James Bell, former Cofis and 'The Deluded One'.

Celebrating Jamie's winner against Bala.

No trophies have been handed out to anyone and we’re just two months into the season, but the recent six day period during which the Canaries won three big matches was pretty exciting stuff, and may hopefully prove to be a sign of things to come.

The first of those fixtures, the Word Cup tie against Bala Town, was the highlight of the season thus far for me, and I thought the team was excellent on the night. The visitors arrived at the Oval in good form, and as joint leaders of the Welsh Premier League. If I’m being totally honest I was just hoping the team would be competitive and could maybe sneak a win but felt that Bala were favourites to get through. If every football supporter in the country relied solely on coverage of the beautiful game offered by BBC Wales and S4C, we could all be forgiven for thinking that the WPL is the only decent form of the game on offer in Wales and that there is a huge gap between it and the league immediately below. Well, Caernarfon Town have showed by defeating full strength Bangor City and Bala sides that the gap may not be that big after all.

James Bell was my Man of the Match against Bala.

Where Caernarfon had dug deep to overcome Bangor, showing resilience and dogged determination to grind out a famous win, the victory over Bala was achieved with the free flowing football that Iwan Williams is so passionate about and, if anything, the one goal margin flattered the visitors.

I feared the worst after the opening twenty minutes as Town struggled to contain the Lakesiders and when we went behind early on it seemed that we might have been in for a long night. However, I noted that the Bala players hardly celebrated their goal and, looking back now, it might have been that Steve O’Shaughnessy’s side may have underestimated the Cofis and expected to chalk up a comfortable win. As odd as it may sound, the opening goal seemed to have a more positive effect on Caernarfon than Bala as Iwan urged his side to find an immediate equaliser and the players responded well.

From the moment Rob Jones equalised, Town dominated the match and at times Bala could not get anywhere near the ball. I must confess to being a big supporter of playing two strikers up front and  would like to see Caernarfon playing with two frontmen but the way Iwan set up his team against Bala worked perfectly on the night, with Ellis Healing and Jamie McDaid providing plenty of support for Jamie Breese. The Cofis were very impressive, fully deserving of the victory and I don’t think Bala could have complained if the winning margin had been wider. Rob Jones and Paul Pritchard were named the supporters joint man of the match but for me it was James Bell. James suffered a frustrating injury last season and was out of action for a long period but has recently signed a contract at the club so is obviously rated by the manager. He was superb on the night and I’m sure we’re going to see him develop into an excellent midfielder.

A memorable evening at the Oval and it was great to see the positive reaction on social media as the result filtered through. I can only hope the message got through to the powers that be at BBC Wales and S4C!

Iwan looking on at Eithin Duon. 

The tables were turned three days later when it was Caernarfon’s turn to play the role of favourites against lower league opposition in a cup tie. The match at Llanrug was always going to be a difficult one and I found it a rather peculiar affair. With all due respect to the hosts, I thought Caernarfon were very comfortable in the first half and had it not been for the heroics of ‘Rug goalkeeper Dylan Roberts, we would have been three or four goals ahead at the break.  I don’t know what was said in the home dressing room at half time but whatever it was seemed to work as Llanrug were a different team in the second period and they caused all sorts of problems for Caernarfon’s defence. Despite seeing the home side going ahead courtesy of goals by former Town players Kevin Lloyd and Neil Thomas, I always felt the Cofis would get back into the game and so it proved when Jamie McDaid did well to equalise late on.

Once the match went into extra time I thought that Caernarfon were in pole position and it was brilliant that Clive Williams got the all-important goal. As all Town supporters know, Clive missed most of last season through injury and having him back in the squad this term is like having a new player at the Oval. And what a player he is! When Lee Dixon signed him from Bangor I knew very little of Clive but everyone I spoke with told me he was some player, and they were right. Following Saturday’s match, Jay Gibbs (justjay@jaygibbs8) got it spot on when he tweeted ‘if Clive Williams doesn’t get the man of the match today I don’t think he ever will’.

Clive Williams (left) was excellent against  Llanrug.

Before moving on, I have to mention Neil Thomas and Kevin Lloyd, both of whom were members of Town’s memorable 2012/13 treble winning team, and showed during the match that they had lost none of their goalscoring instincts.

Kevin has always been seen as a bit of a maverick but I have always found him to be a really good sort and always good for a laugh and one thing that always shines through is that he’s a true Caernarfon Town supporter and is not afraid to show it. I haven’t seen him since the match but when I do will ask him how he felt after scoring against ‘his’ team!

Neil Thomas enjoyed just one season at the Oval but was a special one it was, as he proved a massive influence on the team as captain, and finished the term as the club’s top scorer. I think some people see him as a bit of a pantomime villain and certainly Neil is always happy to partake in some banter with supporters but he has been a top player in the Welsh game and still is a very good striker. He was known as ‘the fox in the box’ during his time with the Canaries due to his ability to find the net and he proved last week that he still has an eye for goal.

There was no chance of a breather for the team after two hard, and high profile matches and a trip to Porthmadog followed three days later as Town returned to league action.

On a personal level I was pleased that my usual travelling mate, Gwyn, was back in action and so it was great to be chauffeur driven to the Traeth. I was pleased to see him, but not so much with his declaration that heavy rain was forecast at seven o’clock, just half an hour before kick off. Although there had been no sign of rain all day and indeed not even on the way to Port, I’m afraid the heavens opened as predicted and continued for the next two and a half hours!

Cofis past and present, Cai Jones and Gareth Edwards

The first thing I noticed upon walking through the turnstiles was how good the ground looked. It goes without saying that the pitch seemed as impressive as always but the new hard standing area from the clubhouse and in front and of the three stands was excellent and has improved the ground immensely. Cup of tea in hand, we both headed for shelter and ended up in a small covered standing area between the two main stands. Little did I know then that I would soon be joined by a football genius who stood in front of me just as the match kicked off. Listening to this elderly gentleman of I assume a Porthmadog persuasion (seeing as he was criticising just the one team!), he obviously felt he knew all about the game and indeed I kept asking myself why this ‘Amateur Morinho’ was not sitting in the home dugout with Craig Papirnyk, where his talents and knowledge would be best served? Any sense of credibility he may have had vanished around the seven minute mark when he stated, quite plainly, that Town’s left-back could not kick the ball and was a definite weak link. Caernarfon’s left back on the night was Nathan Craig, which probably suggests that, far from being the local ‘Special One’, the opinionated gentleman might be more of a ‘deluded one’. To be fair though he may have known we were Caernarfon supporters?

Jamie Breese celebrating his winner against Port
(he's there somewhere!)

The match itself was a thriller and, despite the awful weather, the teams put on a good show. We seem to come across former Town players regularly these days and it was the turn of Cai Jones to face his former teammates this time although I’m pleased to say that Cai did not manage to replicate Neil and Kevin’s heroics for Llanrug just days earlier and failed to find the net.

Toby Jones.

Caernarfon were second best in the first half but responded superbly after the break to overturn a one goal deficit and gain another important victory on the road. Iwan decided to go a bit more direct in the second period, and Danny Brookwell and Jay Gibbs gave the side more penetration, with Jamie Breese again doing what good strikers do, making the most of his chances to find the net with two good finishes. 

It was a good win for the Cofis and the team showed plenty of heart and character to find a way to win against a very good Port side. On the way home I wondered what was going through the mind of ‘the Deluded One’?

I’ll finish this blog by wishing Toby Jones the best of luck with Conwy Borough. I was delighted when he signed for the Canaries during the summer because he is undoubtedly a quality footballer but for whatever reason things just did not work out for him at the Oval. It will be interesting to see whether or not Iwan will bring in another player to replace him as he may feel that the squad is already strong enough. We’ll find out soon enough….