Welsh speaker operating the turnstile itself. Surprising, but impressive! Incidentally, I took a quick look at the old turnstile near the main stand and was pleased to see that, although closed on the day, it is still there, and still proudly sports the club’s motto ‘Refuse To Lose’.

Another addition to the ground from three seasons ago was a very smart looking clubhouse, which my mate Bob told me serves 

My son Iwan at the new turnstile block. 

a decent pint of Worthingtons. I’ll take his word for that but my son  Iwan and I can certainly vouch for the cheeseburgers they serve! Someone told me at the match that Holywell paid for the clubhouse with money they received from their Welsh Cup run two season ago and whilst I have no idea as to how accurate this is, I do know that it’s been an excellent addition to Halkyn Road.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of attending your teams first match of the season. The hopes, fears and a nervous tension are unique to the opening day of a new campaign and Saturday was no different. In fact, the feeling was probably more intense this year as Caernarfon are under a new manager and, although the team has done well in pre-season, there are a number of new faces in the squad, and so they’re all still gelling as a team.

However, as we travelled up the A55 the mood amongst us was one of quiet confidence that the team could get a positive result and, after a very good first half performance, I felt we could go on to  win the match. I’m sure there’s a cliché about former strikers finding the net against their old sides and the Cofi Army must have been thinking along these lines when they saw that former Town striker Steve Lewis was in Haseldin’s starting line-up. ‘The Beast’ received some criticism when he arrived at the Oval last season, mainly because he did not look in the best of condition, fitness-wise, but he proved before the end of the term that he has plenty to offer as a frontman, and is a real handful for any defence.    

Holywell started well but the Canaries had improved after a slow start and were the dominant force for the majority of the half. Michael Platt made a number of good saves during the first forty five to keep the Wellmen level, and they could also thank the linesman for spotting an infringement in the box when Nathan Craig put the ball in the net in the eight minute. I’m not sure what he actually saw, but, judging from my photo, assume it was an offside verdict against Jamie Breese?

Nathan found the net with this effort, but his 'goal' was disallowed for an infringement.  

The Oval Ways Man of the Match was 'Pritch'.

To be fair to Holywell, they were excellent in the second period and created a number of decent opportunities, although nothing special enough to beat Town’s number one, and my man of the match, Paul Pritchard. I’ve been saying for the past three years that ‘Pritch’ is the best keeper outside the Welsh Premier League and probably on a par with the best in the top tier too. He was in inspiring form all afternoon and, together with an impressive never say die attitude from the whole team, Town came away from the match with a deserved point.

I’ve read a few messages on Social Media from people of a Holywell Town persuasion who feel their team deserved to win but I would point out that the Canaries were much the better side in the first period and could have been two or three goals ahead at half time. Platt also made a superb save to stop Toby Jones scoring a late winner, whilst Jay Gibbs too had a decent opportunity for the Cofis before the final whistle. Taking the match as a whole, I’m sure both managers felt their team could have won, but I believe the draw was a fair result.

Toby Jones' late effort is pushed wide by home
Holywell stopper Michael Platt

It’s impossible to make any predictions after the first match of the season but things that I learnt on Saturday were that Caernarfon can play fast, decisive football in patches (as showed in the first period, during which Jamie McDaid was outstanding) and. despite Hollywell’s motto, they are not the only team to ‘Refuse To Lose, as the Cofis showed in the second half.

Finally, whilst pre-season friendlies serve a purpose and help teams prepare for the new term, Saturday’s thriller at Halkyn Road showed that the real thing is finally back. I can’t wait for the next instalment this Saturday as Town host Prestatyn and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be another cracker!

Come on the Town!