Still in with a Shout.

As unlikely as it may seem, the Cofis enter the final week of the season still in with a chance of winning the Cymru Alliance League.

Following an excellent week which brought two victories over tough opposition, Town are second in the table, five points adrift of leaders Llandudno and with both sides having just two matches to play. It’s been some turnaround from Lee Dixon’s men following a difficult January when the side suffered an indifferent run of form and there was plenty of criticism being thrown at the manager and some of the players.

After the 1-4 defeat at Mold, I received a direct message on Twitter from someone I hardly know, who proceeded to tell me that the manager had changed the team too much in recent weeks and, from what he had heard, had obviously lost the dressing room. He had not been at any of the matches, but had apparently been reliably informed of all this from someone who knows these things! No name was offered, of course! Obviously, being a staunch supporter of Lee Dixon and the players I disagreed with him and, one or two messages and very little sense later, I told him that he should check his sources and get back to me before the end of the season. Funnily enough, I have not heard from him since!

Steve 'The Beast' Lewis struck the winner
against Holyhead..

Looking back at the first month of 2015, it was certainly a period where we lost a lot of ground in the race for the title and I think there were obvious reasons for a relatively mediocre run of results. Everything had been going well up to Christmas week, with the team close to Llandudno and looking good for a title challenge.

However, Lee decided to let Moses Barnett and Lee McArdle leave the club and this was understandable, as both had been on the bench in recent weeks. Unfortunately, he lost another defender immediately after, when it was announced that Clive Williams would be out for the remainder of the season due to injury. Danny Murphy also left the Oval and so the squad suddenly had a threadbare look about it almost overnight. The gaffer brought in the experienced Dave Morley and was also looking to make more additions. In January, striker Cory Williams left for Chester and Lee replaced him with former Rhyl forward Steve Lewis. The changes in personnel obviously had an effect on the team and, for the first few weeks of the new year, things did not appear to run as smoothly as normal on the pitch. One of the biggest changes was that Lewis is an old-fashioned centre forward who is big and strong and, having not had that type of frontman in the past, the team took time to adapt to his strengths. Having said this, it was obvious that he had something about him as a footballer and, after an initial settling down period, the Beast soon started firing.   

Jamie McDaid proving Neville Powell wrong on a
weekly basis.

January’s return of five points from four matches saw Llandudno and Guilsfield steal a march on us and therefore, for the team to have got back in contention now is testament to the hard work the players have put in. It also says a lot about the way Lee has managed to tweak the formation to one that can fully utilise the excellent offensive players he has in the squad. In my opinion, Darren Thomas, Jamie McDaid, Steve Lewis and the Punisher, Carl Owen, have proved an excellent strike force in recent weeks and it goes to show that, despite taking one or two matches to work things out, quality players can usually find a way to work together.  Of course, the recent impressive run of results is not just about the strikers and the whole team has been exceptional during a ten match period that has resulted in the late title charge.

The performances in past weeks have also proved that there is absolutely nothing wrong with team morale, despite what my ‘friend’ told me on Twitter weeks ago. How many times have we seen the team show character and resilience to find a way to win matches against good teams? Home victories over Llandudno and Caersws, and Tuesday’s impressive win against the odds at Holyhead have been recent highlights and you can’t get results like that without a happy changing room.

Lee taking his usual place in the home dugout for the final time last Saturday.

I confess to having missed the trip to Holyhead on Tuesday but from what I have heard, the players were exceptional and they needed to be against a good Hotspur side that included Jay Gibbs. Of all the players who have left the club this season, Jay is the one I really wish was still with us at the Oval. He is a cracking player and I always thought we looked really good when he played in our midfield. For whatever reason, Jay always seems to return to his hometown club but I hope that he’ll come back to the Oval one day to carry on where he left this season. Although I couldn’t make it to Holyhead, I was still able to follow the match on twitter, where I thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments coming from Llandudno FC’s official account. Fair play to the person who made the trip and braved the weather but I’m sure I wasn’t the only Caernarfon Town supporter who found his tweets entertaining, in a guilty kind of way!

Grahame Austin re-enters the fray after an injury lay-off.

Ywain Gwynedd leading by example against Caersws. 

Finally, I found Town’s victory over Caersws on Saturday a bitter sweet experience as, whilst obviously delighted at the result, it was also a sad occasion in that it happened to be Lee’s last home match as manager of Caernarfon Town. To be fair to the players, they gave the Gaffer a second half display to remember, and it was great that they gave him, and the home supporters, the victory we all wanted. But it was not all about Lee, as Jamie McDaid scored two more goals for the Cofis, and he continues to show on a weekly basis the folly of Neville Powell’s reluctance to put him in the team at Bangor. It was also great to see Grahame Austin’s return after injury as he entered the fray in the second half.
Special mention should also be made of Ywain Gwynedd, who has led by example as captain in Grahame’s absence.

Incidentally, Saturday afternoon had started well for me, as I met lifelong Caernarfon Town supporter Gareth  Morris, who had been one of the first to order my Oval Ways and Treble Days book. Gareth originally hails from Town and now lives in Cardiff and, having corresponded via the Cofis Dre forum and email over the years, it was really nice to finally get to meet him!   

I was really pleased to meet Gareth Morris on Saturday. 

And so to this Saturday, with the Canaries travelling to Caersws and still harbouring hopes of  winning the Huws Gray Alliance League. Llandudno travel to Penycae and are obviously favourites to win but we’re still in with a shout and as Jimmy Greaves used to say, it’s a funny old game.

Paul.

    

Just Like Watching Alan Brazil, Dicko’s Last Time and the Canaries Club Launch.

I am writing this blog entry for Harry, a Caernarfon Town supporter who twice last week reprimanded me for being inactive, and warned me to be sure I write two entries this week!

The subject of Caernarfon Town Football Club can pop up when you least expect it and I happened across such a scenario last week at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

Those who know me will be aware that I had a kidney transplant in 2009 and of course I am therefore required to attend regular appointments at both the Royal and Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool, and renal unit in Ysbyty Gwynedd, where I had my dialysis six years ago.

The consultant who looks after me is a massive Liverpool fan (and why not?) and we always discuss the latest goings on at Anfield. Last week I gave him a copy of my Oval Ways book, by way of thanking him for everything he had done for me. To my surprise, the consultant turned to his assistant and asked if she knew where the Oval is situated. Much to my chagrin she replied in the negative, to which the consultant explained to her that to some people, the Oval is a famous cricket ground. However, to those who live in North Wales and have a passing interest in football, the real Oval is in Caernarfon, where the Canaries play!

I was impressed by his obvious appreciation of the finer things in life, and even more so when he continued by stating: “The Oval is where the supporters sing that watching their team is like watching Brazil!”    

I could not have described it better myself, although of course it has not always exactly been like this for us. In fact, if memory serves me right, I seem to recall this mantra once being uttered by one George Byrne, who managed Town for a thankfully short stint from January to October 1990. To be fair to our former manager he seemed proud to manage the club and obviously did his best but it seemed to me at the time that Mr Byrne was not short of confidence, and was certainly ready to talk to the local paper about how good his players were. Unfortunately, the only Brazil his team resembled was not that of the legendary Pele, Zico, Socrates and Rivellino variety, but rather that of the Alan variant when he played for Manchester United. All perm, little substance and disappointing results. In fact, the only thing that really stands out to me from Byrne’s time in charge was an incident involving his son, Paul, when he executed a full-blown rugby tackle on a passing striker. It was so fierce that JPR would have been proud of it and, come to think of it, JPR would probably have made a better defender for us than Byrne Junior.

This takes me nicely to the subject of rugby and the impressive way in which  Conwy Borough FC had promoted last saturday as an ‘event’ at their ground. They had posters outside and within the ground, advertising the Under 8’s match between the teams, and also that the clubhouse was open and BT Sport was showing live from 12pm. It also mentioned that the big rugby match between Wales and Ireland would be shown on the big screen for anyone who, for some reason, did not fancy the real match being played on the football pitch outside! In all seriousness, this is not something I see in many grounds, including ours if truth be known, and I hope their efforts were rewarded with increased revenue!

I also want to mention something I read on Conwy's official website. As Caernarfon’s Press Officer I am responsible or writing our match reports and, although I readily admit that they’re not of the highest quality, I always do try and give as fair and balanced an opinion as I can of the match. It is my opinion, however, that reports on some other clubs’ websites do not always credit both teams and some even have an edge of bitterness about them, if their team has lost. How many times have we read “Caernarfon can count themselves lucky to have won” or words to that affect?

Anyway, Conwy Borough’s report of Saturday’s match certainly does not fall under that category and I applaud the author and the team’s manager Aden Shannon for the generous words included in the piece:      

Aden Shannon "We gifted them three goals and you just can't do that with teams like Caernarfon as they will punish you. For me I think they are the best team in the league and have great quality going forward. I wish their outgoing manager Lee Dixon all the best in the future."

Classy stuff from a good club.

Just £5 to see Darren Thomas.

The past two days, I've enjoyed the snooker at Venue Cymru and it’s been excellent stuff! I’ve seen four matches lasting a total of ten hours over two days, and have seen the current World Champion and World Number One Mark Selby, and two former World Champions, Peter Ebdon and Shaun Murphy in action. I also had a photo taken with World Number Two Neil Robertson. And all this cost me was the princely sum of £10.50p! Seriously excellent value for money from World Snooker that again proves how much professional football is taking advantage of supporters with their overcharged and overhyped ‘product’. In fact, the only other place I can see world class talent for a fiver is at the Oval, where we can get to see Darren Thomas plying his trade! 

How the Chairman might look on saturday.

This Saturday is shaping up to be a memorable one for Caernarfon Town, with the visit of Caersws seeing Lee Dixon sitting in the Oval dug-out for the last time as manager of the Cofis. It hardly seems possible that three years have passed since Lee took over the hotseat, and what a wonderful time we’ve had since he joined us. The team was fifth in the Welsh Alliance League (Div 1) when the Board appointed and here we are, three years and five trophies later, and in second position in the Cymru Alliance. I will be looking at Lee achievements in more detail soon but suffice to say, he’s been brilliant for Caernarfon Town and if ever someone from Bangor can be called an Honorary Cofi, Lee is the one! I hope we have a brilliant turn-out and a victory, the Gaffer deserves it!

It will also result in the Chairman looking like this behind his desk!

The second significant occurrence at the Oval this Saturday is the launch of the Canaries Supporters Club. For more information about the launch and how to join the club, please follow this link to their superb new website: http://clwbcanariesclub.wix.com/clwb-canaries-club

Although this is the official launch, I know that the committee currently in place has been working extremely hard to put it all together in a professional and relevant manner. The Canaries have had representatives at the football club’s last two meetings and this is something the Caernarfon Town committee is keen to continue, so by joining the Canaries, it is guaranteed that the supporters’ voice will be heard.  

I was a member of the Canaries Club many years ago, and will be joining it again too. At £10 for a full membership and £5 for juniors, every supporter should seriously consider joining.

The Gaffer just wasn't sure who was sitting where....

There's still no news of Lee's replacement, with the committee having recently announced that they have entered the second stage of their recruitment process. Whoever is appointed has a hard job on his hands to follow Lee but at the very least I imagine he will be better than the Gaffer at co-ordinating the pre-season squad photo!

These are interesting times indeed at the Oval.

I hope you enjoyed it Harry!!  

Paul. 

Appreciating The Punisher.

Darren Thomas, Nathan Craig and Jamie McDaid are names that I feature often in my Caernarfon Town match reports. The reasons for this are numerous, and include the fact that they create and score goals regularly, are amongst the club’s highest profile signings, and are local talents who would grace the top tier of Welsh football (despite what Neville Powell may think, when you consider the lack of opportunities Jamie had at Bangor recently). Every good team has players that stand out and can make things happen in matches and, in my opinion, these are the three that seem to have done it more than most for Caernarfon Town in recent months. All are excellent footballers and I would go so far as to say that all three would have been pushing for places in John King's FA Cup team in the mid-eighties. Imagine how good Darren would have been in a team consisting of Martindale, Higgins, Ray Woods, Steve Craven and Austin Salmon! What a thought!!

Of course, other players influence matches in different ways and, whilst the plaudits are usually handed out to playmakers and goalscorers, I believe the Canaries have a number of unsung heroes in the squad who have proved an essential part of another impressive campaign.

Before continuing with this theme I’m sure that some people may question why I’m calling this a successful campaign, as it seems that may not achieve our goal of winning the league. In fact, judging by one or two comments I have heard recently, I have felt obliged to check the league table for confirmation that the team is still in the top three! However, the fact is, we’re currently second placed in the Huws Gray Alliance League, behind an excellent Llandudno side that is enjoying a wonderfully consistent season.

Yes, we would all love for the Canaries to be top of the table, and no one more than Lee and the players, but to be behind just one team in the second tier of Welsh football at this stage of the season is something we could only dream of just two seasons ago, so I think it’s been a pretty successful campaign up to this point. Maybe people have become accustomed to unequivocal success in the last three seasons and expect nothing less than trophies and titles, but it intrigues me that many were quick to criticise the team in January when results were not the best, but very few have mentioned the unbeaten run we’re now on, which was extended to eight matches following the excellent victory over Conwy.

As always, the three points were secured by a lots of effort, great teamwork and a little magic and I was really pleased to see one of this season’s unsung heroes getting on the scoresheet as reward for another excellent performance. Carl Owen arrived at the Oval last summer with a good reputation and not a little air of expectancy amongst Cofi supporters. Looking at his career in the game, Carl represented four clubs during a decade long period in the Welsh Premier League, where he scored 64 goals in 213 appearances, 39 of which were as a substitute. Having started out with his home town club, Bangor, he found first team opportunities limited (now there’s a surprise!) and moved on to Porthmadog, where he enjoyed five excellent campaigns, before winning the WPL title with Rhyl in 2008/9. He spent two seasons at Airbus returning to Porthmadog and despite suffering a broken leg in 2011/12, Carl fought his way back into the first team, where he remained before he joined us at the Oval.

I imagine this has been a difficult season in some ways for Carl, who has found himself in and out of the team. Having said this, he has been involved throughout the season and made a substantial, if somewhat overlooked contribution to the team. I was really pleased when Lee told me that Carl had signed, as I knew of him, and had always liked him as a striker. A good leader of the line, he is strong in the air and, as his Welsh Premier League record proves, he also has an eye for goal.

Unfortunately for Carl, he did not start the season in goalscoring form and has found it hard to get into the starting line-up. It took him six matches to score his first goal for the club but the manager obviously has great faith in him as he has featured in twenty eight of the team’s thirty two matches thus far, finding the net on seven occasions.

However, these statistics do not paint an accurate picture of Carl’s contribution this season and I think it’s fair to say that he has been something of an unsung hero. Carl’s strength is in leading the front line, holding the ball up and bringing others into the game. By effectively doing this, Carl has given his team-mates, such as Darren, Jamie and certainly Steve Lewis recently, the space to make their mark in the game. Of course, I’m not saying that their good form is solely down to Carl, but he has certainly been a part in giving them the platform to affect matches. He has an impressive workrate and even found time to work on his fitness by doing some press-ups at Conwy (above left) whilst the defence were thwarting a home attack! 

It’s been great to see Carl named the supporters’ man of the match in the recent victories over Rhydymwyn and Conwy, in which he has scored three goals. His second against Rhydymwyn was probably his best for Caernarfon up to now, and showed the quality he possesses in front of goal. Judging by the photo I took of the celebrations after the net-finder (right), Nathan Craig also believed it was a special strike!

He seems to have struck up a good partnership with Steve Lewis and, judging from Steve’s comment on Twitter after the Conwy match, the ‘Beast’ agrees: “He's a quality player. He leads the line and allows me to drop in and get on the ball.”

There are only four more matches to play this season and I hope Carl manages to carry on his good form. I also hope he’s with us again next season, as I would love to see ‘The Punisher’ at the Oval for another campaign.   

** Incidentally, I should point out that I predicted Carl’s excellent performance in the Rhydymwyn match, as the poster (left) proves!