February may be the shortest month but to me the
2018 version felt the complete opposite. January had ended with defeat for
Caernarfon in the Welsh Cup but the manner of the reverse to The New Saints,
and the team’s impressive performance on the night, certainly filled me with
plenty of enthusiasm and confidence ahead of our final nine matches of the
league campaign.
As mentioned in recent blogs, three successive
draws after the Christmas period had resulted in teams closing the gap on the
Cofis at the top of the table, a sequence that had prompted the rather
predictable appearance of a handful of keyboard warriors questioning the team’s
title credentials.
However, despite what the naysayers would have us
believe, Caernarfon were still ahead of the pack and a narrow victory at Flint
had seen us stay there. With just nine league matches remaining after our
successful visit to Cae y Castell I couldn’t wait to see how Sean and the
players would go about trying to secure the points that will hopefully take us
back to the Welsh Premier League.
Unfortunately, rain and bad weather is the boil on
the face of grassroots football and, as has become the norm in recent years, it
well and truly burst in February to play havoc with the Cymru Alliance fixture
list. Postponements have been rife across the league and whilst no club has not
suffered a completely barren month, fixture-wise, it’s been a very frustrating
time for everyone.
Our first match of last month would have seen us
travel to Ruthin and, following their excellent performance against Welsh
Premier side Llandudno in the Welsh Cup the previous week, I think it’s safe to
say that we were expecting a difficult match. Although we defeated Chris Williams’
side 3-0 at the Oval earlier in the campaign, they had played well and have
proceeded to do so, enjoying a strong season and sitting comfortably in
mid-table. Unfortunately, what had promised to be an interesting afternoon
turned into anything but as a waterlogged pitch forced a late postponement.
There were a few comments on social media that questioned the lateness of the
decision and whilst I agree that it was a late call I also think it’s difficult
for clubs in these situations as we’re all in the hands of match officials.
Adding to everyone’s frustration was the fact that Ruthin had played their last
two home matches at Bala’s Maes Tegid and, in hindsight, it might have been a
decent option to have made arrangements for this again. Having said all this,
Ruthin cannot be blamed for a waterlogged pitch and I look forward to visiting
their ground soon, when we’ll get an opportunity to see all the hard work
they’ve been carrying out on the ground in recent months to make it ‘tier two
compliant’.
During the following week, Jay Gibbs left the club
and Sean brought in his third signing since taking over, bringing Jamie
Crowther to the Oval from Airbus UK. To be honest I knew very little of Jamie
when Sean told me to announce his arrival but, from what I have heard from
others and from looking at his CV, then he seems a high-quality addition to the
squad. I took the opportunity of attending Jamie’s first training session with
his new team-mates and found him to very friendly, and a pretty big unit too! We had a quick chat and carried out an
interview for the club’s youtube channel which you can see via this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAwFx3GEus
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| Sean welcomes Jamie to the club |
Of course, I know a lot more about Jay Gibbs and,
as a supporter I was disappointed to see him leave, but only because I know how
good he is. In the club’s announcement that
Jay was leaving, Sean got it spot on when he said this season has been a
bit stop start for him but once thing I do know is that, when Jay is on form,
he is amongst the best midfielders in the Welsh pyramid. He has all the tools
of a quality midfielder and one of his greatest strengths is that he’s a
winner. I like him as a person too and will miss him around the Oval on match
days. I am convinced he will be a success in the top tier and hope he proves
how good he is now that his suspension is over. Good luck Jay!
Unsurprisingly, our trip to Caersws on the Saturday
was a casualty of the incessant rain and so we had to keep our fingers crossed
and pray to the ‘Weather Gods’ that the fixture at FC Queens Park the following
week would not suffer the same fate. Luckily, someone up above must have been
smiling on us and the side was finally able to return to league action after
four long weeks.
Having enjoyed a slight detour to a bare and empty
ground in Queensway we arrived at a sun drenched Stansty Park rather later than
I’d have liked but with just about plenty of time to sample the local culinary
delights, which included the finest Hot Dogs in the league, after the ones at
the Oval, of course!
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| Bobby with the league's best Hot Dog! |
It was a scrappy start to the match and the hosts
started well. They looked a better outfit than they had at the Oval earlier
this season, although I felt the Cofis had a gear or two up their sleeves after
a quiet opening quarter. The key moment that forced the players to start moving
up those gears was Alex Ramsay’s remarkable fingertip save to push Tomas
Bunclark’s rocket from twenty five yards onto the woodwork. Rambo had been
quiet up to this point but showed his quality and high concentration levels
with one of the finest stops I’ve seen in a long time. The tide swung our way immediately and, once
Jamie Breese put us ahead from the penalty spot, Caernarfon dominated the
action, ending up with an emphatic and not too flattering 8-0 victory.
The supporters voted debutante Jamie Crowther as
their man of the match and rightly so, in my opinion. He will come up against
tougher opposition before the end of the season but, as debuts go, it had
pretty much everything as he pulled the strings in midfield and chipped in with
two goals. Jamie Breese also enjoyed a good afternoon, helping himself to a
hat-trick, whilst Gareth Evans secured a brace and Rhys Roberts got on the
scoresheet to mark an impressive display at left-back. So, an excellent return to action for
Caernarfon and, judging by his post-match interview, Eards was delighted with
his players’ efforts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhr4Wbnpwug
Before moving on, I must mention the excellent
banter between the two management teams on the touchline during the match. I
have no idea if they know each other but I noticed that both managers were
enjoying plenty of laughs as the action unfolded, and even Kev ‘Bone Cruncher’
Roberts got involved, as shown in the photo below!
Guilsfield were our next opponents and they would provide
a very different challenge for the Cofis. The Guils have been one of the best
sides in the Cymru Alliance for a number of years and I cannot remember
anything but a tough match when the sides have met in recent seasons. We
managed to snatch a draw at their place in October but only after the
appearance of Kevin Roberts as a late sub turned the match our way and helped
put us on the front foot in the latter stages, when Jay Gibbs headed in a late
equaliser.
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| Darren Thomas celebrates his opener against Guilsfield. |
Nathan Leonard’s men arrived at the Oval just two
places behind us in the league and were undoubtedly looking to close the gap on
us. For Caernarfon, it was good to see Nathan Craig back in the squad after a
family matter had kept him away from the previous week’s match, although I
thought it was a brave decision by Sean to put him on the bench. I wonder how many
other managers would have had the courage to stick to a winning team when he
had the opportunity to pick the club captain, and in my opinion, the best
player in the league?
As expected, the match was a tough old battle, and
there was nothing between the sides for much of the encounter. The Cofis
certainly had the upper hand in the opening stages and for most of the first half
and were rewarded with a sublime Darren Thomas goal, as the our magician
latched onto a Danny Brookwell pass before firing confidently past Wycherly to
put us ahead. A reminder of what we missed for two months whilst Darren was out
through injury but the good news is that he looked back to his best against the
Guils. It’s fair to say that Caernarfon were under the cosh a bit in the early part
of the second period but our defence was excellent again and Danny Brookwell
secured the victory with an exquisite finish in the sixty fifth minute.
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| The Cofi Jet |
Danny was deservedly voted the Tyn Lon Volvo Garage
Man of the Match and it was obvious to see why. In addition to his excellent
goal, the ‘Cofi Jet’ caused absolute havoc on the left flank and had a very
impressive afternoon in the yellow shirt. I can recall Danny making his debut
for us against Buckley two years ago and thinking he was quick but in the time
he’s been at the Oval, he has proved himself to be not only lightning quick,
but also a team player, who always gives 100% and can be relied on to put a
real shift in during every match. Brooky’s also a really nice guy and I hope he
gets the opportunity to play for us in the top tier next season, because he
deserves to be there.
It was a very important victory for the Cofis as I
can imagine that teams around us would have been looking at this fixture as a
possible banana skin for the league leaders. The match itself was a fine one, between
two very strong sides and it just goes to show that the game is pretty
subjective as I read a comment on social media that proclaimed the football on
show left a lot to be desired and that it was below the standard of the Gwynedd
League! Each to his own of course but the guy who posted this must have been at
the Oval in an alternative universe, because the match he saw was not the one I
was at.
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| Darren Thomas |
Last Wednesday saw the announcement of the semi-professional
Wales squad (Wales ‘C’) to take on their English counterparts at Jenner Park
later this month. The squad was picked by Mark Jones and Owain Tudur Jones and I
was surprised, and disappointed, to see that Nathan Craig and Darren Thomas had
been overlooked. I will, and have been, accused of being biased towards
Caernarfon Town on numerous occasions and of course I am, but it doesn’t mean
that I’m wrong. It’s undoubtedly a strong group of players and those included are
all quality but I still cannot see how Nathan and Darren have been omitted. I
have not read anywhere that the squad is exclusive to Welsh Premier League
players but I wouldn’t be too surprised if this is the policy, officially or
otherwise, in the FAW’s continuing attempts to push the league at the expense
of those further down the ladder. In some ways it makes sense because most international
teams consist of players from the top leagues throughout Europe but my argument
here is that, in my opinion, Nathan and Darren would get into most, if not all,
of the teams playing in the top tier this season.
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| Nathan Craig |
When I posted my disappointment on Twitter, and
mentioned Malcolm Allen’s comments on ‘Mwy o Sgorio’ where he made it clear he would
have picked Nathan, Owain Tudur Jones replied that they could not pick everyone
and that there are reasons why each player has been picked. Respect to him for
responding and for also stating that he’d be happy to discuss the matter in
person with me, which I am definitely up for. I suggest we do this at one of Caernarfon’s
last two home matches of the season, which would give him the opportunity of
seeing Nathan and Darren play. Of course, Owain has seen them both in action
during our televised matches in the Welsh Cup in recent years, which makes the
decision to leave them out even more puzzling.
Before moving on, I just have to mention one joker
who had a pop at Nathan on Twitter. I won’t bother to repeat what he said here
but my answer is this video, which shows our captain executing the perfect
Rabona…. with his right foot, which is allegedly only for standing on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y9-OK7n45M
And just like Owain Tudur Jones, if our friend the joker would like to see
how good Nathan is, I’d suggest he visits the Oval before the end of the season
to see for himself.
So, two postponements, two matches played and six
points gained was the story of Caernarfon’s February and, despite the
disappointment of two shopping weekends that none of us wanted the team is still in just as strong a position as it
was in January in our attempts for promotion.
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| The Gaffer |
I’m writing this on Saturday, March 3rd,
because our match at Gresford has been called off due to a frozen pitch. Thankfully,
the decision was made early and the hosts let us know in plenty of time, which
always helps. This latest postponement means we still have seven matches to
play this season and, looking through the fixtures, it’s safe to say there’s a
lot of football and many tough challenges ahead for the players. One thing I do
know, however, is that every other team in the league would swap positions with
us at this moment and, to paraphrase a well-known football saying, ‘In Eards
We Trust’!
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