Gaz, Pen-Pics and Seamus O’Shaunessy.

I’ve just realised that February marked six years since the club was saved from folding by Arfon Jones and the committee. And here we are, two thirds of the way through the team’s third season in the Cymru Alliance League and top of the table with just ten matches to go. Ten cup finals from reaching our dream of getting the club back to the Welsh Premier League. I had better not pinch myself in case I wake up….

Of course, if someone had offered me this position at the beginning of the season I would have jumped at it and yet there’s a part of me that is trying not to think too much about what might be at the end of the season. There’s a famous old adage in football that I think is probably the best, and soundest advice in the game: To take one match at a time. It’s meaning is obvious and sensible, but just how hard is it as a supporter to not to look further ahead and imagine what lies ahead?!

Try as I might to adhere to the saying, I just can’t help but thinking about the remaining matches we have in the league. Caernarfon are four points ahead of second-placed Cefn Druids, and although they do have one match in hand we still have to visit the Rock to face Huw Griffiths’ side. This, of course, means that the title is in the Cofis’ own hands which is all we could ask for.

And, having seen Town’s recent victory over Holyhead on Saturday, I think we have a real chance of going all the way!

However, before looking at the fine victory over the Harbourmen I think it’s worth taking a quick backwards glance at last week’s abandoned match with Caersws.

Seamus O’Shaunessy?

First of all, I must confess to being happy that the referee called the match off when he did. The  worsening weather was making it increasingly dangerous for the players, not to mention making it impossible for them to play. On a personal, and selfish note, I also feared that continuing with the match may have cost us points as it had all the hallmarks of a goalless draw. Town always try to play the ball on the ground but it had become impossible to do this from the opening ten minutes onwards and, whilst not wanting to be dismissive of Caersws, I always feel that such bad conditions can be a great leveller between teams and I could see them possibly earning a point by sticking every player behind the ball and working hard to frustrate Town.

Interestingly, after Buckley had used Patrick Kielty in goal against us the previous week, Caersws decided on a guest goalkeeper of their own, somehow persuading professional wrestler Seamus O’Shaunessy to help out. This didn’t seem to phase Jamie Breese though, as he clearly wasn’t about to back away from any confrontation, as seen in the photo to the left.  

I had not originally planned to write a match report for the website as it would obviously be a non-event in the record books, and to be honest there was not too much to report on! However, I ended up completing one and, although it won’t mean much to anyone else, I have to add to the report that my man of the match was Toby Jones. Toby has had to bide his time on the bench since returning to the club recently and was obviously chomping at the bit against Caersws, and it showed! The heavy, and wet, pitch don’t really suit Toby’s style of play and yet I thought he stood out on the day, and was looking lively in the attacking third of the pitch. We all know how good Toby can be, and I am sure it’s only a matter of time before he starts getting back on the score sheet.

The pen-pic is on it's way, Gaz....

It was obviously disappointing that the weather spoiled, and ended, the match but it was certainly the correct call from the ref and the biggest disappointment of the day for me was the injuries sustained by Clive Williams and Kevin Lloyd. I spoke with them both on Saturday and they hope to return to the squad very soon, which is a relief, as we’ll need all the players available for the remainder of the season.

Before moving on, I must own up to a slightly worrying moment when Gareth Edwards told me he had a bone to pick with me. The object of his discontent was that he’d been reading the match programme and noticed his pen pic had not been included with the remainder of the squad. Gaz is an imposing figure at around 6’5” and, to be perfectly honest, I was already thinking of a quick retreat when I took a leaf out of every football manager and politIcians’ book and passed the blame on to someone else, in this case the club secretary, Geraint Jones. Thankfully, I saw a hint of a smile on Gareth’s face as I stumbled out my excuses and can only say that we’ll have to put the record straight and make sure it’s in the programme from now on!

And so, onto Saturday’s excellent performance against a dogged Holyhead side at the Oval.

Recent encounters against Hotspur have been very tight affairs with draws and odd-goal victories the norm, and there was no reason to expect anything different on Saturday. For once against the Harbourmen though I  always had the feeling Caernarfon would be too strong for them. That’s not to take anything away from Holyhead as I think they’re a very competitive side with great organisation throughout the team. And, in Carl Jones, they have one of the league’s top stoppers in goal. Watching the keeper partaking in some banter with the supporters behind his goal can also be great fun, although things do tend to get a bit heated at times!  

On the day, however the Canaries were too good for them, despite what I thought was a concentrated effort by the visitors to try and bully Town out of their usual playing style. They were a real physical challenge for Caernarfon but, not for the first time this season, the players refused to be give an inch and got their just rewards.

Holyhead seemed content to sit back in their own half and wait to counter-attack in search of finding a goal which I think is slightly negative but they’re good at playing this way so who can blame them?

Jay Gibbs was excellent against Holyhead.

Still friends.

Iwan made four changes to his starting line-up and whilst one returnee, Darren Thomas, was named the supporters man of the match, it was Nathan Craig who got the vote from me. With Chris Williams having returned to action in the left-back berth, Nathan was given a more advanced role on the left side, and his deliveries from that position, were excellent. The fact that he provided assists for both goals on Saturday speaks for itself and I would agree with Iwan’s post-match assertion that, technically, he's the best player in the league'. Nathan is enjoying another impressive season for the team and, in addition to his numerous assist during the campaign he’s also chipped in with nine league goals! A special mention to  Jay Gibbs too, who played as well  as I've seen him this season against his former club. 

Talking of the manager, he was on the end of some banter from the chairman before the match and was even reminded by Arfon that he still has Lee Dixon’s phone number just in case things start going wrong on the pitch! Thankfully, they were still on speaking terms even after this threat, as seen in the photo above!  

Ready to play in his skins.

Although the rain kept clear on Saturday, it was still bitterly cold at the Oval and everyone, apart from Kevin Roberts, felt it. Town’s bone-crunching midfielder, however, is made of sterner stuff than all of us mere mortals, and was ready to play in his boxer shorts until the manager sent him back to the changing rooms to put his kit on! Kevin wisely took his advice but I’ve been told he wasn’t too  happy about it…. 

I saw Grahame Austin after the match and he told me that he’d struggled to get back to his position for the restart after scoring his goal which, to be honest, had been apparent to everyone in the ground. To be fair to the captain however, he had also been bear hugged by Superfan John Watkins during the celebrations and this would have taken the breath out of anyone, so he’s excused this time around! 

Grahame Austin celebrates his goal against Holyhead.

A two hour drive awaits us on Saturday as the team travels to Rhayader and, whilst not looking forward to the journey, I can’t wait to see the team in action again. I’ve only been to their Weirglodd Ground once before, being the final match of last season, and I thought it had a certain charm. I  don’t think I’m wrong in saying that the stands have seen better days, but it’s a nice setting and everyone was very welcoming, apart from one or two spectators who Grahame Austin had to put in their place during the match!

We won that match 2-0 and I’m sure we’d all settle for the same result this time around.

Come on the Town!   

          

     

Breesey, Paps and Kielty!

I signed off the last blog with a quote from Rocky Balboa: “It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.  That’s how winning is done….”

I used it because the Canaries had just suffered a disappointing home defeat to Guilsfield and Sylvester Stallone’s words seemed apt, given that it’s all about bouncing back from adversity and moving forward. I was pleased to read a Tweet from Town manager Iwan Williams soon afterwards stating that ‘Moving forward is what we’ll keep on doing’.

I’m pleased to say that, in the two matches since that reverse against Danny Barton’s side, the Cofis have done just that, as they bounced back with excellent victories over Porthmadog and Buckley Town. 

The visit of Porthmadog to the Oval on January 30^th was always going to prove a tough challenge for Caernarfon. Craig Papyrnik is doing a good job at the Traeth and some will think they were unlucky to lose to against us earlier in the season. The match had been played in near torrential rain which had made it difficult for the sides to play much football and, although Caernarfon had enjoyed more goalscoring opportunities than their hosts on the night, Port had felt aggrieved when a last gasp ‘equaliser’ by Cai Jones had been ruled offside by the referee.

Anyway, the encounter at the Oval two weeks ago was an absolute thriller and, for me anyway, perfectly summed up the term ‘local derby’. Both sides were fully committed, both with their football and their tackles and, with an impressive five hundred and sixty seven spectators having walked through the turnstiles, there was great atmosphere at the ground. 

I should point out that the crowd at the Oval was the biggest of the weekend in the Welsh Pyramid System and the photo included here (left) shows a scene not often seen in the top tier: spectators queuing to get into the ground! I hope the FAW takes note of such things because it's a sure indication that, given the opportunity of seeing attractive matches, people will turn up in numbers.  

Darren scoring the opener against Porthmadog.

Caernarfon were very much in the ascendency in the first half and really should have been three or four goals up at the break but a combination of the visiting keeper and the woodwork meant that a lone goal by Darren Thomas was all they had to show for all their creativity. I was well placed for a photograph of the netfinder but, not for the first time, I had the wrong setting on, and so the shot  I took did not come out quite as I expected. It may not have been good enough for the club's facebook page but at least I can show it here. 

The second period was very different as Port enjoyed parity in possession and  played with more urgency and purpose going forward. Having said this, the Cofis still created the more clear cut opportunities to score and it came as a relief when Kevin Roberts added a second goal, heading in from close range. Unfortunately, I missed the goal with my camera because any kind  of header from Kev ‘Bach’ is a real collector’s item, never mind a net finder! Incidentally, the cross from Rob Jones for the goal was sublime, which is not such a rare occurrence! 

"Back it in the box, Rob, and I'll get my head to it!"

Port managed to halve the deficit when Julian Williams struck a rocket into the top of Pritchard’s net and, despite one or two near misses, and a few missed opportunities of our own, we held on to the three points. I read the match report on Port’s website and thought it was excellent. I know how hard it is to write a report, especially after a defeat, and it can sometimes be easy to blame the referee, the pitch and everyone except the team, but the writer, Geraint Williams, is fair in his analysis, although I would not agree with him that the visitors had controlled the second half territorially.

It’s easy to criticise other clubs for being parochial and, from time to time I have mentioned one or two instances that have disappointed me ie Guilsfield’s 'Three Wise Men', but it’s also just as easy to commend someone for being a good sport and a decent person. Porthmadog manager Craig Papyrnik is one of these people and I have to say he impressed me after the match when he shook hands with Nathan Craig and I and wished us the best of luck in the title run-in. He didn’t have to do that and I can think of many who wouldn’t, so it was a good way to end the afternoon. I’ve noticed his team have now lost their last three matches and I hope they can soon turn around their form. They’ve certainly got a better chance now that Jamie McDaid has joined them.

Last week’s League Cup tie with Holywell was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and, although we had tried to re-arrange the match for last Wednesday, other parties were not happy with the proposal, so we’ll have to wait until 9^th March to play the Wellmen. It will be interesting to see how they shape up now following the departure of Steve Lewis. Talking of ‘The Beast’, he scored a hat-trick for Bangor recently and his third goal was a scorcher, lobbing the keeper from thirty five yards. The general consensus has been that it was a wonderful finish from Steve but one well-known Caernarfon Town supporter who was at the ground and saw the goal from a few feet away, is having none of it, and insists it was a fluke and that the Beast only attempted the finish because he was too tired to run for goal! I’m not going to say who the Cofi supporter is, and I think it’s best to leave things like that….

On the day we were defeating Porthmadog, Buckley Town were doing us a favour by drawing with  one of our main title challengers, Cefn Druids. Buckley are a good side so it wasn’t such a surprise that they’d shared the spoils with Druids but it was certainly very welcome news for everyone of a Caernarfon persuasion as it meant we were two points ahead at the top of the league, although Druids have a match in hand.

As it turned out, the Claymen were to be our next opponents and again I believed it was going to be a tough match. I feared another cancellation was on the cards when Buckley posted on their website during the week that their pitch was waterlogged and therefore the fixture was in doubt.

Thankfully, this did not prove to be the case and, despite the heavy pitch, Caernarfon turned in a very impressive performance to win by a comfortable 5-0 margin.

Patrick Kielty or Ben Jones?

Talk before the match had been of the supposed number of players Buckley had unavailable for selection, although I think it’s always best to take such things with a pinch of salt. Having said this, I did start to wonder that things were so bad that Tom Taylor had been forced to call up Patrick Kielty to play in goal for them! I have been assured that it their regular stopper Ben Jones (photo) between the sticks and not the Irish comedian and tv presenter, although I’m still to be convinced! Whilst not really worrying too much about the hosts’ line-up, I had certainly not expected to see Nathan Craig, Jay Gibbs, Darren Thomas, Toby Jones and Joe Williams all named on the bench for the Cofis!

Into the starting eleven came Chris Williams, Kevin Roberts, Kev Lloyd and Zyaac Edwards and I’ll be honest and say it looked a very brave selection from the manager. Not due to the talent and capabilities of those he picked but because so many of his regular starters would be sitting it out together. I should also add that another regular starter in the side, Rob Jones, was unavailable through suspension and so the team had a very different look about it to the usual line-up.

Jamie Breese celebrates the opening goal at Buckley.

The players proved Iwan’s selection was on the money and were good value for the thumping victory. Jamie Breese was named man of the match and rightly so, topping off another hard-working display with a well-taken hat-trick. Incredibly, Jamie had failed to score in the last five matches and had been looking frustrated at this in recent weeks but he was back to his goalscoring best on Saturday and, as a bonus, the goals have put him top of the league’s scoring charts. Having 'Breesey' back amongst the goals is a great sign and, if he can continue for the remainder of the season, and I have no doubt he will, we’ll have a great chance of achieving our goals.

It’s not often that supporters can relax much whilst watching their side, but the second half on Saturday was one of those rare occasions, and I even spotted Kevin Lloyd smiling at an offside decision (left)! 

Special mention should go to Chris Williams on his return to the side after a five month absence due to injury and Zyaac Edwards (left), who was very impressive on his debut. I have been slighty worried that the loss of Ellis Healing could had a big impact on the squad but, having seen Zyaac in action on Saturday, I think he’ll be another fine addition and should be a like for like replacement for Ellis. He has great ball control and looks a quality player who will perfectly fit Iwan’s system. Incidentally, if Airbus can afford to loan us Zyaac, and Ellis before him, then they must be a very special side with an incredible amount of quality!

Four points ahead and eleven matches to go....

It was a great day all round on Saturday because Caernarfon chairman Arfon Jones offered me a lift to and from the match and, as always, we had been joined by the Chairman of Vice, who regaled us with stories, both humorous and obscene, of his days on the beat. Added to this was that Arfon switched on the car seat heaters on the way home, and this helped thaw me after my stint as an ice statue during the match. It really was that cold! And, just to cap off a fine day, news got through to us that Cefn Druids had been held to a 1-1 draw by Holywell, which meant that we increased our lead at the top of the Cymru Alliance League to four points.

I know, we have another eleven league matches to go and anything can happen. There are so many good teams in the league that there are no easy matches but every other team in the Cymru Alliance would swap place with us now.

Six years after going within a few days of folding, the team has a chance of getting back to the top tier. There’s sure to be lots of twists and turns to go before the final whistle of the final match of the season, but we can dream, can’t we?