I’m sure we all have football grounds that we enjoy
visiting more than others and one of my favourite destinations as a Caernarfon
Town supporter is Holywell’s Halkyn Road.
My first visit to the ground was in the late
seventies when I attended a Cup tie with my grandfather, who was chairman of
our village side, Mountain Rangers. I can vaguely recall a cold Saturday
afternoon watching my Taid’s team, in their black and white striped shirts,
against what I perceived back then to be an English side. I now know they’re
not, but back then, a trip up the A55 past Conwy may well have been, such was
the rarity of travelling too far from Rhosgadfan. I don’t recall too much about
the match itself but am sure it ended in a draw.
In more recent times, of course, my visits have
been in support of the Canaries, and matches have included League of Wales
encounters, the infamous Battle of Halkyn Road during our treble campaign of
2012/13, and last season’s opening day stalemate.
To use a rather boring footballing idiom, last
year’s encounter had been a match of two halves, where Caernarfon bossed the
first period before the hosts turned the tables in the second, although the
match remained goalless and the points were shared. Our latest visit to the
home of the Wellmen was very similar, with the difference this time being that,
unlike Holywell’s efforts last year,
Caernarfon’s second half performance was good enough to clinch all three
points as the team, and our frontmen especially, ran riot following a half-time
pep talk from Iwan!
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| Clive Williams and Danny Sullivan. |
Of all the matches I’ve seen between the sides, I
am yet to witness anything less than a fiercely contested affair and this
recent tussle proved no different. Iwan changed his starting line-up quite
drastically for this one with Danny Sullivan forming a new centre-half
partnership with Clive Williams, Tom Quinn in at left-back, and debuts for
Jamie Roberts and goalkeeper Alex Ramsay. The make-up of the side was very
different to what we’ve been used to recently and, to be honest, I feared the
worst when the hosts went into an early lead. Holywell started really well and
took advantage of Caernarfon’s disjointed performance before the break,
although I did fell that, despite not being at their best, the Canaries had
enjoyed plenty of possession and, with only a goal separating the sides, the
match was still there to be won. The Caernarfon side that re-emerged for the
second half was much sharper and seemed rejuvenated, as they set about getting
back on level terms. Kevin Lloyd came up trumps with two goals in quick
succession to put us ahead and Danny Brookwell sealed the victory with a superb
individual goal, finished off with a celebration with the Cofi Army! It all
sounds quite simple, but turning the tables on the Wellmen in their own
backyard is anything but straightforward and there was a period when we were
2-1 up that a victory was all but secured when Rob Jones was sent off and the
hosts were then awarded a penalty. Thankfully, Ramsay pulled off a fine save to
keep out the spot kick and, rather than just hanging on, Town still managed to
create a number of opportunities to increase the lead before a very late own
goal by our new keeper made the score look closer than it could have been.
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| Alex Ramsay. |
Followers of the game outside the top tier in Wales
will know that Holywell are a very competitive side and have been for a few
years so to manage the win at their ground under the circumstances was a very
good result. The Wellmen always seem to play in a similar fashion, with quick
strikers up front and an in your face attitude running through the team, and so
to get anything more than a few bumps and bruises from them is a good return.
I’ve mentioned their manager in the blog on more than occasion in the past and
so will refrain from saying much this time around except to say that if the
Cymru Alliance League was a pantomime, the Holy Dean of Hasselwell would surely
be cast as the villain. Good for a bit of banter and full of theatricals, he’s
the perfect fit.
I met Holywell’s chairman, Sean Elliott, for the
first time before the match and enjoyed hearing about the club’s plans for
Halkyn Road. Having recently built a clubhouse at the ground, there’s more work
on its way, including a stand behind one of the goals and it was interesting to
hear how they as a club are also looking to become a part of the community,
much as we are trying to do.
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| Joe going topless.... |
Before moving on, I must mention Joe Williams, who
was forced off with an injury midway through the second half. The Cofi Cafu
came over to watch most of the remaining minutes with the supporters behind the
goal, and it’s not something we generally see with players, but it said a lot
to me that he was as passionate as every single member of the Cofi Army when
Danny Brookwell scored to wrap up the victory! Iwan mentions his One Club ethos
a lot and Joe’s actions proved that the players believe it every bit as much as
we do. However, I must have a word with Joe soon about taking unnecessary risks
with his health by removing his shirt as he walked off the pitch and to the
dressing room
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| The Cofi Cafu joins us to cheer the team on. |
after his injury.
Whilst everyone else in the round were well wrapped up against the elements, Joe decided to go topless, and he paid for it
in the next few says by suffering from the dreaded ‘Manflu’. Thankfully, I’ve
found out that Boots chemists have come up with a new way of combating this
serious illness and I’ve already put in a decent sized order with them for the
new concoction, called ‘Manflu SoupaHero’ (see below). I would, however, still advise Joe to keep his shirt on!
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| One the way! |
The victory would have given the players a huge
lift so soon after the home defeat to Llanfair United a fortnight earlier and I
hoped that the next match, at home to Mold, would not be a case of ‘after the
lord mayor’s show’. Despite playing well, it looked as if this may well prove
to be the case as the visitors frustrated us for eighty five minutes of that
match, successfully frustrating Town with a rearguard action reminiscent of
John Wayne and his gang in the Alamo film. They seemed to have succeeded where
Big John failed right up to the final minutes when Kevin Lloyd popped up with
the winner, racing before his marker to a Jamie Breese cross and flicking the
ball past Mike Jones at the near post. It was a great finish and Kev fully
deserved the praise heaped on him by Iwan in the post-match interview we
carried out. I hope Kev won’t mind me saying this but I remember him telling me
last summer that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to commit the time to
getting himself fit enough for this league and, if he didn’t know it then, he
surely does now! What an impact he’s had since coming back to us from Llanrug!
Although Mold showed little desire to take us on
and played as defensively as if they’d been coached all week by Jose Mourinho,
I can’t blame them for that and they very nearly succeeded in their attempt to
get something from the match. This has
become a theme in recent times at the Oval and whilst I’m not a big fan of such
a pragmatic approach, the only problem I have with it is more to do with the
match officials, who always seem to turn a blind eye to the players’ time
wasting. This was indeed the case during the Mold match and it’s something that
the FAW should look at and try to combat.
Sky Sports would have us all believe
that teams using such tactics are ‘cute’ and like to dress it all up as ‘match
management’ but I prefer to watch football matches with the ball in play and
not in the keeper’s hands, or awaiting a defender to fetch it for a restart.
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| Messi's disallowed goal against Mold. What a finish! |
After the match, I carried out a joint interview
with Iwan and Kev Lloyd, and another one with our recent signing, Jamie
Roberts. I remember Jamie playing against us last year for Holyhead and thought
he was a very good player, so was pleased to hear that Iwan had brought him to
the Oval.
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| Jamie Roberts. |
Having played for the reserves in their victory over their
counterparts from Llandudno Junction Jamie made his first team debut for us in
Holywell and was outstanding. From what
I’ve seen of him, he is quick, has great control and movement and in fact looks
ideal for the way Iwan wants the team to play. Just as importantly, he is also
a really nice guy and I’m sure Jamie will prove to be another massive coup for
the manager and the club.
I had originally planned on including the
Carmarthen and Buckley victories in this blog but have decided against it as I
suspect it’s already overlong as it is. Therefore, I’ll be looking at those
encounters, and the return of Leigh Craven and one of my favourite players, Jay
Gibbs, next time around. With a bit of luck I may also be able to publish an
interview with a member of Iwan’s first team background staff….
Top notch Paul. Da iawn.
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