“I Will Love It If We Beat Them…”
Successive victories over Denbigh, Conwy and Flint had given us a boost following a tough start to the season and the team seemed to be improving with each match. However, one thing that had concerned me at Flint was the small squad Iwan had at his disposal.
In one of the pieces we put on the club’s website during the summer months the manager made it clear that he planned on having a compact squad that would be small on numbers but hopefully big on talent. Of course, the problem with this is that we’d be reliant on enjoying an impossibly injury-free season and, whilst I know Iwan would have already been thinking of ways around this, and having both himself and Gareth Parry available to play would obviously be a big help, I’m not sure he, or anyone could have anticipated the spate of injuries we suffered in the opening weeks. As a result, just twelve players were available for selection at Flint and this was reduced further when Kevin Roberts left the field at Cae y Castell.
All this made for less than ideal preparation for our Word Cup tie at Bangor City. Knowing that we were struggling for players on this of all nights was worrying enough but the fact that the Citizens had comfortably defeated Airbus UK just four days earlier added to a slight dampening of my enthusiasm for the match. This was not a lack of belief on my part in the management and players, rather that City might prove a better side than I had believed them to be and obviously we wanted us to face them with a full squad. Despite our lack of numbers however, I still felt we had a chance of winning.
“I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.”
It goes without saying that I had been looking forward immensely to the match and was desperate for the side to triumph. Whilst driving to the ground I kept thinking of that famous Kevin Keegan quote from 1996 when he was manager of Newcastle and his side were fighting for the Premier League title with Manchester United: “I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.” Granted, I didn’t voice this in front of an audience of millions like Keegan did, but he could not have meant it any more than I did.
I have good memories of watching matches at Farrar Road as a younger when they were doing well in the Alliance Premier League and whilst they have in the past been one of the biggest clubs in Wales I think it’s fair to say they’ve been going through a difficult time recently, both on and off the pitch.
There has always been a great rivalry between the two clubs and the Citizens have usually had the upper hand over the Canaries in the past few years. However, I feel we have closed the wide gap that once prevailed and as a club we are much more representative of the local area we are part of. Put it like this, there was only one set of players speaking in Welsh at Nantporth on the night and they didn’t play in blue!
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| Luckily for the Security firm, Kevin Roberts turned the other way.... |
I arrived at the Ground early and the first thing I saw filled me with dread. It wasn’t the sight of the twenty two strong security team standing in the car park that worried me but the fact that Town midfielder Kevin Roberts was standing nearby, and was not looking best pleased. Now I don’t particularly like The Kaiser Chiefs but their song ‘I Predict a Riot’ instantly sprung to mind. Thankfully for the security team, Kevin was not about to put them to bed with a medley of his best tackles and I soon learned that his obvious frown was due to being ruled out of the match through injury.
Panic over and once inside the ground I bumped into former Town assisting manager Dave Cavanagh who now works with one of Bangor’s Academy sides. Cav is always good for a laugh and he shared one or two great stories about players at some of his former clubs that I could not possibly share on here! But if he should ever decide to write a book, I’ll be one of the first in line to buy it!
The pitch itself looked magnificent, and I was also impressed by the Main Stand, which is bigger than I had realised during a previous visit to the ground. I have heard some people say that the venue is yet another example of the modern identikit grounds that are being built by non-professional clubs and whilst it may lack the character of Farrar Road, it is nevertheless a great looking venue.
There’s no need for me to go over the match in detail but what I can say is that Caernarfon deserved the victory. Despite one or two comments on Twitter (from the vicinity of Anglesey per chance?) stating otherwise, we were the better side on the night. The Canaries had the best opportunities in front of goal and looked fitter than the home side, finishing stronger in both halves. Iwan has spoken about the importance of high fitness levels and it was obvious to me that, despite our small squad, and the introduction of no substitutes, the Canaries looked the sharper outfit at the final whistle. It spoke volumes about the fitness work Iwan and his staff carried out with the players during the summer and also suggests that training facilities are at least just as good in this area as they are up the Coast!
It was a satisfying night to be a Caernarfon supporter, and the reaction at the final whistle from the Cofi supporters was brilliant. There are a few clips doing the rounds on youtube of the celebrations between the team and players immediately after the match and they’re worth seeing if you catch them.
As this is a personal blog I think it’s fair to share my own thoughts on the security policy at the match. In the days leading up to the tie, Bangor City FC issued a statement that read thus: ‘The area for Caernarfon Town fans will be one hundred seats in the main stand, with a managed sterile area between both sets of fans. Standing area for Caernarfon Town fans will be from the end of the main stand to the corner flag near the turnstiles.’
The general consensus amongst Caernarfon followers beforehand was that there could be anything up to five hundred Cofis in attendance and so I could not have been alone in thinking the allocated area would probably not be sufficient. This became obvious a few minutes before kick off when the crowd in the standing area was three or four people deep, meaning that children and many adults could not see the match. To be fair, Bangor did open a second section in the main stand for visiting supporters at half time but this hardly helped those who had to remain standing and could still not see the action.
I can see why Bangor City implemented a security policy. We all know what happened during the Challenge Cup final between the sides at the same venue two seasons ago and I think it was understandable that they erred on the side of caution this time around. However, I always felt that the allocated space was never going to be sufficient and it would have been much better for the whole area at one end of the pitch to also have been allocated to Caernarfon supporters, or at least to have been made available once it became obvious that people could not see the match. This would have meant everyone could have seen the action whilst also keeping the segregation intact.
I would not go so far as to say the situation invoked memories of those dark days in the eighties when away supporters were forced into ‘pens’ at grounds, but with so many security personnel on hand I think the problem could have been easily rectified. I spoke with one of those security officers later and he told me, not surprisingly, that Town supporters had been impeccably behaved and I hope this message was relayed to Bangor City FC so that every Caernarfon supporter can get to see the game next time we play there. After all, if you pay £8 as an adult and £6 as a child to get into the ground you are entitled to see the match.
On a more positive note, I can think of many highlights to savour from the evening:
Nathan Craig and Jay Gibbs ruling the roost in midfield and showing they can get stuck in whenever they feel the need to.
Seeing our old Gaffer, Lee Dixon, in the Main Stand exchanging some mild banter with the Caernarfon Town committee.
The goal, and Iwan’s celebrations when Jamie scored.
The Cofi Army and their celebrations at the final whistle.
Special mention should also be made of one or two decent chants from the Cofi Army, including a song about Jamie Breese and a specially adapted version of the old Automatic song “What’s that Coming Over the Hill.” Priceless.
I could go on and mention a few other things that made me smile on the night but if you’re a Caernarfon Town supporter you’ll know exactly what they are!
Whilst some will say it was nothing more than a victory against a side from a higher league, I would argue that it was more than that, and on more than one level. The committee at Caernarfon Town has always tried its best to do things the right way, and to try and create a community club that the Town’s people can be proud of. We have also tried our best to give local players the opportunity to play for the club. It may not always seem like but as a member of that committee I know it’s true. Most of our team at Nantporth were locally based players who train in this area and the performance just goes to show that you don’t have to fill your squad with players from up the Coast to have a decent team.
I've come to the conclusion that Kevin Keegan was right all those years ago and whilst his side could not quite manage to put one over their great rivals at the time I am pleased to say that the team I follow was more than up to the task.
It was a memorable night and I loved it!
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