Not Quite Our Zico Moment But.....

There had been a decent amount of hype and lots of looking forward to our match at Rhyl last week and the encounter certainly lived up to everyone’s expectations. Six goals, two red cards, touchline handbags and a confused referee who forgot his bearings and in so doing seemed to channel former professional referee Clive Thomas with a poor decision that cost the Cofis a late winner. 

Huw Jones’ decision to blow his whistle for a Caernarfon free-kick as the ball headed into the Rhyl net with their keeper beaten was wrong and cost us two points but, in all fairness, I would also say that the draw was probably a fair result, though Rhyl were obviously far happier with the point than the Cofis. 

I’ll get back to the referee later but what of the match itself, was it a good advert for the Huws Gray Alliance League and did we see two sides capable of challenging for promotion to the top tier? Well, the encounter itself was exciting and had all of the ingredients required to entertain and whilst it’s probably too early in the season to make assumptions, I believe the answer to both of those questions is yes. Firstly, the standard of football was high and at the very least was on a par with anything I’ve seen in the Welsh Premier League recently so to that end it certainly reflected well on the second tier. Also, I am confident that Iwan has put together a squad that can challenge for the title this year and I although haven’t seen enough of Rhyl to be sure of their credentials, the way they fought back last Saturday having twice been two goals behind was impressive and suggests to me that they will be there or thereabouts. 

Danny Brookwell puts us ahead against Rhyl. 

I felt Caernarfon started really well and deserved our early two goal lead, courtesy of Danny Brookwell and Darren Thomas. In fact, at the point Darren made it two nil, I thought we looked comfortable and well in control of the match. An uncharacteristic mistake by Alex Ramsay gave Rhyl a lifeline before half-time and, despite Jay Gibbs restoring our two goal lead with a cracking half-volley, the hosts fought back well to grab a point. 

Darren Thomas celebrates his goal at Rhyl.

Rambo.

I’m sure some of you may have had to read that last paragraph again, particularly the part about Alex Ramsay making a mistake. It’s always a given that mistakes are made in every football match and it’s also well-documented that a higher percentage of slips by goalkeepers are more likely to result in goals for the opposition, thus always being highlighted more by supporters and the media. This is unfair but that’s how football is and, when it happens to someone like Alex, it just re-affirms to me how good he is. ‘Rambo’ has been with us for a year and in that time I cannot think of a match where he has been anything less than excellent. In addition to his technical abilities, Alex is very strong mentally, as he proved last week, when he more than made up for his slip with an outrageous acrobatic save to claw the ball off his line in the second half, and also saved a Mark Connolly penalty, although the ball rebounded kindly for the latter to clinch a point for the hosts. Iwan said in his post-match interview at Rhyl that we have the best goalkeeper in Welsh domestic football and I concur wholeheartedly, there’s no-one I’d rather have as our number one than Alex. 

Brooky.

So, after an entertaining affair that saw the sides share six goals and settle for a point each, the biggest talking point was the referee’s late intervention as Danny Brookwell seemed to have struck a late winner for us. The official thought otherwise and, with the ball on its way into an empty net, he brought play back for a Caernarfon free-kick. To add salt into the wound, he determined that the foul on Danny had occurred outside the penalty area when everyone in the stadium could see it had happened inside it so it was a case of two incorrect decisions by Mr Jones that frustrated those of a Caernarfon Town persuasion but delighted Rhyl followers. Whilst I gather he later conceded to his mistake, stating he had lost track of the match at the time of the ‘goal’, the truth is if he was in any doubt he should have given himself a few seconds to think things over or, better still, have asked his assistant for his thoughts. As I’ve already said, I believe Rhyl probably deserved a share of the spoils due to their fightback, and I’m not saying the referee was solely responsible for us dropping two points but he certainly cost us victory as a result of his poor decision. 

To make matters worse, the man in the middle gave Jay Gibbs a red card for dissent in the dying seconds of the match and whilst I am no apologist for such offences it should be noted that this would not have been an issue if Jones had not made such a poor decision in the first place. It was a sad way for Jay to leave the action as he had been brilliant and fully deserved to be named our man of the match.

Jay Gibbs.

Whilst driving home after the match and trying to make sense of what I’d seen I couldn’t help but be reminded of iconic referee Clive Thomas, who was prone to the odd controversial decision in high-profile matches. The incident I had in mind was when Thomas had famously disallowed a goal by Brazilian legend Zico in the 1974 World Cup by blowing the final whistle as the ball was heading towards the Sweden net. Here’s the link to what I was thinking of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0JFuWqwFg4

Now, I’m obviously not comparing the importance or magnitude of the incidents (I’m making this clear now before the usual suspects pipe up on social media!) but it was the same type of peculiar decision by a match official and, having looked up the incident on youtube, it’s not the only similarity. The way Mr Thomas dealt with the Brazilian players is identical to how Mr Jones dealt with our players, whilst Sweden’s celebrations in ’74 are not unlike Rhyl’s last week! I also wonder if the colour of the kits have something to do with it?

Incidentally, I happened across this quote from another former referee, Graham Poll, who offered his thoughts on the Clive Thomas and Zico incident: “Perhaps Thomas’ decision to end play as Zico was about to score was a horrendous error of judgement. Or it is even possible he blew up when he did as a theatrical demonstration of his own importance.” I’m sure that neither scenario is true of last weekend’s pantomime villain! 

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a referee misinterpret a situation and affect the course of a league match this season, and we’re still only five matches into the fixture list! The FAW should take note and look at ways of either improving the standard of their officials or invest to attract additional officials for each match. The present situation is not good enough. 

An animated touchline.

Taking a step away from the action, it was great to be back at the Corbett Sports Stadium, which must be one of the best non-league grounds in the country. The pitch looked superb, sheltered seating surrounds three quarters of the ground, there’s a bar with a balcony for those who want a beer whilst watching the match and I’ve been told that the burgers and chips are worth a go! The admission charges were a little high at £7 for adults and £2 for children but prices are decided by each club and so there’s not much one can do about these things, although the charges may have been a reason for the relatively low turnout of home supporters on the day?

Before moving on, I had the pleasure of finally meeting sports journalist Dave Jones at the match, something that was long overdue! In addition to being the best sports journalist in Wales, Dave has been a massive help to me in my role as Caernarfon Town’s media officer and I’ll forever be in his debt for the assistance he’s given me, and for what he has done for the club, by way of his excellent work and coverage of what we’ve been doing at the Oval, both on and off the pitch in recent years. Unfortunately, we only had the briefest of chats last week but it was still great to catch up with him and hopefully he’ll be able to visit our ground soon to watch a match and see the special brick he has on our wall of fame. The words on it are Dave Jones: Friend of Caernarfon Town FC and that says it all!

I mentioned in the last blog that the club now has a new website but what I failed to disclose is that we decided to introduce a new site because it has lots of additional features that we can use, with the benefit that this will enable us to share news about the ladies team and academy. Therefore, you will find dedicated pages on our new site for each team that will be updated by the academy and ladies teams, so you can be sure that the information provided is correct whilst I will continue to work on the first team and general news duties. Another useful feature is the video page, which will allow us to add to it all the videos from our official youtube channel. The new website can be found by following this link: https://caernarfontownfc.co.uk/

Jay Gibbs fires in our third goal against Rhyl. 

Having mentioned the Academy, someone told me that Welsh Premier League clubs are given £28,000 annually to help towards running their academies, whilst clubs outside the top tier receive nothing, although I believe we have been offered £400 or thereabout towards the cost of match officials for the whole of this season for our Development side, who have been invited to play in the Welsh Premier Development League. The last time I mentioned the FAW are unfairly helping out Welsh Premier League clubs at the expense of the lower leagues, their Head of competitions, Andrew Howard, sent me a tweet in response and whilst I would hate for Mr Howard et al to think I’m having another pop at them, I have to point out the unfairness of the grant policy for Academies. I’m obviously looking at things from a Caernarfon Town perspective and feel frustrated that our Academy receives no financial assistance whilst top tier club’s academies receive £28,000 and yet we have the exact same full Academy status as the clubs in the WPL. Surely, all clubs with Academy status should be given identical financial support, whilst those without the full status should receive assistance to help them develop? If the FAW is serious in its oft stated aims to help grow the game in Wales, then I’m sure there’s a fairer way to help clubs who are trying to achieve good things but are not part of the ‘Golden Dozen’ in the WPL? 

Breesey....

We have two home matches to look forward to in the next few days, the first being against Flint Town United this Saturday. The Silkmen always provide tough opposition and, having recruited well during the summer months, they are one of the sides being tipped for promotion this year. They have certainly started well enough, being unbeaten in their opening four matches and so we will have to be at our best this weekend. Having held the FAW Domestic Licence for the past few years, Flint have everything in place to go up and will be desperate to get one over us, whilst the Cofis will be determined to get back to winning ways after last week’s frustrating draw and so it should be a cracking match between two good sides.

Jamie Breese #No9

Then, on Wednesday, we will be welcoming Llandudno Junction to the Oval and whilst the newly-promoted outfit have not had the best of starts to the campaign, they will be looking forward to playing under the floodlights at our ground. As we saw against Llanfair last year, every team is capable of beating each other in this league and so it will not be easy for Iwan and the players.

Iwan mentioned in last week’s post-match interview that he is looking for maximum points from the next four matches, all of which are at home. It’s going to be a really tough task and if we're going to achieve this goal, Iwan will need his squad to be 'on it' from the off, and will want his goalscorers on fire. With this in mind, by his usual very high standards, it's been a quiet start to the campaign for Jamie Breese but he'll be chomping at the bit to play his part and I have a feeling our number nine is going to be in the thick of things during the next few weeks! 

Finally, I’ve recently been in touch with two real Caernarfon Town legends who have given me great interviews for the blog and, if all goes according to plan, you’ll get to read them very soon….

The Long and Winding Road.

What a start it’s been to the Cymru Alliance League season! The Summer months are always a drag for football supporters (apart from last year when Gareth Bale and his mates gave us plenty of excitement!) and whilst the pre-season fixtures help us with our fix, it’s not quite the same as the real thing.

The build up to the new campaign saw all and sundry predict that the second tier of Welsh football would eclipse the Welsh Premier League for thrills and spills this season and, whilst it’s too early to say if this will be the case, even at this fledgling stage, the Cymru Alliance is certainly not falling short  in the entertainment stakes.

Just two weeks in and we’ve had plenty of goals, upsets and controversies and I’m talking only of Caernarfon Town here! Let me explain….

The first Saturday of the season saw us heading to Penrhyncoch in mid Wales and, despite the unabating traffic and the rather arduous journey which always reminds me of The Beatles classic ‘The Long and Winding Road’ I do enjoy my visits to Cae Baker, where there’s a good welcome to be had and plenty of vocal support from the locals to get the heart pumping! The Canaries’ latest visit to the ground proved no exception and, after a tough, and very entertaining ninety minutes, goals by Darren Thomas and Jamie Breese gave Town the victory they deserved.

With five matches to catch up on in this blog I’ve decided against rehashing what I’ve already written in the match reports, which you can find on the club’s new official website (here’s a link to the reports:  https://www.caernarfontownfc.co.uk/Matchreport.aspx?id=134967 ) but the 2-1 scoreline did not in my opinion accurately reflect Town’s dominance on the day, although the hosts gave it a real go at salvaging a point in the closing stages. To summarise the encounter, the Cofis enjoyed the lions’ share of possession but could not take advantage of a number of decent goalscoring opportunities and, once Stefan Davis halved Town’s lead, Caernarfon had to show plenty of grit and composure to secure the points, which they did.

I can’t see many teams defeating the Roosters on their own ground and so it was a good, solid start to the season by the team but unfortunately they could not make it a winning return to action at the Oval seven days later when Holyhead Hotspur took the spoils, courtesy of a 2-1 victory.   

These days the Cymru Alliance League is top heavy with teams from up the coast and therefore local derbies are sparse for Caernarfon Town. Holyhead and Porthmadog are seen by many as our nearest local rivals in the league and have become our regular derbies in recent years so the defeat to Campbell Harrison’s side was a hard pill to swallow. What made it worse is that the key point in the match was Danny Brookwell’s sixteenth minute dismissal for a foul that also resulted in a successful penalty for the visitors. I have been informed that the referee told one of Caernarfon’s players that whilst he agreed Danny’s challenge was outside the area, he awarded the penalty because the fouled player fell inside the box. This is the first I’ve heard about this new rule and, having asked a local referee to verify it, I am still unsure if it exists. Caernarfon had started the match well but one thing we all know with Hotspur is that they’re always up for a battle and once they doubled their lead through McGuinness it was always going to be a tough task for the Cofis to salvage a point.

It was interesting to see Town manager Iwan Williams reshuffling his pack in the second half in an attempt to get something from the match and his ploy of pushing Clive Williams up front as a focal point seemed to work well. For the first time since Iwan’s arrival at the club he took a more direct approach and the players will probably feel disappointed they didn’t manage a draw as they certainly created the opportunities to get one after Nathan Craig pulled a goal back. It was a good effort by the players and I wonder how many of them and also the spectators at the match would agree with the writer of Holyhead’s match report, who thought his side had made the Cofis look ordinary?

Job done against Porthmadog, but only just....

There was a quick opportunity to bounce back from the defeat when we visited Porthmadog three days later for another one of those rare local derbies. Someone told me at the match that the Cofis had won the last eight encounters between the sides and this was pretty impressive because Port are a good side, and have been for a number of years. Having won their first two matches, Craig Papyrnik’s side were confident and played like it, proving a match for Caernarfon and twice taking the lead but Town pegged them back through Gareth Edwards and Nathan Craig before Darren Thomas struck a last minute winner.

I can’t recall many times we’ve clinched a victory so late on in a match but it was a great feeling, and a great finish by the Cofi Messi, who has started the season in scintillating form. Everyone knows how good our talisman is so there’s no need for me to wax lyrical about him but if he continues in the vein he’s started this campaign then he’s going to have a big impact on how we get on. The same can be side of Jay Gibbs, who I believe had his best match in a Caernarfon shirt during the victory at the Traeth. Iwan mentioned in his post-match interview that Jay was outstanding, despite enduring a hard time from the locals during the match and I hope he took the banter as a compliment because, from my experience anyway, the more vocal supporters usually target the oppositions’ most influential players, and Jay more than took up the challenge of silencing them with his actions on the pitch. He was named the supporters man of the match, and deservedly so, despite some stiff competition from his team-mates.

Jay Gibbs was outstanding against Port. 

Before moving on, I have to include a few special mentions. First, to the Porthmadog officials and volunteers who were as friendly as ever and were more than ready to discuss the match despite the defeat. To Gareth Evans for conducting our post-match interview in Welsh, thus proving that people do speak Welsh on the wrong side of the Felinheli bypass. And finally, to Iwan, who refused to settle for the draw and urged his team forward in search of victory!

So, not for the first time in recent years I left Port’s ground with a smile on my face until, that is, I realised there was still a match report to write and a few videos to share before the end of the day, although Messi’s winner made it a much more attractive prospect!

A home fixture with Denbigh Town was next and it promised to be another tough test of our aspirations. The Central Park outfit have been touted all summer as title challengers but had lost two of their opening three matches and so I’m sure they would have seen the trip to the Oval as the perfect opportunity to kick start their campaign and make a statement of their intent. It was good to see Danny Sullivan before the match, the former Town player having joined Denbigh after a frustrating season with us last time out. Danny’s a really good player and joined us a few weeks into the 2016/17 campaign but could not quite manage a run of successive matches in the starting line-up. Having captained Buckley and Flint before coming to us I’m sure it would have been difficult for him not to start every match but he still managed to make a good impression during his short stint with us, and who could ever forget that cracker he scored in the Welsh Cup against Rhyl? Left peg, top corner just about covers it!

Danny Brookwell scored a brace against Denbigh.

With recent signings such as Sully, Jake Eyre and Josh Davies in their team, Eddie Maurice-Jones’ squad looks strong but, on the day, they were swept away by the Cofis and, had it not been for the heroics of Goalkeeper Jonathan Hill-Dunt, the scoreline could have had an even more lop-sided look than the seven nil it eventually ended as.

Iwan’s men sprinted out of the blocks and Nathan Craig set the tone for the afternoon when he forced Hill-Dunt into a desperate fingertip save to keep the ball out of his net directly from the kick-off. His attempts to keep us at bay, through a combination of scrambling saves and his usual game management lasted just thirteen minutes, when Gareth Evans smashed the ball into the roof of the net after being set up by Darren Thomas. Another strike by Gareth and further netfinders by Chris Williams, Nathan Craig, Darren Thomas and a Danny Brookwell brace gave the Cofis an impressive victory that put them joint second in the league behind Guilsfield. Gaz Evans was voted man of the match and deservedly so. I was surprised when he told me after the Porthmadog match that he didn’t feel he had been playing well because I think he’s been pretty impressive in all our league matches thus far. He obviously has lots of quality and seems to me to have settled really well into the side, so if he thinks there’s more to come from him then he’s going to be an incredible addition to the squad.

Gareth Evans.

Incidentally, it was good to catch up with former Town player Derek Highdale during the match and even more pleasing to hear him say how impressed he was with the present Cofi team. Derek, of course, was part of John Aspinall’s side of twenty years ago who went toe to toe for a time with full-time professionals Barry Town in the League of Wales. My mate Bob reminded Derek of the time he and team-mate Chris Waring started brawling with Aberystwyth Town supporters at the Oval, and he was hit with an umbrella by an old lady near the turnstile as he walked off the pitch! Not surprisingly, he still remembers the incident!

The impressive victory over Denbigh set the side up nicely for a crack at Welsh Premier League outfit  Llandudno, who hosted us in the first round of the Word Cup four days later. We had played the Seasiders in a testimonial for Lee Thomas during the summer and on that day both sides had put out strong line-ups in an entertaining first half before giving some former players a run-out after the break. This time, of course, the managers named their strongest line-ups and there was certainly nothing friendly about the match! That’s not to say it was an overly physical encounter but there was no quarter given and, despite the post-match comments of Llandudno manager Alan Morgan, I thought it was an entertaining, and exciting encounter.  

Llandudno is a classy club, and they have an excellent set up at The Giant Hospitality Stadium. I always enjoy my visits there, despite having seen the Cofis on the receiving end of a few defeats, and last week was no exception. I’ve mentioned in past blogs how impressed I am with their ground, from the main entrance and turnstile to the players tunnel, the social club to the hospitality room, the ground staff to the impressive 4G pitch. During last week’s visit, however, I was most impressed by the Caernarfon Town side! In short, the players in yellow and green were outstanding and if I’m being absolutely honest, we were by far the best side on the pitch, and fully deserved the 1-0 victory, courtesy of a Danny Brookwell goal. This is a second point that I disagree on with Seasiders manager Morgan, who announced that no one deserved to win or lose. Having struck the woodwork, had two decent penalty shouts, seen a Jamie Breese effort hacked off the line and a handful of other near-misses, I think the Cofis were the only team that deserved the victory.  

Messi was in top form against Llandudno. 

After any particularly impressive victory it can sometimes be very hard not to go overboard when writing an official match report for the club and I always do my best to be as respectful as possible to the opposition sides. I’m not sure that I always achieve this, but if not, it’s certainly not intentional. With this in mind, I was disappointed with Llandudno’s twitter feed on the night, which I feel was less than fair to the Caernarfon’s professional performance.

As this is a personal blog, I have no qualms in saying that the tweet attributed to Llandudno’s official twitter feed concerning a foul on Gareth Evans during the match was unfair, uncalled for and unprofessional. I won’t repeat the tweet here but I’m sure you’ll find it on their feed if you look and when you do, you may understand why I find it so disappointing. 

Getting back to the football itself, it’s hard to point out a stand-out performer in such a good team performance and whilst Darren Thomas was voted the supporters man of the match, which I would agree with, I also think Gareth Edwards was exceptional at the back, Jay Gibbs strong in midfield and Jamie Breese outstanding when he joined the action in the second half.

Gareth Edwards.

So, after an eventful start to the season, we’ve now had a few days to recover due to the international break and the team travels to Rhyl this Saturday for one of the most anticipated encounters of the season. We all know the score: Rhyl were relegated from the top tier last season and are highly fancied to return at the first attempt this year whilst Caernarfon are desperate to get a spot at the top table for the first time in many years. We’re just four matches into the league season so it’s early days yet but lots of people will be looking at this as a clash of title encounters. There’s certainly a feeling of this being a ‘Big Match’ in the lead up to the fixture and as is always the case when two good sides clash, it’s going to be an exciting, nervy battle, and impossible to call. One thing’s for sure, though, Iwan will have the Cofis well prepared and the players will be ready to burst  out of the blocks!
But it's early days and the Beatles got it right, it's a  Long and Winding Road....  

Elton John, Dean Martin and Owzat?

The final two weeks of pre-season have been a mixed bag. Two victories, a defeat, music police alerts and the new assistant manager masquerading as Dean Martin have all added to an interesting precursor to the real action, which begins this weekend.
I ended the last blog by looking forward to the Telford fixture, which had promised to be a cracker, and that’s exactly how it panned out. The visitors came out on top by four goals to one but I don’t think the scoreline was an accurate reflection of what had been an evenly fought, and very enjoyable encounter. I obviously have a strong bias towards the Cofis but do try to be as fair as I can to the opposition and so whilst I think the Bucks marginally edged proceedings, they certainly weren’t three goals better than us. In fact I thought our performance on the day might have been our best of pre-season and think the main difference between the sides was that Rob Edwards’ men proved much more clinical in front of goal.

The Canaries have been playing a particular style of football over the past two years and whilst we’ve all seen it work against teams in the Welsh Pyramid System, I was encouraged that, in the main, the side was able to impose its style against an outfit that play just two steps down from the football league. The players looked comfortable in possession and created plenty of goalscoring opportunities and, as odd as it may sound after a defeat, the performance bodes well for the new season.

Alex during his goalkeeping clinic with Town's junior stoppers. 

On a personal note, it turned out into an interesting day for me. I arrived at the Oval earlier than usual to record interviews with Head of Academy Haydn Jones and first team keeper Alex Ramsay, who was holding a goalkeeping clinic for the club’s junior keepers in the morning. Having completed both interviews early on I decided to carry on filming a few bits and pieces and first team manager Iwan gave me permission to record his pre-match team talk and, really, to record whatever I wanted around the team’s preparations. My trusted ipod camera was switched on just about everywhere in the ground and I ended up with all sorts of clips, including filmed chats with Iwan, the match officials and the ladies in the canteen. One thing led to another and I ended up putting the best bits together to create a match day video diary, which can be viewed on the club’s official youtube channel. If you’ve already seen it, you’ll be aware that it’s not Spielberg but it was fun to do and will hopefully give everyone an idea of what it’s like at the ground on match day. If you haven’t already had a look, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx9bNBZmjd0
Town got back to winning days three days later when a spirited Pwllheli were despatched 6-2 at the Oval and on Saturday the Cofis completed their pre-season fixtures with another tough match, Rainhill Town this time providing stiff and, at times, physical opposition.
To be honest, I don’t know too much about the West Cheshire League side but, having finished fourth in Division One in their first season following promotion last term, they seem to be a club on an upward trajectory and another big test was expected.

Rambo

There was very little to choose between the sides early on and although the Cofis enjoyed more possession, it was Alex Ramsay who was forced into the first save of the match when he did well to get his hand to the ball as it looked destined for the far corner of his goal. Talking of our keeper, I have to say that it was great to see him back between the sticks and in such good form. Work commitments have kept ‘Rambo’ away during most of the close season and whilst we’ve been lucky to have been able to call on the talents of a number of good keepers, I believe Alex is one of the best in the Welsh Pyramid System and to have him back in time for the start of the league season is a massive boost for the side. Whilst on the subject of goalkeepers, as a Caernarfon Town supporter I am delighted that Iwan has added Liam Jones to his squad. The youngster has impressed during pre-season and will provide excellent back-up for our number one, with a view to pushing for the jersey in the future.
Once Darren Thomas poked in the opener and Jamie Roberts added a second two minutes later, the result was never really in doubt, although the visitors did make it interesting when they scored ten minutes after the break. Darren had the last word with a great finish late on and I have a feeling the management team will have been relieved to finish the match without any injuries as the Rainhill players were certainly not shy in the tackle, especially as the match neared its conclusion. One thing the Rainhill management team will need to look at is whether or not their goalkeeper, a Jonathan Hill-Dunt lookalike, realises he’s playing football and not cricket as every time Town attacked his default shout was ‘Owzat’!

Darren Thomas and Jamie Roberts. 

Before the match started, the recent additions to the Canaries’ squad were required to sing an initiation tune in front of the players and, having sneaked into the Board room to record all four songs (on the insistence of the manager, I hasten to add!) I can safely say that we won’t be hearing from Simon Cowell any time soon. Rhys Roberts sang Calon Lan (the highlight for me because it’s a Welsh song and he’s bigger than me), Ryan Williams went for ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’, Liam Jones plumped for an Oasis ditty after failing a Gloria Gaynor ‘anthem’ and Sean Eardley showed everyone why he won’t be able to make a living as a Dean Martin impersonator, although his version of ‘Ain't That a Kick in the Head’ was certainly an improvement on the music blaring from the loudspeaker for most of the afternoon! Three full-paying spectators at the ground complained to me about the music played through the sound system and having been led to believe that Iwan Williams owned the playlist, I confronted our manager our

Sean Eardley. 

manager about it. Iwan was non-committal about the matter but did accuse me of probably preferring something from Elton John than the latest tunes! I think a lot of our manager and decided to let the accusation pass, although to be fair I am partial to some of Elton’s music, so he may have had a fair point!
Behind the scenes, the Caernarfon Town Board and the Canaries Club have been doing their collective best to try and improve things as much as they can. The supporters have worked tirelessly on the Oval itself, maintaining and improving the ground and I believe there are exciting plans afoot that will make a huge difference to the players representing the club in the future.
Our new commercial manager, Tristram Lee, is working hard to bring in the revenue that will enable the club to continue to grow whilst hopefully enabling us to compete on the field and I believe there may be one or two announcements in the near future with news that will help us towards these goals. Those who attended Saturday’s match with Rainhill, or have seen some of the photographs from the encounter may have noted that the team played in our new away kits, sponsored by LiteAccess Technologies, and I’m hoping the club will make an announcement about our partnership with this global company very soon.

Ryan Williams in the side's new 'Lite Access' away kit. 

As always, the week leading up to the start of the new season always sees sports reporters, commentators and supporters sharing their views on who they think will win the league, gain promotion, get relegated and so on and whilst no one can ever know for sure how things can pan out, it’s been nice to see Caernarfon Town amongst a handful of other teams being tipped to challenge for the Huws Gray Alliance League title. Having finished the past three seasons second, first and second in the league it’s not surprising that the Canaries are being talked about and whilst it’s nice as a supporter to read and hear such things, I think it’s worth remembering that it won’t mean a thing once the football starts this Saturday.
I have been saying for the last two years that this league is the toughest, most competitive and most exciting in the Pyramid system and this season it’s going to be even more so, on all fronts! The two sides relegated from the Welsh Premier League, Airbus and Rhyl, will be desperate for a quick return and, in my opinion, should be considered slight favourites for the title, whilst the second tier’s usual suspects, Guilsfield, Holywell, Porthmadog, Caersws, Flint and ourselves will all hope to challenge, whilst Holyhead and Gresford seem to have improved over the summer.

The first team squad for 2017/18.

In my eve of season blog over the past two years I have stated that the upcoming campaign could be our year and I’m sticking to this tradition, although this time with the disclaimer that so competitive is the league that supporters of up to seven other clubs can also rightfully be making the same claim. One thing I can safely claim however is that as a Caernarfon Town supporter I would not change our manager, his backroom staff nor our squad for anyone else. Iwan Williams, Sean Eardley, Richard Davies, Mike Innes, Alex Ramsay, Liam Jones, Joe Williams, Chris Williams, Clive Williams, Rhys Roberts, Gareth Edwards, Ryan Williams, Nathan Williams, Kevin Roberts, Nathan Craig, Jay Gibbs, Jamie Roberts, Gareth Evans, Mark Griffiths, Jamie Breese, Danny Brookwell, Darren Thomas and Aaron Davies-Thomas. They’ll do for me!
And so, at long last, the warm-up matches are over, all the preparations have been completed and we can finally look forward to the start of the real stuff! The Huws Gray Cymru Alliance League is finally upon us and I have no doubt that it’s going to be a cracker of a season!
First stop Penrhyncoch….

Wide Lens, Hearts on Sleeves and the Scariest Voice in Football.

In stark contrast to how I have felt about pre-season friendlies for most of my football following life, these days I quite enjoy them. I wrote about this very subject in the blog last summer, and mentioned then how my involvement in the club had given me a new perspective on the pre-season fixtures.

These matches can of course provide the manager with opportunities to look at different formations, at promising youngsters in the ranks and at trialists, whilst helping members of the first team squad attain match fitness. So, it’s all good on the playing side whilst, off the field, the extra revenue generated by hosting pre-season fixtures can make a huge difference to every club. As a supporter I had never really thought about the financial side of football, and how much needs to be done behind the scenes to merely carry on.

Most football clubs, especially at non-professional level, rely on the income generated through the turnstiles to survive and, with bills to pay for twelve months of the year, the close season can be a difficult, and tricky period for every club. So, in addition to the aforementioned playing reasons the pre-season fixture list is an important part of the game today and, it seems to me, is becoming increasingly so with each passing year. 

As has been the policy since Iwan joined Caernarfon two years ago, he has again been solely responsible for arranging this year’s warm-up schedule and once more has managed to come up with a varied, and entertaining looking programme. So, how has it gone thus far?

Rhys Roberts.

The first run-out of the summer saw us travelling to Llandudno to face the Welsh Premier League side in a testimonial match for Lee Thomas, who has been with the Seasiders for thirteen years. I always enjoy my visits to their ground, which is always in great nick, and we were given a great welcome by the hosts. Having captained Llandudno in the past, our manager still has a lot of friends at the club and with their former assistant manager, Sean Eardley, having recently joined us it all added up to a friendly and enjoyable occasion.

The match itself was competitive, especially in a first half that saw two strong sides take to the field. For the Cofis, it was good to see recent signings Ryan Williams and Rhys Roberts making their first appearances for us and I was impressed by them both. I’ve seen Rhys play on numerous occasions and he’s a proper centre half, big and strong, and excellent in the air, whilst Ryan looks a real class act, full of football and technically superb. The teams were level at half-time but the line-ups that re-emerged after the break looked a lot different to the starting eleven, as former team-mates of Lee Thomas joined him for the second period whilst a handful of Caernarfon’s Over 35 side managed to squeeze themselves into the yellow and green kit for a run out. Someone had warned me beforehand to try and get hold of a wide angle lens for the veterans but I didn’t have to as they all did well and, despite a few mistimed tackles and plenty of red cheeks, they just about got away with it! For the record, the score was 2-1 to the hosts at the final whistle but at least we saw a great finish by Jay Gibbs, the midfielder having been set up by Iwan, who may have been wearing a Llandudno shirt, but was definitely playing for us! I also wish to point out that I hope the management team of Iwan, Sean Eardley and Richard Davies have a much better plan in place for defending corners that the one they implemented late on in the match (see photo above). 

Winner of the Laziest Corner Flag of the Year Award

Before moving on, I am delighted to say that the match provided me with the recipient of the inaugural award for the 'Laziest Corner Flag of the Year', which I am sure you will agree with me after seeing the photos of the winner, is full deserved!

The next first team fixture was the Grahame Austin Appreciation match, where the Cofis played against one of Aussie’s former teams, Llangefni. Grahame has, of course, been a highly respected and highly successful player in the Welsh Pyramid system and when Iwan and Canaries Club chairman Phil Jones first suggested the idea of celebrating his career, the idea was what I believe is called a no-brainer. Grahame has been with Caernarfon for four years and captained the side superbly for three, during which he led us to three cups and the Cymru Alliance league title. He was also successful during his

Owner of The Scariest Voice in World Football. 

stint as Llangefni’s captain a few years ago and therefore it was great that the clubs got together for this fixture. I saw Aussie before kick-off and was surprised when he told me that he started his playing career as a left winger before moving into midfield and finally dropping back to defence where he proved himself one of the best centre halves in the area. Having only seen him play at the back I can’t imagine Grahame blazing a trail up and down the touchline but from what I’ve heard since, he was pretty good at that too! In addition to his footballing talents our former captain can undoubtedly stake an untouchable claim for possessing the ‘Scariest Voice in World Football’. The match itself was a thriller, and the Cofis eventually won it 3-1, but only after a tough challenge from the visitors. Grahame made a cameo late on and thankfully refrained from sharing one of his scary ‘ear-busters’ but, having assured me that he will continue to visit the Oval to support the Cofis, if ever our loudspeaker system breaks down (again), at least we now know Aussie would be able to provide a decent, and louder, replacement!

Next up was a visit to Maes Tegid to face Welsh Cup winners Bala Town in a testimonial for Steve Fischer. Steve played for the Canaries a few years ago and so it was great to see him again. The Welsh Premier League outfit were quick out of the blocks and two goals up inside five minutes. To be honest, at this point I feared the worst but the Cofis dug deep and, despite being down by four goals immediately after the break, strikes from Gareth Edwards and Nathan Craig gave a fairer reflection on the match. No team wants to lose, whether it is a friendly or not, but looking at the whole picture it was a pleasing performance from us. Bala are an excellent side and, having already played competitively due to their Europa League adventure, their preparations for the new season were obviously at a much more advanced stage than our, and it showed in stages. Fischer and our manager are close friends and so it was good fun to watch their second half cameos as they both tried to get the better of each other, although I believe our manager came out on top, courtesy of Steve’s poor attempt at hiding his handball in the area that resulted in our late penalty!

 Ttown and Bala line up with Steve Fischer.

This had been my first visit to Maes Tegid and I enjoyed it immensely. There was a great atmosphere at the ground and club officials I spoke with were very friendly and accommodating. I was slightly surprised by how spartan the stadium is, with a small stand behind one goal and three or four smaller stands running along one side of the pitch, but it all looked tidy and I believe they’re an excellent example of how clubs can achieve big things in such a short space of time. The Lakesiders gained promotion to the top tier just eight years ago and have come a long way since then and whilst I understand people saying it’s a club we should try and emulate I believe we should set and achieve our own targets. Their manager, Colin Caton, was very complimentary towards the Cofi Army after the Welsh Cup semi-final and he was right when he said we’ve got the best supporters in the country. With this in mind, we should be striving to match the fans in all aspects of the club, and be the best on and off the pitch. A lofty target but one I’m sure we can achieve one day. 

Jay Gibbs in the match at  Bala. 

Penrhyn arrived at the Oval three days later and, despite going two goals down early on, they proved to be a decent outfit, although Town were too strong for them and eventually ran out 5-1 winners. Jay Gibbs and Jamie Breese found the net within six minutes and the latter secured his brace half way through the first period, whilst Jamie Roberts also got on the scoresheet before an own goal completed Town’s total. To be fair to the visitors, the Cofis played really well on the night and, although it’s still early days, the squad seems to have improved a fair bit from last season.

Looking at the summer additions who have played thus far, Gareth Evans, Ryan Williams and Rhys Roberts have started well at the club and we still have Mike Griffiths to welcome, the striker still working hard to get over an injury in time for the league season.

Recent igning Ryan Williams has impressed.

Evo Stick North League side Ramsbottom United were next up at the Oval and the match was a real cracker! The Rams finished last season in mid-table, which is no mean feat when considering the standard they play at and are therefore obviously a very good side. This fixture was one of the two I had been looking forward to the most pre-season and I was not disappointed. Matches against English non-league sides always remind me of the club’s days in the Northern Premier League when I first started frequenting the Oval and Saturday was no exception. There was a different type of atmosphere at the ground on the day, and it was exciting to see the Canaries facing new opposition.

The sides were evenly matched but I felt Caernarfon had the edge, certainly physically, and looked sharp and very competitive. A number of strong challenges early in the encounter raised the competitiveness somewhat and it all added up to a very entertaining affair, with the Cofis battling back from a goal down to win. Jamie Breese levelled things after Ramsbottom’s opener and Ryan Williams found the top corner of the onion bag in the final minute to give us the victory.

Breesey was the recipient of more than one strong

challenge against Ramsbottom.

Although Iwan had originally not planned for the squad to play too many of the midweek fixtures, he decided that some of the players needed more minutes on the pitch and so sent them out again on the Tuesday to face Llanberis. Suffice to say the Darans were up for the challenge and played their part in another entertaining match, although I felt Town were much stronger, which is to be expected. When watching the action I was reminded of matches between the sides just four years ago and the red-hot atmosphere we always felt when visiting their ground. There was one particular encounter during the treble season of 2012/13 when we had to play them in the run-in to the league title and, spurred on by one particular striker who loved to score against us, things got quite heated between players, supporters and, later on, just about everyone else, especially on social media! I am hesitant to say those were happy days but, seeing as we won the match 3-2 and clinched the league title just a few days later, they certainly were, despite everything! 

These days, matches between the sides are confined to pre-season warm-ups and so it was a much less volatile atmosphere at the Oval on Tuesday but an enjoyable one nevertheless and the Cofis came out on top by four goals to one. Breesey got another brace and there were also strikes from Gareth Edwards and Darren Thomas, whilst former Town reserve player Llion Jones netted their consolation goal.

Hearts on Sleeves.......

And so there we have it, a quick review of the first team’s pre-season action so far, which has proved both enjoyable and promising. As already mentioned, the new players have settled in well and look to have improved the squad whilst on the management side our new assistant manager, Sean Eardley, looks as if he’s been here for years, never mind just two months. When Iwan mentioned he was bringing Sean in, he told me that he is a bubbly and infectious person who we’d all take to, and he was right. I’ve spoken, albeit fleetingly, with Sean on a few occasions and he seems a perfect fit for Iwan and the club. From what I’ve seen, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and that will do for me!

Before finishing, I have to mention the brilliant support the club has had over the summer months from members of the Cofi Army, who have been at the Oval to carry out essential maintenance work on a weekly basis. Their paint work will be obvious to see to everyone who visits the Oval but there is a lot of other work they’ve carried out that, whilst not as obvious from the terraces, has been absolutely essential and the club will benefit from this for years to come. I know there are exciting plans ahead that the Canaries Club will be heavily involved in and the end result of this will make an enormous difference to the players and the club itself.

For now, however, we have lots of football to look forward to, three matches in the next week to be precise, beginning with this Saturday’s match with Telford United and, whilst it’s going to be another tough test for the team, it’s one they’ll be up for!

One Cup, three signings and business as usual….

A month has passed since the final match of last season and, as always, it’s been a pretty busy time for everyone concerned at the Oval.

Before covering the events of the close season thus far I think it’s worth taking a look at how the season ended and how, despite what some people would have us all believe, the 2016/17 campaign was a success and could yet turn into a game changer for Caernarfon  Town Football Club.  

The last blog finished with the side’s Huws Gray Cup semi-final victory over Holyhead Hotspur and this meant the squad would get the opportunity to retain the cup they won last season courtesy of a narrow victory over Flint Town United. As it happened, the Silkmen would once again be our opponents in this year’s final but, before this latest silverware showdown there were still two league matches to play. Although we had already secured runners-up spot the players now had a cup final place to play for and so the fixtures were, to use a tennis reference, far from being ‘dead rubbers’.

Kevin Lloyd in full flow against Flint.

The first of these saw Flint visiting the Oval and, in all honesty, I thought they were the better team during a difficult first half for the Cofis. Shaun Beck deservedly gave the visitors the lead before Jamie Breese pulled us level just before the break. It was a great finish by our number nine and typical of what we’ve come to expect from him over the past two seasons as he latched onto a pass and rolled the ball past the keeper who, in this instance, was Patrick Kielty lookalike Ben Jones. The second half was a very different affair and Flint had their ‘doppleganger stopper’ to thank for securing their point as he pulled off fine saves to thwart Danny Brookwell , Nathan Craig and Darren Thomas. Meanwhile, Town manager Iwan Williams handed a first Oval start to Alex Crofts and the young keeper did well, looking sharp off his line and secure behind his backline. This was the youngster’s second start for the first eleven and he’s done very well in both matches. Iwan should be applauded for giving Alex these opportunities and whilst I’m no expert on the matter the experience he will have gained in both matches can only be a good thing and it will be interesting to see how long it will take Alex to start pushing for a regular start.

The side ended its league campaign seven days later with another home fixture and, with visitors Buckley Town still in with a slim chance of avoiding relegation I had expected to see a tough encounter. However, after an end to end start to the match, the Cofis turned on the style and overwhelmed Terry Ingram’s side, finding the net six times without reply.

Breesey bagged a hat-trick in the final league match.

The star of the show was Jamie Breese, who bagged a hat-trick and, to me, looked as good as he has ever done in a yellow shirt, full of confidence and, of course, goal! Not far behind him was Darren Thomas, who decided to finish the season off by unlocking his ‘special goals box’, setting off on a mesmerising run from his own half that saw him waltz past three opponents before finding the net.

The squad finished the league season off in style. 

It had been an excellent performance by the team that, in many ways, was reminiscent of some of last season’s performances. The football was fast-paced and the side looked powerful all over the pitch. It had not always been this way throughout the campaign, but the Cofis certainly saved one of their best performances until last this time around. As an added bonus, the manager gave a first team debut to sixteen year old Academy player Fhinn O’Doherty and, at the final whistle, the team included another two of the club’s promising youngsters, Aaron Davies-Thomas and Joe Vousden. I can’t think of many other managers in the vicinity, with clubs who play at this level or beyond, that would take this approach and yet it rarely seems to get noticed outside the club. Maybe one day, they’ll all cotton on?

And so, all our thoughts now turned to the Huws Gray Cup final and a third visit of the season to Conwy’s Morfa Ground, also known these days as ‘the three-quarter ground’, owing to the continuing closure of the impressive looking stand at the far end of the stadia. This is something I’ve mentioned after each visit to Conwy over the past two seasons and everyone who has been to the ground will know how odd it is to be unable to sit or stand behind one of the goals during a match.

Now that I’ve parked the only negative of the day to one side I can concentrate on the many positives from another memorable afternoon for the club. The first thing that needs saying is that Conwy Borough Football Club has now firmly established itself as the Huws Gray Alliance League’s Champion Burger Seller. The first stop upon arriving was the canteen and the cheeseburger I bought my son Iwan looked superb! I decided against getting one for myself due to an endless self-delusional quest to being a healthy eater and was sadly proud I didn’t relent, although it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! Iwan didn’t have to tell me how good the burger tasted as, despite being of mammoth proportions, he made it disappear in mere seconds!

Jay Gibbs celebrates his goal with Chris Williams.

The match itself was a vast improvement on last year’s static final between the sides and the Canaries turned on the style from the off, looking very strong against a good Flint side. The players were on top of their game, with Nathan Craig and Jay Gibbs for me being the stand-out performers on the day. Chris Whitley’s men enjoyed a lot of possession at the start of the match but I felt we seemed comfortable and happy enough for them to pass the ball around in their own half. The difference between the sides was that the Cofis looked better in possession and much more exciting on the break, with Darren Thomas and Danny Brookwell causing panic and problems on the flanks.

It was from a lightning break that we scored the opener, Darren Thomas bursting out of his own penalty area and linking superbly with Jamie Breese before feeding Brookwell, who finished well in front of the travelling Cofi Army. It was a high quality move and finish that obviously stunned Flint and Town took full advantage by doubling the lead just two minutes later, Gibbs arriving late in the penalty area to get on the end of a Brookwell cross. Although we were just seventeen minutes into the match I felt quietly confident that the the Cofis had more than one hand on the cup even at this stage and so it proved, with Kevin Lloyd putting the final touch after the break, scoring from close range following more good work by Messi.

Danny Brookwell. Scorer and provider in cup final.

Winning a final is always exciting and, quite apart from the joys of the day, I was especially pleased for Iwan and the players. Retaining the Huws Gray Cup is an excellent achievement in itself but, after the disappointment of losing the league title from an earlier than expected stage of the season, the players rolled up their sleeves and went on an impressive run of results, which included that wonderful run in the Welsh Cup and it would have been a shame to see them finish the campaign empty handed.

I know that Iwan and everyone connected to the squad wanted promotion above all else this year but I think it’s important to remember that we’ve still had a successful season. Runners-up in the league, semi-finals of the Welsh Cup and retaining the League cup is a pretty good return after nine months of football and in many ways, the 2016/17 campaign proved just as exciting as the previous year. The club received more media coverage than it has for many years due to the Welsh Cup exploits and I believe it’s helped firmly establish us as one of the country’s highest profile clubs. As a Caernarfon Town supporter I’ve naturally always believed we’re one of the top clubs in the country but, realistically, we needed last season’s exposure to prove that we are.

Nathan picks up his man of the match award.

As an added bonus to winning the cup, it was also great to see Nathan Craig lifting his first trophy as captain. And, just in case anyone apart from our stakeholders noticed, the starting line-up included nine local players, with another two coming on as substitutes, including seventeen year-old striker Aaron Davies-Thomas. There's a theme here isn't there, and I wonder how many other highly rated teams in the Cymru Alliance League can match this?    

The final signalled the end of the season but, of course, didn’t mean that everyone at the club stopped working. In reality, the final match of every campaign merely signals the start of the next one and, as expected, Iwan has been busy making plans on how to regain the Cymru Alliance title. One of the managers’ favourite words is ‘obsessed’ and, just to prove that he is, even before setting off for home after the match at Conwy, he mentioned that he’d soon contact me to announce new signings!

True to his word, it didn’t take long for Iwan to announce that Sean Eardley was joining us as his assistant manager. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t really know much about Sean but, from what I’ve read on social media after the news broke, he seems very highly rated by people involved in the game, and promises to be a massive asset for us.

Job done for Iwan and Nathan.

I’ve since had the pleasure of announcing three new signing on the club’s online outlets and all of them are great additions to the squad. Gareth Evans has a great track record in the Welsh Pyramid and I believe it augers well for us that he is prepared to drop down a league to play for the Canaries. Rhys Roberts is a defender I know a little more about as he’s played against us so many times, for Porthmadog and Holyhead. He’s a tough tackling defender who has always played well against us, and I’m sure our strikers will much prefer having him in our team than against us. The latest signing, Mark Griffiths, is a real netfinder and it’s fair to say that his goals helped secure Caersws’ position in the league.

In a recent interview I posted on the club’s official youtube channel, Iwan mentions that there may be another signing very soon and, with so many new faces arriving, it’s going to be interesting to see how the squad shapes up for next season. How many players will be retained, who will start our first competitive match in August, and will Joe Williams get a starting berth in the side after failing to include the manager in his five a side team, as mentioned in our recent Oval Ways interview?
These are all questions we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to get the answers to but, until then, there’s still plenty of work to do at the Oval….