Five Matches, Twelve Teams, Big Gaz and the Field of Dreams.

My last written blog took us up to our defeat at Prestatyn before Christmas and I finished it with a few words about the post-match interview I had carried out with Town manager Iwan Williams during which he’d said he was looking for an immediate reaction to the defeat by the players, beginning with the match at home to Porthmadog.

Three victories and two draws from the next five fixtures since the trip to Bastion Gardens suggests to me that the players have responded well and yet there remains a sense of disappointment amongst a handful of supporters I’ve spoken to, who seem to expect the team to coast to victory every time it takes to the field. In some ways I can’t blame them for this, especially following last season’s success, but in reality I believe that a return of eight points out of twelve and a cup tie victory over the last month has been pretty good. Prestatyn’s unbelievable run of form probably casts a false shadow of mediocrity over Caernarfon’s recent results but we remain second placed in the league and are still in two cup competitions so it can’t be as bad as some would have us believe.

Gaz Edwards.

Before looking back at those matches, it’s worth mentioning that the interview with Gareth Edwards published earlier this month has proved the most popular item I’ve posted on the blog, with over eighteen hundred views thus far. I’m sure the reason for this is Gaz’ popularity but I also suspect that a fair number of people will have taken a look in the hope of finding out how he manages to keep those teeth so white!       

Of course, the standout fixture of the past weeks was the Gwynedd Derby with Porthmadog. Matches between the sides are always fiercely competitive and in recent seasons we seem to have enjoyed an edge over our local neighbours, which continued on December 27^th. It was not the best of matches, it has to be said, and after an explosive start, proceedings tailed off for long periods. It was never short of intriguing, however, and whilst goalmouth action was at a premium, there were plenty of blood and thunder challenges from both sets of players to warm up those of us freezing on the terraces!

And, as you’ll probably already know, there were plenty in attendance, with a crowd of 1247 having paid at the turnstiles to see the friendly rivals going head to head. Matches between us always produce large crowds and in the lead up to this latest instalment I am sure that most local football enthusiasts would have predicted a decent turn-out. I don’t think there were any other matches in the vicinity on the day and so, in addition to supporters of both clubs, the crowd was swollen greatly by a large number of casual football followers turning up to escape the obligatory turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches that turn up on our dinner tables during the last week of every year.

Jamie Breese celebrates his goal against Porthmadog in front of a bumber Christmas crowd.

The club’s social media platforms were full of great comments about the size of the crowd and of course this led to yet more questions being asked about the lack of interest in the Welsh Premier League. Readers of the blog will already know that I believe the top tier has become nothing more than a borefest in recent years due to the dominance of The New Saints and the baffling twelve team format that the FAW persists with.

It was recently announced that the league would remain in its current format although the particulars of the FAW Council’s vote have proved hard to obtain thus far. The governing body’s Head of Competitions Andrew Howard has suggested that I get in touch with one of the two area representatives on the Council which I have done and hopefully this may shed some light on the matter. Someone has suggested that one of the reasons the FAW wants to keep the league to twelve teams is because they fear a dilution of quality by increasing the league to sixteen but my answer to this would be that Caernarfon Town have won three out of five competitive matches against WPL teams in the past two seasons and other second tier sides have also fared well recently against supposedly superior opposition ie Holyhead, Denbigh and Holywell.

Whatever the reasons for the decision, and I still aim to find out, one thing the FAW cannot get away from is that the Cymru Alliance League is every bit as entertaining and competitive as the top tier, if not more so. Attendances in the second tier are certainly comparable to those in the WPL and whilst the Christmas derby crowd may well have been a one-off, the low numbers of people watching fixtures in the Premier League would suggest that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the flagship competition. It doesn’t seem to me that anyone is listening and whilst the powers that be may be hanging on to the coat tails of The New Saints’ record of successive victories as proof that is all is well then I must ask that whilst the champions are running riot, I wonder who, in Wales, is watching?

Danny Brookwell during the Gwynedd Derby.  

I would suggest that all those who believe the WPL has exclusive rights to quality football in this country should take a look at Danny Brookwell’s stunning goal in our Christmas victory over Porthmadog. It’s available on twitter and facebook, and there are many more of equal value from across the second tier on social media if anyone doubts how good the football is any worse than that offered by the ‘top twelve’.

The festive win over our neighbours was followed with a comfortable league cup victory over Denbigh, with the highlights being first goals for the senior side for both Jamie Roberts and Aaron Davies-Thomas. Recent signing Jamie has made a good start to his time at the Oval and there’s definitely more to come from him whilst sixteen year old striker Aaron has already started making a name for himself as a real goal poacher. Both are great prospects for the club!

The side returned to league action seven days later and the trip to Gresford proved a fruitful one, although it must be said that the hosts proved more than a handful for the Cofis in a thrilling first half. Gresford had been playing well of late, with new manager Steve Halliwell making an impressive start to his stint at the helm. They were in confident mood following an unbeaten run of five matches, four of which they’d won, and twice they took the lead before Darren Thomas led the Canaries to a 5-2 triumph. The Cofi Messi was in imperious form on the day, running through his array of trickery on his way to a hat-trick, which he completed with an obscene run past three defenders before sliding the ball into the onion bag. Rhyl manager Niall McGuinness was in attendance to run the rule over his side’s Welsh Cup opponents and I wonder how he plans to nullify  our talisman? Of course, putting a plan together is one thing, but carrying it out successfully is a much harder task.

Messi scores on his way to a hat-trick at Gresford.

We were given a very nice welcome from the club itself and I enjoyed the afternoon, despite ruining my trainers, making it the second pair in two visits to the ground that I’ve had to bin! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some ‘hard standing’ all around the pitch the next time I visit!

A second Oval encounter inside a fortnight against Denbigh followed and my delight at not seeing Jonathan Hill-Dunt standing between the sticks at Gresford was quickly forgotten when I saw him in goal for the Central Park oufit! I don’t have anything against the big man but he always seems to have a blinder against Caernarfon and, rather frustratingly, he enjoyed another one with his new team as they held us to a draw.

The visitors were a much improved outfit to the one who lost so convincingly in the league cup just thirteen days previously and, whilst I don’t believe the Canaries were at their best, Denbigh played well and were full value for their share of the spoils. Caernarfon started slowly and got frustrated as the match wore on, which obviously gave their opponents confidence to play for the victory. They were two goals up and fifteen minutes away from doing just this until Jamie Breese struck a cracker to halve the deficit. Danny Brookwell pulled us level soon after and the last ten minutes were excellent, as both sides went searching for the winner. It was end to end stuff and although we probably went closest to scoring the winner, Danny Sullivan hitting the header and Kevin Lloyd seeing his netfinder ruled offside, Denbigh could just as easily have won the match, as they too went close to a decisive goal.

Thomas, Kim and Nathan. Un Clwb.

I was summoned to the Oval on the Sunday to take photos for use on a new project Town supporter Alex Philp is putting together, where supporters can pay to put their names on a personalised printed bricks to go alongside club legends at the Hendre End Stand. His son, Thomas, was there, as were Kim Broadbent and Nathan Craig so we had representatives from the Academy, and ladies and men’s sides and it was brilliant to see the one club ethos working properly on a new and exciting venture. Here’s the link where you can buy the personalised bricks:  
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caernarfon-Town-Wall-Of-Fame-brick-/302203374009?hash=item465cb989b9%3Ag%3ApG8AAOSwo4pYhM3d

Last Saturday we travelled to Penrhyncoch (or Penrhyn cock if you’re Buckley’s half-time announcer!) and, rather worryingly, the side again started slowly, taking most of the first half to warm up before reaching, and maintaining, the high tempo football they are capable of. 

I travel solo to most away matches these days and, having been to Cae Baker just once before I put my trust in the sat nav to get me there, which it did, but only after a worrying two and a bit mile rollercoaster ride up, and down, a muddy and winding country lane! For some reason, the film  Deliverance came to mind but I was at least comforted in the knowledge I was not far from the ground because the driver in front of me was Town keeper Alex Ramsay! Like me, he too seemed confused by the sat nav’s chosen route, but at least we didn’t happen across any dueling banjos!!

Kev Lloyd jumps up to head in the equaliser against Penrhyncoch.

The match itself was no classic and yet it was an enjoyable encounter, albeit another frustrating one for Cofi supporters. Having gone behind before the break I expected the players to re-appear from their half-time pep talk with the manager with renewed vigour and they certainly did, taking the game to the hosts and when Kevin Lloyd headed in the equaliser on the hour mark, I’m sure that most of us at the ground thought we were in with a real chance of victory. Such was Caernarfon’s dominance in the closing stages that I half-expected Michael Caine and Stanley Baker to appear in their red jackets, but a combination of desperate defending and excellent goalkeeping secured an unlikely point for them.

The post-match interview with Iwan was quite hard to carry out because I could see he was frustrated at the result. However, as I’ve often mentioned in the blog, he never shies away from sharing his opinion and, as a supporter, I’d much rather hear the manager giving an honest opinion than trying to gloss things over. It certainly helped listening to it on the way back home as I took part in what seemed like the famous final scene from the movie Field of Dreams, so bad was the traffic due to the endless stream of Ivor Williams trailers clogging up the road!

Before moving on, I feel I must thank the person who decided to help warm us up on a freezing afternoon by burning something in their garden whilst the match was going on. The action may have been hard to follow due to the thick smog that emanated from their efforts but at least it kept us all warm!

Next up is Saturday’s massive Welsh Cup tie with Rhyl, which is one of the club’s biggest match in recent years. As a Welsh Premier League side, the Lillywhites obviously start the match as favourites and whilst they knocked us out of the Word Cup earlier this season I am quietly confident about our prospects this time around. Iwan has a threadbare squad available for the match but they’re all quality players and can be sure of a big, and vocal following to push them on.

The television cameras will be there, the local media will be there and the Cofi Army will be there.  I can’t wait!!

Come on Town!!