The last regular blog I wrote was posted a few days
after Caernarfon Town’s emphatic home victory over Mold, in which Jamie Breese
found the net four times. Since then, I have posted an exclusive interview with
Jamie, which has proved the most popular item I’ve published on the blog thus
far, with nearly eight hundred ‘hits’, whilst the team has continued its
winning ways by gaining two more
important league victories, achieved in very different, but equally
impressive ways.
Conwy Borough were first to test the Cofis and, to be perfectly
honest, it proved rather more
comfortable than I had expected. Although the Tangerines have been
firmly established in the bottom half of the table for most of the season, they
had defeated Porthmadog and Caersws in recent weeks, whilst only narrowly
losing to Cefn Druids, Gresford and Flint, all three of whom are amongst the
league’s stronger sides, and so they were expected to prove tough opposition.
 |
| Jay Gibbs. |
It didn’t quite work out that way on the day as the Cofis set about
their task from the first kick and won
the match in the first half, during which they scored three times without
reply. Conwy improved immensely after the break but Caernarfon looked solid at
the back, and managed to add another two goals before the final whistle. Danny
Brookwell was named the supporters’ man of the match and I would certainly
agree that he was excellent, but Town’s stand-out performer for me was Jay
Gibbs, who ran the show from midfield, being supported well by Rob Jones and
Nathan Craig. I have always rated Jay as a quality footballer and believe that,
during the past four or five weeks, he’s been playing his best football in a
Caernarfon Town shirt. His performance in the first half at Y Morfa was
sensational and I totally agree with the supporter who told me at half time
that ‘Gibbs played like a magician in that half!” I’m really pleased that Jay
is playing so well because there have been suggestions in the past, from those
outside Caernarfon Town FC, that he can be a bit temperamental but I see him
more as a winner, plain and simple. He’s not slow at showing his frustrations
on the field and that’s one of the things I like about him. He’s now finding
the perfect balance in his game and must be amongst the best midfielders
outside the Welsh Premier League. Hopefully, he can soon show everyone that he
can be just as good in the top tier!
 |
| The team meant business from the off at Conwy. |
I always enjoy visiting Conwy’s home and must say that Y Morfa looked
in fine fettle. Whilst I can’t comment on the pitch itself, the surroundings
seemed to have improved since last season. I’m not sure if they’ve carried out
much work there in the past year but the stadium looked tidier and, of course,
they have an excellent clubhouse inside the ground itself, which I’m sure came
in handy for the travelling Cofis! Talking of the Cofi Army, a fair number of
Town supporters made the short trip up the A55 for the match, and I’m sure it
must make a difference to the players when they see such great backing from the
terraces.
 |
| Impressive support for the Cofis at Y Morfa. |
The Tangerines were captained by former Caernarfon player Leigh Craven
and he had an impressive game, although I was disappointed that another former
Town player, Moses Barnett, was injured and took no part in the action. I was
pleased, however, to have been able to catch a few words with both before the
match and they were just as friendly as ever.
Before moving on, I really must mention that, in addition to seeing
the team play so well, I was also able to take home a late contender for the most
ridiculous comment of the season. Trying to show his disgust at one of the
referee’s decisions, the youngest looking player on the pitch, playing for the
hosts, asked the referee, in no uncertain terms, how old he was! The point he
was trying to make is that the man in the middle looked quite young, but the
player himself was obviously oblivious to the fact he that he himself would
struggle to get into a ‘12’ certificate film in the cinema. His badly chosen
barb was met by a blank from the ref and howls of laughter from the stands! And
well deserved it was too!
 |
| 'Pritch', the Cofis Number One. |
The only downside of the day was seeing Paul Pritchard lying on the floor in agony
after challenging for the ball. ‘The Cat’ is the best goalkeeper in the league
in my opinion and I feared the worst when I saw Nathan Craig putting on the
spare keeper’s shirt. The match was pretty much over at that point and so I
couldn’t see a way back for Conwy but, thinking of the weeks ahead and the
enormous prize at stake at the end of the season, it would not be an ideal
scenario to lose our first choice keeper for the run-in. Thankfully, Paul
managed to continue until the end of the match and seemed back to normal for
our visit to Gresford on Saturday.
Of course, Paul’s well-being was typically put to one side by Caernarfon’s
chairman in Gresford on Saturday when Arfon wasted no time in castigating the
keeper for daring to show he had got hurt! Thankfully, I can’t remember exactly
what he told Pritch but it would have been along the lines of ‘that kind of
thing never happened when I used to play”. In all seriousness though, it was
good to see our number one had made a full recovery.
Where the Canaries had won the match in Conwy in great style, the
encounter with Gresford was a very different affair. The Colliers had been on a
great run of form in recent weeks, winning nine of their last twelve fixtures,
including their last six matches. It was never going to be a ‘gimme’ for the
Cofis and so it proved, as they were made to dig deep for victory.
 |
| Not the best of conditions at Gresford.... |
I criticised Gresford for showing little attacking intent during their
visit to the Oval earlier this season and, although Town manager Iwan Williams
has recently said he thought they were excellent that day I will stand by my
original opinion, which was that they looked to waste as much time as possible
from the very first minute at the Oval and were more than a little frustrating
to watch. Their keeper, Jonathan Hill-Dunt explained to me, on Twitter, that
their performance had been all about game management and so it was quite good
seeing him asking the referee on Saturday to speed things up, especially after
his team went a goal down! To be fair though, he’s an excellent keeper and
always partakes in a bit of banter with the Caernarfon supporters.
The match itself was a real battle, the wet conditions making it hard
for the teams to play much football, although both sets of players did their
best to do just this. I thought the encounter had all the hallmarks of being a
goalless draw from the very beginning but, just as we entered the final twenty
minutes, Darren Thomas popped up with a stunning free kick that gave Hill-Dunt
little chance. I was standing with the chairman at the time and I’d just told
him that it would take something special to beat the home stopper from such a
long range out and I’m pleased to say that the Cofi Messi came up with the
goods. The goal celebration was nearly as good as the strike itself, as Messi
and his teammates headed for the manager on the touchline. Great stuff, and a
fine way to clinch all three points.
 |
| Job done by the Cofis. |
Someone told me afterwards there had been a handful of late arrivals
at the ground and that they’d walked out as soon as the ball hit the net and
whilst I have no idea who they were, I’m sure they would have appreciated the
quality of Darren’s strike.
 |
| Iwan at the final whistle. |
Another difficult test lies ahead for Caernarfon when Holywell visit
the Oval this Saturday. Having lost recently to the Canaries in the League Cup,
the Wellmen will be looking to avenge the defeat, but Iwan and his players have
shown time again this term that they’re up for every challenge, so it promises
to be another cracker between two good sides. I have a feeling that the Cofi Army will be required again this
weekend….
No comments:
Post a Comment