Critics, Invisible Stories and Wrapping up the Season

Wrapping up the end of Caernarfon Town’s 2018/9 season is a tricky exercise. On the one hand, the Cofis lost out on a Europa League spot whilst, on the other, we finished our Welsh Premier League campaign in an impressive fourth position.  

The last blog entry seems an age away and indeed it was, as I finished it with a review of our defeat at Barry Town. Plenty of things have happened since then, mostly of a positive nature, so I’ll have a go at ticking all the boxes and rounding off what has been an amazing season for the yellow and greens.

The squad had the perfect opportunity to bounce back from the aforementioned Jenner Park reverse when we welcomed Connahs Quay Nomads to the Oval six days later. Andy Morrison’s side were still fighting for the title at the time and were desperate for victory to keep on the tails of The New Saints. They had knocked us out of the Welsh Cup in March, courtesy of a typically professional, and ugly,  performance and I’d hazard a guess that everyone at the Oval was looking forward to trying to get one over on them.

Andy Owens missed an absolute sitter for the visitors in the second minute but, apart from this, the Nomads were strangely subdued on the night. Once Gareth Evans put us ahead with a seventeenth minute stunner I thought Caernarfon controlled the match well and, whenever there was a threat at goal, Alex Ramsay dealt with it as impressively as he has done throughout the year.

Celebrating Gaz Evans' goal against the Nomads

The victory further consolidated our position in the league, and effectively ruled our opponents out of the title race. I’m no supporter of their direct style of play but have to commend the Nomads for at least giving TNS a run for their money this season. However, the style of play Scott Ruscoe’s side has perfected is much easier on the eye than the one adapted by the Nomads and they are undoubtedly worthy champions, but it’s been good to see them being challenged for once.

One thing worth mentioning here is the attendance for the encounter, which was the lowest of the season at the Oval. Five hundred and two spectators walked through the turnstiles on the night which is pretty good and, of course, most other clubs in the league can only dream of those figures. However, this was the fifth time the teams had played during the campaign and I wonder if this over familiarity with our opponents was a reason why the attendance was comparatively low? It did not help that the action was being streamed live on facebook and also Liverpool were on Sky but I still have a feeling that playing the same team for the fifth time in nine months is a bit too much for the more casual football follower. I’ve often said that, in order to combat this type of monotony, the FAW should increase the WPL to sixteen teams, but it seems the powers that be are intent on keeping the status quo, which is a shame. It will be interesting to see if attendances get affected next season, as we continue to face teams up to five or six times during the campaign.

Having already beaten us three times, Newtown have been our bogey side this season but Sean and the players had one last opportunity to get the better of them, at the Oval on March 12^th. The Robins are a decent side but I still can’t quite understand how they’ve managed to claim nine points off us this year. To be fair, they were excellent in winning 3-0 at the Oval in October but I feel they rode their luck in both matches at Latham Park, where we probably deserved at least four points from our visits there.   

Messi and Cai celebrate against Newtown

The Cofis missed a number of goalscoring opportunities in the aforementioned fixtures but made no such mistake this time around as they put four past Dave Jones to secure a resounding 4-1 victory. Caernarfon were excellent throughout but it was Darren Thomas who ran, and stole, the show. Some people will say that the Cofi Messi may have had a slow start to the campaign but, since the turn of the year, he has been the stand-out performer in the team, if not the league, and gave a virtuoso display against the Robins. A goal and two assists saw him clinch another Tyn Lon Volvo Man of the Match nomination and I’ll finish this little piece on Darren by saying that, in my opinion, his omission from the recent Wales ‘C’ squad was an absolute travesty. Of course, the team did well against their English counterparts, but I don’t there was any attacking playmaker in the line up who is better than Darren, and hopefully next season he’ll get the recognition he deserves.

There was an exciting development going on behind the scenes during the lead up to the Newtown match, as the club got ready to announce the addition of Alan Bickerstaff onto the management team. Alan saw the side’s demolition of Newtown first-hand from his seat in the main stand and, speaking with him later, I believe he was impressed by what he saw.

A few people have been quick to judge and criticise the club for bringing Allan into the club although, I hasten to add, all such comments I’ve read have come from people who are outside the loyal fanbase who support us on a weekly basis. In some ways, the criticism was to be expected as there will always be ‘experts’ only too ready to give their opinions from behind their keyboard and phones, having made no, or little, attempt to look at the bigger picture.

Eards and Allan

The most disappointing thing is that these critics seem to have ignored the obvious, that the Board would have heavily involved San Eardley in any decision that involves the management team. Comments on Social Media stating that Eards has been disrespected by the Board are as far off the mark as possible and the truth is that no-one respects him more than those who have worked with him since he arrived during the Summer of 2017. I appreciate that football is all about opinions and everyone can express their own but the people who really matter in this, Eards, the staff and the supporters, have been brilliant and can see the big picture.

Anyway, following the Newtown romp, a second trip of the season to The New Saints followed and, whilst the Cofis couldn’t emulate their victory at Park Hall back in November, they certainly gave the champions a run for their money. To cut a long story short, the hosts got off to a good start, and an early lead, but the Cofi Messi equalised with a cracker and very nearly put us ahead later on with a fine run and shot that cannoned off the woodwork, before TNS scored two late goals to achieve a  flattering 3-1 verdict.

The incomparable Messi

In many ways the match had been very similar to our first visit in November. We had shown plenty of respect to the hosts but played without fear, and at times I thought we played the better football. TNS are a full time outfit and they can be ruthless in matches but there really was very little to choose between the sides and, despite the result, I doubt there would have been any despondent Caernarfon supporters after such an impressive display.  

There was a good atmosphere at the ground, with plenty of banter between the Cofi Army and a handful of home supporters although the guy who was shouting through his megaphone for most of the match was beyond annoying and I cannot imagine that anyone would have enjoyed hearing his ramblings for ninety minutes!

Before moving on, a quick word about TNS and the problem they are creating for the WPL. This was their eighth successive title triumph, an incredible achievement, and they can quite rightly claim to be the best team ever to have played in the top tier. After all, their record speaks for itself. However, watching them receive the WPL trophy, where there were more people on the balcony receiving the title than looking on from the pitch and stands, I could not help but think that it may not have been a positive image for the league. That’s not meant as a criticism of TNS or anyone associated with them but, in my opinion, whilst they remain the all-conquering force in the Welsh game, with their loyal, but small following, the FAW will find it hard to truly increase the league’s appeal. With a bit of luck, Caernarfon may be in a position to join and overtake the chasing pack in the near future!

Our final league match of the season saw us travelling to that hotbed of Scouse football, Bala, and a first meeting with their manager since he boldly implied that not many of our players would get into his side. You will probably have already seen the Sgorio interview during which he says this, immediately after we beat his charges at the Oval in March, so you’ll be aware that there was a bit of added spice to this match.

Unfortunately, the match did not start well for the Cofis and Henry Jones put the hosts ahead in the fourth minute. The remainder of the match saw two battles taking place on the pitch; the first was between Alex Ramsay and Bala striker David Hayes, in which the Cofi Number One certainly came out on top, denying the striker on numerous occasions throughout the evening. The second battle saw our former keeper, Keighan Jones, thwart a host of Town players, including Leo Smith, Darren Thomas, Naoh Edwards and Jamie Breese. Despite dominating the latter stages of the match, we couldn’t manage to equalise and, whilst disappointed with the defeat, the evening ended well when news broke that Barry Town’s Kayne McLaggon had scored from the penalty spot in the ninety sixth minute against Newtown, which meant Caernarfon finished the season in fourth position!  I won’t go into all the

details but this meant that the Cofis were top seeds for the Europa League play-offs and therefore guaranteed a home tie in the semi-final and final if they managed to get there.

There were a number of highlights during the evening, including seeing the Cofi Army turn up in their Mexican gear, watching Sean Eardley join them before kick-off for a rendition of ‘Tequila’ and, of course, the celebrations at the final whistle when we knew that the team had finished the season fourth in the league. A quick mention also for Pat Frost, kitman for England’s national side, who just happens to be a keen Caernarfon Town supporter. Pat very kindly paid for the two supporters’ buses to the match and, having spoken to him on the phone at the time, I can safely say that he really is as nice as his fantastic gesture suggests. For more info on Pat, please follow this link to the club’s press release regarding his generosity:   https://caernarfontownfc.co.uk/news/england-kit-man's-fantastic-gesture-to-caernarfon-town-supporters

Town faced Cardiff Met at the Oval in the Europa League Play-off Semi-Final and I agreed with those who called it the club’s biggest fixture in thirty years. We were just two matches away from a first ever European tie and, just as importantly, a reported prize of £220,000 for taking part in one of Europe’s elite competitions. I mention the prize money because it could make a massive difference to a club such as Caernarfon, who do not have a rich benefactor and rely and local sponsors and match day income to survive.

We had done the double over the students during the first phase of the season but I don’t think this would have clouded anyone’s judgement as to the task that awaited us in this one-off fixture. Christian Edwards’ side had been on a super run of form of late and would have been full of confidence arriving at the Oval.

There was an excellent atmosphere at the ground as kick-off approached and, with all but a handful of the 1280 crowd backing Eardley’s men, the Cofis responded well with a very bright start. Darren Thomas carried on his mesmerising form of the past four months and twice went close to opening the scoring before eventually putting the ball into the onion bag with a superb header over Dave Fuller’s outstretched hands. As we all know, the surrounding wall behind the goal collapsed as the players and crowd celebrated the goal although, thankfully, no one was seriously injured. It was an unfortunate incident that looked disturbing from all angles but it was great credit to the Caernarfon supporters and players of both sides that they helped out by securing everyone’s safety and ensuring the match could proceed.

Messi puts us ahead against Met

The resulting eight minute delay in the match seemed to knock the Cofis out of their impressive rhythm and Met deservedly equalised before the break. Caernarfon re-emerged for the second period fully recharged and were unlucky not to have gone ahead through fine efforts by Thomas, Nathan Craig and Danny Brookwell. Thomas then hit the woodwork whilst Leo Smith was frustrated to see his effort hooked off the goal-line .

Another near miss in the Play-off semi-final

With Town committing numbers forward they always seemed open to a quick break and the visitors took full advantage of one such occasion when Adam Roscrow put the Archers ahead after a powerful run upfield. Caernarfon struck the woodwork for a second time soon after, when Leo Smith’s header bounced back off the bar.

Kyle McKarthy put the visitors 3-1 up in the eighty first minute after another break from defence and, despite a late Nathan Craig penalty, the Cofis could not manage to force an equaliser, and extra time.

It was a disappointing end to the season but I don’t think anyone could have any complaints about the team’s efforts on the night. I think it was an excellent performance by the players and the Archers certainly had to be at their best to beat us.

I have to admit to being disappointed with the media’s coverage of the match, which seemed to centre solely around the wall collapsing. I understand that it was a news item but, as the club’s press officer, I was extremely disappointed, though not surprised, to receive seven messages or phone calls from the national press, all of which seemed to be pre-occupied with a story that was simply not there. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I find it a real shame that some of them could not have concentrated more on the fantastic response on the night from the supporters and players.  

It was also very disappointing to see Bala Town’s safeguarding officer taking to Twitter to question how the Cofis had got the Domestic Licence if a wall at the ground had collapsed during a match? He will know full well that the WPL has stringent safety standards that must be passed as part of the Licence criteria and so we had obviously passed them again this year. Disappointing, but maybe not so surprising…..

Anyway, back to the football, and to a wonderful season for Caernarfon Town Football Club. Some people had us down as favourites for an immediate return to the Cymru Alliance League, some thought we’d just about manage to survive, whilst throughout the season, we’ve had one or two managers piping up and having a dig at us. But, at the end of the day, the record books will speak for themselves: Fourth in the league, best supported side in the Welsh Pyramid and victories over ten of the other eleven sides in the top tier. All of this without a rich benefactor, and with three quarters of the squad made up of local players. I’ve always said that the Cofis don’t take a back seat on the pitch and should be aiming to ruffle a few feathers in the WPL so it’s been brilliant to see us do just that over the course of the season.

Huge thanks to Sean, Fish, Mike, Rhys, Allan and all the players and supporters for more than ruffling those feathers and for giving me so many positives to write about. 

What a club!

UN CLWB.