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….