The Dark Side, The Long Ball and the Jedi Knight

“The target for the season is tenth, but we think we can challenge for a top six spot.”

That was Sean Eardley’s answer last August when I asked him how he felt the team would cope in the Welsh Premier League. Football is full of big egos and hoodwinkers, we’ve all seen plenty of them at the Oval over the years, but Eards is as far away from that as you could get, so his words gave me hope that my own assessment of the team was not too far off.

Readers of the blog will know how highly I rate the Caernarfon squad and management. I’ve spoken often enough of my hopes of ruffling a few feathers, and egos, once we got back into the league and so I always felt we could challenge for a top half berth. Believing it is one thing, but of course proving it is another so it’s been an exciting ride seeing us do exactly that.

I last posted a blog on New Year’s Eve when the Cofis still had three matches to try and secure a top six spot. We were in a strong position at the time, but had tough-looking fixtures with Llandudno, Carmarthen and Bala on the horizon and there was still plenty of football to play, and potential banana skins to avoid, before the end of the league’s first phase.

Our first challenge was to visit the Giant Hospitality Stadium, where our former manager, Iwan Williams, and his charges would be desperately trying to gain three much needed points in their fight against relegation. The teams had played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Oval just three days prior to this encounter and, despite their position in the league, I think we all knew that the Seasiders would again be a handful in the return fixture.

An impressive crowd of six hundred and seventy five turned up at the ground but, despite the best efforts of the players, they could not quite replicate the thrills and spills of the six-goal thriller three days earlier. It was not through lack of intent from the sides as they were both looking to play on the front foot. However, it can be impossible to do this when the referee blows his whistle every time there is a challenge or tackle for the ball. Rob Jenkins was the man in the middle and, to put it bluntly, he spoiled the match for everyone in the ground, players and spectators alike.

It has become an epidemic in modern day football that the referee will award a free kick as soon as players from opposing teams get within touching distance of the ball at the same time, or when someone falls to the ground. Such incessant breaks in the game will always spoil the flow of the action and, with everyone in the ground becoming increasingly frustrated, it can become a very tedious ninety minutes for everyone.

Sion Bradley was excellent against Llandudno

And so it was on New Year’s Day. From the moment Jenkins booked Rhys Roberts for an innocuous challenge early on the tone for the remainder of the match had been set, and he proceded to brandish five yellow cards and award what seemed like three thousand free-kicks. Seeing that the match was drawn, I assume no-one will anything resembling sour grapes in my words, but rather a genuine opinion of a match official who was either completely out of his depth or who let the big occasion get the better of him. Social media opinion seemed to match mine so it’s fair to say that Mr Jenkins had an afternoon to forget. Incidentally, I was surprised to see that the official was in charge of the recent Nathaniel MG Cup final, and therefore can only assume that the assessor at our match with Llandudno did not give a full account of how poor he was on the day. If he didn’t, then why have assessors at any matches?

Anyway, it was a hard-fought affair and the 1-1 draw was a fair reflection of the action. I thought Sion Bradley and Darren Thomas were excellent on the day, with the latter in particular, looking sharp and dangerous in and around the hosts’ penalty area. It’s been an unusual season for Darren in that he’s not always been included in our starting eleven, and had to wait until mid-December to score his first goal of the campaign. There have been patches of brilliance from him throughout the season but the ball had never seemed to bounce his way until that Aberystwyth match, when he found the net with a familiar cheeky sidestep. Since then, he has been excellent and, in my opinion, back to his best in the fixtures against Llandudno, Carmarthen and Bala.

Our main rivals for the remaining top six spot were Aberystwyth and it must have been a boost for Sean and his squad when Nev Powell’s side suffered a 1-6 defeat to Connahs Quay the day prior to our encounter with Carmarthen. The result meant that victory over the Old Gold at the Oval would cement our place in the top six, thus guaranteeing our position in the Welsh Premier League for another season and, as an added bonus, giving us an opportunity to qualify for European football at the end of the campaign.

The league table may have suggested the Cofis were strong favourites to get the job done but I’m sure those of us who saw how Neil Smothers’ side turned us over at Richmond Park in November would have been aware of the tough task ahead. They’re a very decent side and, in my opinion, have one of the best midfielders in the league in Greg Walters.

During the week, a Town supporter tweeted that the fixture was one of our most important for years and I could not have agreed more. Taking into account all that was on the line the fixture was more than on a par with everything else over the last quarter of the century.

Having grown up in the seventies and eighties, I’m a a football traditionalist and always like to see teams set up in the 4-4-2 formation. I understand this may seem to be a dated way to look at things, but I’ve seen many great sides over the years win the biggest trophies this way, so it’s hard for me to move away from it now. With this in mind, I was delighted to see the eleven Eards had picked to start against Carmarthen, with Cai Jones and Jamie Breese given a rare start together. The attacking formation was a sign of intent from the manager and, despite going an early goal down, the team roared back to win by three goals to one.

The Cofi Messi is back in full swing.... 

The players really performed on the day and, again, it was Darren Thomas who stood out for me.  His performance in the second half is the best I’ve seen him in a Town shirt and, to use a Star Wars analogy, he was akin to a Jedi Knight weaving through the visitors’ midfield and defence every time he got the ball. The Cofi Messi capped off his fine display with a super goal, winning a tackle thirty yards out before running past two defenders across the box and thundering the ball into the far corner of the net. I’ve said this many times at hundreds of matches and won’t apologise for repeating it: Darren is good enough for the football league and it’s a real shame he never got the opportunity to make it professionally as a youngster.

As a Caernarfon supporter, of course, it’s worked out well for us, because we’ve been lucky enough to have seen the best of Darren in the yellow shirt over the past five years and also I don’t think any other set of supporters, anywhere, could have appreciated and thought more of him than the Cofi Army.  

Alex Ramsay was in inspired form against Bala

The final match of Phase One saw us making the trip to Bala on a bitterly cold Saturday evening. To be honest, Bala would not be many people’s preferred location for a Saturday night out but, in all fairness, it proved to be a pretty good evening for the many Cofis who made the effort.

Things did not look promising early on as the hosts started strongly and, having gone down to an early goal, we could thank Alex Ramsay for keeping us in the match as our number one pulled off a string of quality saves to keep us within touching distance at half-time. Having said this, both Darren Thomas and Jamie Breese went close to scoring for us too, so it was by no means one-way traffic for the Lakesiders.

The second half was a totally different affair as the Cofis dominated it from start to finish and, once Messi headed in the equaliser, there really was only going to be one winner. Danny Brookwell put us ahead with a screamer and Nathan finished things off from the penalty spot in the last minute to give Caernarfon a deserved 3-1 victory.

It was an excellent performance and result and I thought the second half was the best we’ve played this season. Bala are big hitters in the league and have been for many years. It is generally said that they have a decent budget, which means that they’ve got a very talented squad, so to recover from a goal down and win in such fine fashion was very impressive from the players. As an added bonus on the night, the two-goal winning margin meant that the Cofis leapfrogged Bala into fifth place at the half way stage, which is no mean feat for a side tipped for relegation by the uninformed!

Cai is making his mark

The Tyn Lon Volvo Man of the Match was Cai Jones, who is proving on a weekly basis that he deserves to play with the big boys at the top table. Come to think of it, that statement says it all about the team too, doesn’t it!

One final thought on our visit to Bala: The Cofi Army must have outnumbered the home support by a five to one ration, which is not too unusual really, but I found it interesting that the few locals I spoke with at the ground were all envious of not only the following the club enjoys, but also the number of local players in our team. In my opinion, both these things go hand in hand and, if clubs decide to import whole squads, then they do risk alienating their local fanbase. Caernarfon Town supporters who remember the sad days of journeymen from up the coast enjoying fortnightly jollies to the Oval will know what I mean.

We ended January with the much-anticipated Welsh Cup tie against our oldest rivals at Nantporth. Once the fourth round draw had been made I think we all knew this was the pick of the ties and that there would be massive interest in what is the biggest of domestic Welsh derbies.

There’s no point in going over old ground, but, in short, the contrast between the clubs in the past  year could not have been greater. Whilst Bangor were demoted to the Cymru Alliance after failing the Domestic Licence, Caernarfon have made a big splash in the top tier and I think are now seen as the area’s dominant force.

For the first time I can remember the Cofis were favourites to win and progress to the next round but, of course, local derbies rarely turn out as straightforward as that and so it was with a mixture of excitement and nerves that I had looked forward to the fixture. The hosts had being playing well in recent weeks and so would be full of confidence, which was obvious from the get-go as they looked very sharp during the opening twenty five minutes.

When Jamie Breese put us ahead in the twenty eighth minute I thought we might go on to a handsome victory but the Citizens did well to get back on level terms, with a goal directly from a corner on the stroke of half-time.

Gaz Edwards celebrates his winner with the two Colins

I’m not sure they deserved to be on level terms going into the break but that’s how it was and so it was still game on at that point. However, the Cofis overpowered them in the second half and, whilst the wet conditions made it difficult to play, Caernarfon coped much better with the wind and rain and, as soon as Gareth Edwards put us 2-1 ahead, we looked comfortable and controlled the remainder of the match. With just a goal separating the sides, the hosts were still in the tie until the final whistle but, really, they did not pose much of a threat and never seemed like equalising.

Jamie Crowther

Jamie Crowther was named man of the match and he fully deserved it. He was superb all night and, in addition to his impressive display in front of the defence, he also provided a pinpoint cross from midfield for Gaz to score the winner from. Jay sometimes get criticised for playing the ball too long on occasions, but I don’t think he receives the recognition he deserves for the qualities he brings into our midfield. Big, strong and experienced, I believe he supplements our ball players perfectly.

I’ve ran out of superlatives where the Cofi Army is concerned but, for the record, they were unbelievable! In all of my four decades of supporting Caernarfon I have never known such an away following for the club and it was a proud feeling to be amongst them at the old enemy’s ground.

The victory was as sweet as they come and, to use my second Star Wars analogy of this piece, it was very satisfying to take on the Dark Side and come out on top! Putting an even greater shine on the victory was seeing the post-match interview with the Ayes manager, who somehow managed to keep a straight face when declaring that his charges had been the better side and deserved to win. He proceeded to call the Cofis a long-ball side and, really, that’s when I stopped listening. Oh, and it was also rather satisfying at the final whistle to see the look on the face of a small-time hack who showed his true colours at the match. Priceless!

In addition to the goals and the result, the highlight of the evening occurred before kick-off, when Eards and his assistant, Richard, walked onto the pitch to applaud the Cofi Army. Of course, the Caernarfon supporters were already in good high spirits but seeing the duo paying tribute before the action began really pumped up the volume. Recently, I heard someone calling Eards the Cofi Klopp and I know exactly what they mean!

The players and supporters headed to the Crown in Caernarfon later on and, for the first time in fifteen years I found myself in a pub on a Saturday night. There was a great atmosphere there although it was slightly surreal to carry out a post-match interview with Nathan Craig outside the Crown at half-past eleven at night!

The club received yet more good news this week when Eards secured the loan signing of Leo Smith from Wrexham. Leo is, of course, the son of former Town manager Steve Smith and, from what I saw of him when he played against us for Llandudno over the festive season, he is exactly the type of player the Cofis like. Talented, local and with plenty of heart.           

Next up is a return to Welsh Premier League action as we welcome table toppers Barry Town to the Oval. It’s going to be a tough, but exciting second phase of the season and I’m quietly confident it can be as successful as the first one……..