Resting Players, Sour Grapes and Dressing Rooms

I feel I’ve been pretty busy with the blog since the turn of the year and certainly I’ve made a concentrated effort to increase the frequency of blogs, following my more haphazard approach in 2018. And yet, whilst looking back at the last three and a half months I’ve just realised that my recent efforts have included Welsh versions of the blog, an interview with Nathan Craig and a celebration of Sean Eardley’s first fifty matches as manager of the Cofis.

In short, my last ‘regular’ blog was at the end of February, immediately following the side’s harsh defeat at Newtown. Since then, we’ve played six matches, which have included two heavy defeats and some rather impressive victories. Oh, and we’ve also been accused of resting players against the Welsh Champions and come across some sour grapes from an experienced manager, all of which I’ll cover in this effort. So, with end of the season fast approaching, this is the first of a two part review that will see us catching up on the action over the past two months.

Following the aforementioned 2-3 reverse at Latham Park, the Cofis next faced The New Saints at the Oval for a rare Monday evening kick off.

Not for the first time, TNS proved a tough nut to crack

Scott Ruscoe’s side had been on a good run of form leading up to the match but, having defeated them on their own ground earlier in the campaign, I think most of us felt quietly confident of again giving the champions a run for their money. An excellent crowd of just over a thousand spectators paid their hard-earned at the turnstiles and all was set up for another of those memorable occasions under the floodlights. Unfortunately, things did not quite pan out that way as an early goal for the visitors seemed to flatten the atmosphere and, despite a spirited display, they could not manage to recover the deficit, eventually succumbing to a 0-3 verdict.

The team played well and the player’s efforts and commitment, as always, was unquestionable. Due to suspensions and injuries, Eards had to juggle things around a bit, but the performance once again proved that we have a much stronger squad these days than in previous seasons, when having six members of the squad unavailable could have resulted in an even tougher evening than it was. 

We were all back at the Oval four days later for one of the biggest matches of the season, a Welsh Cup quarter-final tie with Connahs Quay Nomads. The sides had already met on three previous occasions this campaign, and honours were even with one drawn match and a victory for each side. A home tie is all any team can hope for at this stage of a competition and so it was a bonus to be hosting the match but, as everyone knows, Andy Morrison’s side are a tough outfit and seem to love a tear-up on away grounds.

With Alex Ramsay, Joe Williams and Jamie Breese all available for selection this time, the team had a more familiar look to it but things didn’t click for us on the night and the Nomads went through, courtesy of a 2-1 result.

Gareth Edwards celebrates his goal against the Nomads

I didn’t think Caernarfon were at their best and, although this may have been due to the quality of the opponents, who showed their usual penchance for a scrap, Sean’s frustration in the post-match interview was plain to see. It seemed to me that we may have missed a real opportunity as I thought we were quite reserved, in the sense of going forward and attacking the Nomads defence but, to be fair to Morrison’s side, they made things extremely difficult. Having said all this, we had  a goal disallowed minutes after Gareth Edwards had put us back on level terms and I don't think anyone knows even now what was behind the referee's decision. Had the goal stood, it may well have been a different story but that's something we'll never know. From a personal point of view, I don’t enjoy watching the Nomads, and don’t particularly enjoy their brand of football. However, they play to their strengths, which usually sees them overpower teams and so they deserve respect for that.

It was my misfortune to be on dressing room duties for the evening because, to put it bluntly, the visitors left their room in a real state after the match. It was unacceptable and, whilst it’s not the first time I’ve seen the room left like that, it was the first time that I felt the need to post a photo about it on social media. It caused a fair level of interest amongst local football followers, most of whom agreed with my view but, as usual, there were also a few apologists who seemed at pains to point out that it wasn’t a big deal. It’s all about opinions of course but I certainly don’t regret sharing the photos. In fact, to justify it, Connahs Quay apologised via their twitter account and agreed that it had been poor from them.

Three of our unavailable players join the Mayor, her husband 

and club President John Watkins before the TNS match

Before moving on, I think it’s worth mentioning Andy Morrison’s odd remarks in the post-match interview when he said that Caernarfon had rested players for the TNS match, thus inferring that we had prioritised the Welsh Cup tie over the league fixture with the champions. I’m not sure where he got this information from but his theory was completely wrong. Alex Ramsay, Jamie Breese, Joe Williams and Leo Smith were all unavailable for the TNS match whilst Noah Edwards and Danny Brookwell were returning from injury and therefore started on the bench. So if he was referring to these six players, (and who else could he have meant?) then he really should have done a bit of research before saying what he did.

A third successive home fixture saw us take on Bala under the floodlights and, having lost four on the bounce, there was a feeling that we needed to turn the tide and get a victory. There were one or two comments on social media referring to yellow and green bubbles having been burst but the reality was that the second phase of the campaign was always going to be a real challenge. There are no easy matches in the top tier but now we were playing against the other five sides who made up the top six with us so each fixture was going to be a real test. 

The club had the pleasure of inviting our supporters from Antur Waunfawr as part of the Level Playing Field initiative and, judging from the photos we took, every one of the club's guests had a great time. Here's a link to the initiative, if you'd like to learn more about what they do:  www.levelplayingfield.org.uk

After a bright start against the Lakesiders Noah Edwards struck an early goal past Ashley Morris with a super finish that gave the stopper no chance. Caernarfon bossed the first half and could, and should, have extended their lead before the break. However, the visitors turned the tables in the second period and dominated possession but, through a combination of resolute defending and a top class performance from Alex Ramsay, they could not breach Town’s backline and we deservedly took the points, much to the annoyance of their manager, Colin Caton.

Eards applauds the Cofi Army at the end of the Bala match

No-one likes to lose a football match and, whilst it’s sometimes hard to keep emotions in check,  there is an expectancy for managers to at least try and be gracious after a loss. In fact, I believe that coaches who work towards the ‘A’ Licence are given workshops on how to deal with the media, and to act as professionally as possible. If so, they have failed with Mr Caton because his post-match interview with Sgorio is probably the most disappointing I have seen from a manager towards an opposing side.

I’m sure that most of you will have seen his interview on Sgorio’s social media outlets and be aware of what I am referring to but for those who haven’t seen it, let’s just say that the Bala managers’ comments were very disrespectful to our players and staff and, to me at least, smacked of sour grapes. It was really poor from him and I would have expected better from someone who has been in the game for so long. If he really does think his players are better than Caernarfon’s he might want to ask himself why we’ve got seven out of nine points off them this season. On a more positive note, at least the dressing room was spotless, so it was a pretty decent night all told!

An away trip to Barry Town was next up which, for me, meant a first visit to Jenner Park. I had missed our match there just before Christmas but, with Wales playing on the Sunday, my family and I decided to make a weekend of it this time around. The ground was much better than I had thought it would be from having seen it on the tv. The main stand is one of the best in the league and, having arrived pretty early, I managed to get a real look at the whole set up there, from the dressing rooms to the bar, and the pitch itself. All in all, it’s a superb venue and, unlike one or two recent managers we had come up against recently, Gavin Chesterfield was as gracious as ever, both before and after the action.

Jenner Park

The match could not have got off to a worse start for the Cofis as the hosts went ahead inside the first minute but, for the next forty minutes or so, I thought we were the better side. Darren Thomas was excellent and teamed up well with Noah Edwards, with the two of them creating plenty of problems in the final third of the pitch but, despite the players’ best efforts, we ended up on the end of a 0-4 defeat. It was a disappointing result and I’m sure it would have been very frustrating for the players. Three of the four goals were the result of us losing possession but, to be fair to Barry, they were clinical on the break and their frontmen were very impressive.

Eards mentioned pot-match that it had been an odd afternoon as, despite the scoreline, the team had played pretty well for long periods and so it was hard to be too disappointed. All of which I agree with and certainly, the Cofi supporters who had made the trip gave the players a great ovation at the final whistle.

The Barry match is probably not the best way to finish off this first part but, rest assured, things improve drastically in the second part, as the Cofis bounced back in style……………