Kev Lloyd, George Michael and Showing the Red Card.

Kevin Lloyd. 

Having ended the last blog by contemplating whether or not Town manager Iwan Williams would replace Toby Jones, who had recently left for Conwy Borough, we didn’t have to wait long for the answer as the manager moved quickly to sign not just a striker but also a defender and a midfielder!

The first arrival was a name from the past, and although slightly surprised, I was delighted when Iwan said he was bringing Kevin Lloyd back to the club. Kev, of course, played for the Canaries for three seasons, signing for former manager Clive Jones during the summer of 2010, and he was a big hit with the supporters during his time at the Oval. A Caernarfon Town supporter through and through, he has been a regular visitor to the Oval since leaving two years ago and although I haven’t spoken at length with him since his return, I’m pretty sure he’s thrilled to be back. I’m hoping to get hold of Kevin soon for an interview to share on here, but for now I’ll use his words from the Oval Ways book to prove just how much he enjoyed playing for the Canaries during his first stint which will give an indication of what it will mean for him to be back:

“It was fantastic to see so many of the lads I know going to the Oval to support the team. Seeing so many of my friends in the Cofi Army at our matches made me very proud and it meant a lot to me!”

Kevin making his return for the Canaries against Buckley.

Kev has played a prominent part in all three matches since his return and done well, which is something the manager pointed out in his comments after the Buckley and Connahs Quay matches. It’s early days yet but the signs are promising that he could strike up a good partnership with Jamie Breese and I believe and hope he can become an important player for the team going forward. 

James Thomas is another former Canary to have returned recently and, if anything, his arrival came as an even bigger surprise than Kevins’. Also known as ‘Smiler’, James played for us in the Welsh Premier League and although it’s been a few years since he left, I do recall that he was a skilful wide man with an excellent left foot. He came on for the final

James 'Smiler' Thomas.

quarter of an hour at Caersws and looked as skilful, and confident, as ever and he certainly gives Iwan a different option on the flanks. I gather ‘Smiler’ has been living abroad recently, although rumours that he’s been working as a George Michael lookalike are yet to be confirmed.

Iwan’s third new addition is Tom Taylor, and although I know very little of him, the fact that he was Player of the Season at Glantraeth in 2013/14 and was reportedly training with a Welsh Premier League club during the Summer suggests he has lots to offer. Having suffered from injury in recent months, the manager has hinted we may have to wait a while to see the very best of Tom as he recovers from injury so it will be interesting to see how he goes. Not rushing back into action too soon will be important and I’m sure Iwan and his staff will manage this in the correct manner. 

The first two months of the season have seen much more activity than usual at the club, personnel-wise, and it’s been interesting to see so many changes. Iwan’s predecessor, Lee Dixon, brought in a virtually new squad to the Oval in his first summer at the club and I think it’s generally expected that a new manager makes wholesale changes when he arrives. Iwan has done things differently to Lee as he kept most of Dicko’s group and added a few quality signings during the off-season to hopefully strengthen it. 

Ellis Healing (above) and Danny Brookwell (below)
have both arrived after the start of the season.

What’s been especially interesting is the way he has dealt with the spate of injuries we’ve had, reacting quickly whenever the squad has been low in numbers and making tough decisions along the way. Looking at the team’s latest match at Caersws, six of the starting line-up were at the club last season, Jamie Breese and Joe Williams were signed during the Summer and the remaining three players have been brought in since the start of the campaign. In addition to this, the three used substitutes were also signed by Iwan, two of whom arrived after the big kick off at Holywell. Injury may have forced Iwan’s hand a bit, although I certainly wouldn’t know, but I also think the volume of recent signing might also be something to do with the team’s difficulties in breaking defences down, which was definitely a problem at the beginning of the season. Certainly, signing players such as Ellis Healing, Danny Brookwell and Kevin Lloyd to add to Jamie Breese and Jamie McDaid suggests that the manager felt we needed more attacking options and in recent weeks I feel we have looked much better going forward. 

Judging from what we’ve seen thus far at the Oval this season, most teams will look to frustrate Caernarfon and hope to sneak a win on the break. Druids carried out the plan perfectly and Gresford also very nearly did but I think the manager has reacted well and definitely has more options available to deal with the problem now. Talking of Gresford, I don’t think I’ve been more frustrated as a spectator than during their visit to the Oval. I’m not normally one to say anything too negative about other sides (in print, anyhow!) but did tweet after the goalless draw that it was frustrating to see teams parking their bus on the pitch and playing for the draw from the very first minute. To be fair to Gresford they defended really well and have an outstanding goalkeeper in Jonathan Hill-Dunt, who kept them in the match with a string of excellent saves. He is also pretty good at helping run the clock down and I had to smile when he replied to my twitter message, saying I should give his side more credit, calling their tactics ‘game management’ as opposed to ;parking the bus’. I will never give a team any credit for wasting time and not trying to at least play some football and if ‘Game Management’ means ‘Time Wasting’ then I might start using this phrase from now on. 

Jamie Breese (above)and Rob Jones (below)
Support 'Show Racism the Red Card.'

Things have definitely taken an upward turn, entertainment wise, since the Gresford match, and I think that in addition to the new signings it also has a lot to do with the attitudes of our opponents. We all know that Iwan prepares his team to play an attacking style of football and the last three opponents, Buckley, Connah’s Quay and Caersws also like to play football. The recent matches against these teams have been entertaining affairs with no less than nineteen goals and whilst I’m sure we’ll see plenty of buses trying to get on the pitch at the Oval before the end of the season, I also believe that Iwan now has the options to find a way to drive them off the pitch! Time will tell of course, but the signs are good thus far.

Before finishing, here’s my rundown on the team’s last three matches:

I really enjoyed the match with Buckley for a number of reasons. A much needed home victory and the return of Kevin Lloyd were the most prominent amongst them but I also thought the players did very well to cope with the early injuries to Gareth Jones Evans and James Bell. 

Already missing a few regulars for the match, the manager was himself forced into action early on, and Jamie Breese dropped back to form a midfield partnership with the manager. This obviously had an effect on the team’s pattern of play but they still managed to play football and did well to get the victory. For once, Buckley manager Tom Taylor stayed in the technical area on the touchline instead of wandering around the pitch but it obviously impaired his vision as his post-match comments on the club’s website include him saying that his side were the better passing team. Really? I wouldn’t agree but his team definitely had a go, which is more than others have done recently. 

I’m afraid I missed the Word Cup tie at Connahs Quay due to work and I’m still gutted about it. Although the team lost after extra time everyone I have spoken to have praised the team and, from all accounts, the Cofis could have won the tie in ninety minutes. The fact that they more than matched a Welsh Premier League side for the third time this season speaks volumes about the quality in the team and having done so with a threadbare squad is even more impressive. Tom Taylor (our player and not the Buckley manager!) made his debut on the night as a late substitute but was mightily close to starting the match in goal, due to traffic problems on the A55 having delayed our number one, Paul Pritchard. Luckily, the Cat managed to make it with around a minute to spare and, despite the ruse, had another excellent match between the sticks. 

Iwan with Tom Taylor, who nearly made his debut in goal!

Joe Williams during the match at Caersws.

The team travelled to Caersws last Saturday and were excellent in a 6-3 victory. Unusually for the hosts, they find themselves bottom of the league and, in all honesty, I thought Caernarfon were by far the better side. Town started well, and got better as the match progressed. Despite Caersws being down to ten men after twenty five minutes, Town had already looked a stronger outfit and were already looking likely winners. To be fair to the hosts, they kept going for the ninety minutes and were a credit to their manager, Graham Evans for rolling up their sleeves until the final whistle. Despite the long journey I always enjoy my visits to the Recreation Ground and the work they’ve carried out at the ground in recent years is impressive. The Bluebirds always extend a warm welcome to visitors and I really hope they can turn things around on the pitch and manage to keep clear of relegation. I travelled to the match with the Chairman Arfon, vice-chair Dylan and the Chairman of vice, who shall in this instance remain nameless for the sake of the club, and have to say that the trip to and from Powys was every bit as enjoyable as the match itself. I could not possibly divulge any of the tales that were shared amongst us on the day but suffice to say that most, if not all of it, is totally unrepeatable. All harmless fun, of course, and another reason why I love supporting the Canaries. 

Town’s victory and other results last Saturday means the Cofis are now top of the Huws Gray Alliance League and whilst it’s still early days in the title race, I think we have a real

chance of being there after the final match of the season next March.
This Saturday, the Cofis entertain Llandudno Junction in the Welsh Cup and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that it’s about time we had a good run in this competition. Fingers crossed! 

Finally, it's important to mention that the Show Racism the Red Card initiative's Fortnight of Action is taking place up to 31st October and it was great to see both Caenarfon Town and Caersws taking part last Saturday. We all know what the message is and I think it's important to mention it here, and I'm delighted to publish the above photo of the team spreading the message before saturday's match. For more information please visit the official site by following this link: http://www.srtrc.org/home

James Bell, former Cofis and 'The Deluded One'.

Celebrating Jamie's winner against Bala.

No trophies have been handed out to anyone and we’re just two months into the season, but the recent six day period during which the Canaries won three big matches was pretty exciting stuff, and may hopefully prove to be a sign of things to come.

The first of those fixtures, the Word Cup tie against Bala Town, was the highlight of the season thus far for me, and I thought the team was excellent on the night. The visitors arrived at the Oval in good form, and as joint leaders of the Welsh Premier League. If I’m being totally honest I was just hoping the team would be competitive and could maybe sneak a win but felt that Bala were favourites to get through. If every football supporter in the country relied solely on coverage of the beautiful game offered by BBC Wales and S4C, we could all be forgiven for thinking that the WPL is the only decent form of the game on offer in Wales and that there is a huge gap between it and the league immediately below. Well, Caernarfon Town have showed by defeating full strength Bangor City and Bala sides that the gap may not be that big after all.

James Bell was my Man of the Match against Bala.

Where Caernarfon had dug deep to overcome Bangor, showing resilience and dogged determination to grind out a famous win, the victory over Bala was achieved with the free flowing football that Iwan Williams is so passionate about and, if anything, the one goal margin flattered the visitors.

I feared the worst after the opening twenty minutes as Town struggled to contain the Lakesiders and when we went behind early on it seemed that we might have been in for a long night. However, I noted that the Bala players hardly celebrated their goal and, looking back now, it might have been that Steve O’Shaughnessy’s side may have underestimated the Cofis and expected to chalk up a comfortable win. As odd as it may sound, the opening goal seemed to have a more positive effect on Caernarfon than Bala as Iwan urged his side to find an immediate equaliser and the players responded well.

From the moment Rob Jones equalised, Town dominated the match and at times Bala could not get anywhere near the ball. I must confess to being a big supporter of playing two strikers up front and  would like to see Caernarfon playing with two frontmen but the way Iwan set up his team against Bala worked perfectly on the night, with Ellis Healing and Jamie McDaid providing plenty of support for Jamie Breese. The Cofis were very impressive, fully deserving of the victory and I don’t think Bala could have complained if the winning margin had been wider. Rob Jones and Paul Pritchard were named the supporters joint man of the match but for me it was James Bell. James suffered a frustrating injury last season and was out of action for a long period but has recently signed a contract at the club so is obviously rated by the manager. He was superb on the night and I’m sure we’re going to see him develop into an excellent midfielder.

A memorable evening at the Oval and it was great to see the positive reaction on social media as the result filtered through. I can only hope the message got through to the powers that be at BBC Wales and S4C!

Iwan looking on at Eithin Duon. 

The tables were turned three days later when it was Caernarfon’s turn to play the role of favourites against lower league opposition in a cup tie. The match at Llanrug was always going to be a difficult one and I found it a rather peculiar affair. With all due respect to the hosts, I thought Caernarfon were very comfortable in the first half and had it not been for the heroics of ‘Rug goalkeeper Dylan Roberts, we would have been three or four goals ahead at the break.  I don’t know what was said in the home dressing room at half time but whatever it was seemed to work as Llanrug were a different team in the second period and they caused all sorts of problems for Caernarfon’s defence. Despite seeing the home side going ahead courtesy of goals by former Town players Kevin Lloyd and Neil Thomas, I always felt the Cofis would get back into the game and so it proved when Jamie McDaid did well to equalise late on.

Once the match went into extra time I thought that Caernarfon were in pole position and it was brilliant that Clive Williams got the all-important goal. As all Town supporters know, Clive missed most of last season through injury and having him back in the squad this term is like having a new player at the Oval. And what a player he is! When Lee Dixon signed him from Bangor I knew very little of Clive but everyone I spoke with told me he was some player, and they were right. Following Saturday’s match, Jay Gibbs (justjay@jaygibbs8) got it spot on when he tweeted ‘if Clive Williams doesn’t get the man of the match today I don’t think he ever will’.

Clive Williams (left) was excellent against  Llanrug.

Before moving on, I have to mention Neil Thomas and Kevin Lloyd, both of whom were members of Town’s memorable 2012/13 treble winning team, and showed during the match that they had lost none of their goalscoring instincts.

Kevin has always been seen as a bit of a maverick but I have always found him to be a really good sort and always good for a laugh and one thing that always shines through is that he’s a true Caernarfon Town supporter and is not afraid to show it. I haven’t seen him since the match but when I do will ask him how he felt after scoring against ‘his’ team!

Neil Thomas enjoyed just one season at the Oval but was a special one it was, as he proved a massive influence on the team as captain, and finished the term as the club’s top scorer. I think some people see him as a bit of a pantomime villain and certainly Neil is always happy to partake in some banter with supporters but he has been a top player in the Welsh game and still is a very good striker. He was known as ‘the fox in the box’ during his time with the Canaries due to his ability to find the net and he proved last week that he still has an eye for goal.

There was no chance of a breather for the team after two hard, and high profile matches and a trip to Porthmadog followed three days later as Town returned to league action.

On a personal level I was pleased that my usual travelling mate, Gwyn, was back in action and so it was great to be chauffeur driven to the Traeth. I was pleased to see him, but not so much with his declaration that heavy rain was forecast at seven o’clock, just half an hour before kick off. Although there had been no sign of rain all day and indeed not even on the way to Port, I’m afraid the heavens opened as predicted and continued for the next two and a half hours!

Cofis past and present, Cai Jones and Gareth Edwards

The first thing I noticed upon walking through the turnstiles was how good the ground looked. It goes without saying that the pitch seemed as impressive as always but the new hard standing area from the clubhouse and in front and of the three stands was excellent and has improved the ground immensely. Cup of tea in hand, we both headed for shelter and ended up in a small covered standing area between the two main stands. Little did I know then that I would soon be joined by a football genius who stood in front of me just as the match kicked off. Listening to this elderly gentleman of I assume a Porthmadog persuasion (seeing as he was criticising just the one team!), he obviously felt he knew all about the game and indeed I kept asking myself why this ‘Amateur Morinho’ was not sitting in the home dugout with Craig Papirnyk, where his talents and knowledge would be best served? Any sense of credibility he may have had vanished around the seven minute mark when he stated, quite plainly, that Town’s left-back could not kick the ball and was a definite weak link. Caernarfon’s left back on the night was Nathan Craig, which probably suggests that, far from being the local ‘Special One’, the opinionated gentleman might be more of a ‘deluded one’. To be fair though he may have known we were Caernarfon supporters?

Jamie Breese celebrating his winner against Port
(he's there somewhere!)

The match itself was a thriller and, despite the awful weather, the teams put on a good show. We seem to come across former Town players regularly these days and it was the turn of Cai Jones to face his former teammates this time although I’m pleased to say that Cai did not manage to replicate Neil and Kevin’s heroics for Llanrug just days earlier and failed to find the net.

Toby Jones.

Caernarfon were second best in the first half but responded superbly after the break to overturn a one goal deficit and gain another important victory on the road. Iwan decided to go a bit more direct in the second period, and Danny Brookwell and Jay Gibbs gave the side more penetration, with Jamie Breese again doing what good strikers do, making the most of his chances to find the net with two good finishes. 

It was a good win for the Cofis and the team showed plenty of heart and character to find a way to win against a very good Port side. On the way home I wondered what was going through the mind of ‘the Deluded One’?

I’ll finish this blog by wishing Toby Jones the best of luck with Conwy Borough. I was delighted when he signed for the Canaries during the summer because he is undoubtedly a quality footballer but for whatever reason things just did not work out for him at the Oval. It will be interesting to see whether or not Iwan will bring in another player to replace him as he may feel that the squad is already strong enough. We’ll find out soon enough….

A Bus, Dick Turpin and BlackAdder.

Globe Way, home of Buckley Town F.C.

With the season steamrolling on at a frantic pace I have again slipped with my blog posts, so here’s the latest instalment, which includes a look back at Town’s matches against  Buckley, Cefn Druids and Guilsfield……

Following the victory at Bangor, the side faced a tricky looking League Cup tie at Buckley and if ever there was a case of coming back down to earth with a real bump then the first half at Globe Way was it! To be fair to the players, they didn’t play too badly in the opening forty five minutes but two errors resulted in goals for the hosts and at half-time it seemed an uphill struggle awaited the team. Thankfully, the players rallied in the second period and dominated the match to score three times without reply to clinch their place in the next round.

Nathan and the supporters celebrating
his winning goal at Buckley.

Although it had been a tough match, I thought it was a great sign that the players dug deep to get the result and it was also pleasing to see two debutants slotting seamlessly into the side, Rob Jones and Danny Brookwell, the latter in particular making a big impact when he came on for the second half. I was also more than pleased to see the return of Carl Owen, who had signed during the week to boost the squad. Carl has a strong season with Town last year and I look forward to seeing more of ‘The Punisher’ in the coming months!

Away from the action itself, I was amused to see a fellow member of the club’s committee, who is probably the quietest amongst us, becoming much more animated than usual at the start of the second half. Sitting in the Stand, he was partaking in a bit of ‘running banter’ with Buckley manager Tom Taylor, who had made his way from the dug-out to the opposite side of the field to encourage the players on his side’s right flank. I’m sure you will have noted I used the word encourage and not coach because managers are not allowed outside to coach the team from outside their technical areas in front of the dugouts. Now, those of you who have happened across Taylor will know that he’s no shrinking violet, so exactly how he thought he’d get away with coaching from where he was is beyond me and so he was quickly sent back to his bench. He was not happy about it, my friend on the committee was! And talking of the Buckley manager, his post-match comments are interesting to say the least, because he must obviously have been watching a different match to me!

Pearls of wisdom from him include the BlackAdder–esque ‘cunningly setting traps for the Canaries which they fell into (I kid you not!), and whenever a losing manager talks about laughable sending  off decisions and his player being too honest when he could have won a penalty then you know he’s feeling more than disappointed by the defeat. Oh dear….

Next up was the visit of league leaders Cefn Druids to the Oval and, having been eagerly looking forward to the match, I can only say that I was equally disappointed with how it turned out. The team had not performed well against another side relegated from last season’s Welsh Premier League, Prestatyn Town, earlier in the season and so I was looking forward to seeing how they would fare with Druids who also suffered the drop. Firstly, I must say that the players deserved more from the match than they got and a draw would have probably been a fair result but, having enjoyed the majority of possession, we did not look like scoring and unfortunately Druids made the most of their best chance to clinch the win.

Just one of those days for Breesey and the team against Druids.

If I was to take a leaf out of the Buckley manager’s book I could say all sorts about how Caernarfon should have won etc but to be fair to Druids they arrived with a plan to stifle Caernarfon and did just that. They are not the most entertaining of sides but were effective on the day and headed home with the points, and all credit to them. Just for fun, however, I will try and explain how I really felt about the match in five words:

Bus. Parked. Dick. Turpin. Gutted.

On a much more positive note, it was great to meet up with my old friend Mark McKean, who works on the Druids’ website and match reports etc. I have known Mark for many years and he’s been unwell for the last few of them, so I was pleased to see him. Hope you enjoyed the book Mark!!

Catching up with an old friend at the Druids match.

There are no easy matches in the Cymru Alliance League and so, having just hosted the leaders, the team had another really tough match to play seven days later when they travelled to second placed Guilsfield.

The sides met four times last season and each match had been very close. The Guils are a physical side and travelling down to the match with committee member Elwyn Jones, we both felt it was going to be another tough challenge against Danny Barton’s side. I think it’s also fair to say that, whilst we both hoped for a Caernarfon win, we may very well have accepted a draw as a decent result at such a difficult place.          

Clive Williams. 

Scoring goals had been a problem for the team thus far (the Buckley tie excepted) and so it was interesting to see a change in the team’s formation, which saw Jamie Breese partnered up front with Jamie McDaid. I had been hoping to see the two Jamie’s spearheading the attack since the beginning of the season and was impressed at how well it worked. In another change, Clive Williams stepped up from defence to midfield and, having started the match impressively in the middle he had to drop back into centre defence early on due to an injury to Gareth Edwards.

In short, the team was superb on the day, and thoroughly deserved the 4-0 victory. The scoreline could easily have been much more than it was and the performance was probably the best of the season up to that point. Guilsfield were workmanlike and obviously missed the injured Barton but Town were certainly superior on the day. In fact, so good was Caernarfon’s performance that my only concern on the day was for the referee and his assistants, who all looked about fifteen years old! I’m all for getting younger people involved in the refereeing side of the game as we seem to see the same familiar faces in the middle and running the lines every other week, Andy Harms being an excellent recent example (!), but I also think the FAW is doing a disservice to these youngsters when they put three inexperienced officials together to run a game in the second tier of Welsh football. I’ve been told that the FAW are fast-tracking young officials due to lack of referees in the game and, if this is true, then I can understand why they’re doing it, but surely they would be better off, and be much fairer to the officials, by having at least one experienced official for each match, thus giving the youngsters some much needed support and encouragement? After all, they’re not going to get much of that from any of the supporters! 

Guilsfield were struggling so much against the Cofis that even
the Main Stand could not bare to look.

I am sure that having an elder statesman on hand at the Guilsfield match would have helped the young referee who was being slaughtered by one of the home supporters for over-ruling a linesman  for Town’s second goal. The linesman had put his flag up for an offside when Jamie McDaid scored but the referee, quite rightly, pointed out that the player who may have been offside was standing on the far side of the field and nowhere near the ball, and so the goal stood. This was like a red rag to a bull for a purple-faced gentleman in his sixties, or maybe seventies, who was still shouting obscenities two or three minutes later! This is obviously not an isolated incident and I wonder how much it affects the confidence of such inexperienced officials?

The officials had a tough day at Guilsfield....

To be honest, the inexperience of the officials on the day did not really ma

tter as Caernarfon would have won no matter who had been in charge of the whistle and as we left the Community Centre Ground I had a feeling that the victory, and the successful change in the team’s formation, could prove a turning point for the team. The two Jamies had proved too hot for the Guils defence to handle and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of goals from them both in the next six months.
Cup Fever will feature in the next blog as I take a look at the recent cup ties with Bala Town and Llanrug United.
Happy Days....

                  

I Will Love It and Who's That Coming Over the Hill....

“I Will Love It If We Beat Them…” 

Successive victories over Denbigh, Conwy and Flint had given us a boost following a tough start to the season and the team seemed to be improving with each match. However, one thing that had concerned me at Flint was the small squad Iwan had at his disposal. 

In one of the pieces we put on the club’s website during the summer months the manager made it clear that he planned on having a compact squad that would be small on numbers but hopefully big on talent. Of course, the problem with this is that we’d be reliant on enjoying an impossibly injury-free season and, whilst I know Iwan would have already been thinking of ways around this, and having both himself and Gareth Parry available to play would obviously be a big help, I’m not sure he, or anyone could have anticipated the spate of injuries we suffered in the opening weeks. As a result, just twelve players were available for selection at Flint and this was reduced further when Kevin Roberts left the field at Cae y Castell. 

All this made for less than ideal preparation for our Word Cup tie at Bangor City. Knowing that we were struggling for players on this of all nights was worrying enough but the fact that the Citizens had comfortably defeated Airbus UK just four days earlier added to a slight dampening of my enthusiasm for the match. This was not a lack of belief on my part in the management and players, rather that City might prove a better side than I had believed them to be and obviously we wanted us to face them with a full squad. Despite our lack of numbers however, I still felt we had a chance of winning. 

“I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.” 

It goes without saying that I had been looking forward immensely to the match and was desperate for the side to triumph. Whilst driving to the ground I kept thinking of that famous Kevin Keegan quote from 1996 when he was manager of Newcastle and his side were fighting for the Premier League title with Manchester United: “I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.” Granted, I didn’t voice this in front of an audience of millions like Keegan did, but he could not have meant it any more than I did. 

I have good memories of watching matches at Farrar Road as a younger when they were doing well in the Alliance Premier League and whilst they have in the past been one of the biggest clubs in Wales I think it’s fair to say they’ve been going through a difficult time recently, both on and off the pitch. 

There has always been a great rivalry between the two clubs and the Citizens have usually had the upper hand over the Canaries in the past few years. However, I feel we have closed the wide gap that once prevailed and as a club we are much more representative of the local area we are part of. Put it like this, there was only one set of players speaking in Welsh at Nantporth on the night and they didn’t play in blue! 

Luckily for the Security firm, Kevin Roberts turned the other way....

I arrived at the Ground early and the first thing I saw filled me with dread. It wasn’t the sight of the twenty two strong security team standing in the car park that worried me but the fact that Town midfielder Kevin Roberts was standing nearby, and was not looking best pleased. Now I don’t particularly like The Kaiser Chiefs but their song ‘I Predict a Riot’ instantly sprung to mind. Thankfully for the security team, Kevin was not about to put them to bed with a medley of his best tackles and I soon learned that his obvious frown was due to being ruled out of the match through injury.

Panic over and once inside the ground I bumped into former Town assisting manager Dave Cavanagh who now works with one of Bangor’s Academy sides. Cav is always good for a laugh and he shared one or two great stories about players at some of his former clubs that I could not possibly share on here! But if he should ever decide to write a book, I’ll be one of the first in line to buy it! 

The pitch itself looked magnificent, and I was also impressed by the Main Stand, which is bigger than I had realised during a previous visit to the ground. I have heard some people say that the venue is yet another example of the modern identikit grounds that are being built by non-professional clubs and whilst it may lack the character of Farrar Road, it is nevertheless a great looking venue. 

There’s no need for me to go over the match in detail but what I can say is that Caernarfon deserved the victory. Despite one or two comments on Twitter (from the vicinity of Anglesey per chance?) stating otherwise, we were the better side on the night. The Canaries had the best opportunities in front of goal and looked fitter than the home side, finishing stronger in both halves. Iwan has spoken about the importance of high fitness levels and it was obvious to me that, despite our small squad, and the introduction of no substitutes, the Canaries looked the sharper outfit at the final whistle. It spoke volumes about the fitness work Iwan and his staff carried out with the players during the summer and also suggests that training facilities are at least just as good in this area as they are up the Coast!

It was a satisfying night to be a Caernarfon supporter, and the reaction at the final whistle from the Cofi supporters was brilliant. There are a few clips doing the rounds on youtube of the celebrations between the team and players immediately after the match and they’re worth seeing if you catch them. 

As this is a personal blog I think it’s fair to share my own thoughts on the security policy at the match. In the days leading up to the tie, Bangor City FC issued a statement that read thus: ‘The area for Caernarfon Town fans will be one hundred seats in the main stand, with a managed sterile area between both sets of fans. Standing area for Caernarfon Town fans will be from the end of the main stand to the corner flag near the turnstiles.’ 

The general consensus amongst Caernarfon followers beforehand was that there could be anything up to five hundred Cofis in attendance and so I could not have been alone in thinking the allocated area would probably not be sufficient. This became obvious a few minutes before kick off when the crowd in the standing area was three or four people deep, meaning that children and many adults could not see the match. To be fair, Bangor did open a second section in the main stand for visiting supporters at half time but this hardly helped those who had to remain standing and could still not see the action. I can see why Bangor City implemented a security policy. We all know what happened during the Challenge Cup final between the sides at the same venue two seasons ago and I think it was understandable that they erred on the side of caution this time around. However, I always felt that the allocated space was never going to be sufficient and it would have been much better for the whole area at one end of the pitch to also have been allocated to Caernarfon supporters, or at least to have been made available once it became obvious that people could not see the match. This would have meant everyone could have seen the action whilst also keeping the segregation intact. 

I would not go so far as to say the situation invoked memories of those dark days in the eighties when away supporters were forced into ‘pens’ at grounds, but with so many security personnel on hand I think the problem could have been easily rectified. I spoke with one of those security officers later and he told me, not surprisingly, that Town supporters had been impeccably behaved and I hope this message was relayed to Bangor City FC so that every Caernarfon supporter can get to see the game next time we play there. After all, if you pay £8 as an adult and £6 as a child to get into the ground you are entitled to see the match. 

On a more positive note, I can think of many highlights to savour from the evening: 

Nathan Craig and Jay Gibbs ruling the roost in midfield and showing they can get stuck in whenever they feel the need to. 

Seeing our old Gaffer, Lee Dixon, in the Main Stand exchanging some mild banter with the Caernarfon Town committee. 

The goal, and Iwan’s celebrations when Jamie scored. 

The Cofi Army and their celebrations at the final whistle. 

Special mention should also be made of one or two decent chants from the Cofi Army, including a song about Jamie Breese and a specially adapted version of the old Automatic song “What’s that Coming Over the Hill.” Priceless. 

I could go on and mention a few other things that made me smile on the night but if you’re a Caernarfon Town supporter you’ll know exactly what they are! 

On the way out of the ground I bumped into Jamie Breese and I could not resist a photo with our match winner. I mentioned in the last blog entry that I think he can become a key figure for us going forward and I am certain he will score the goals that can take us to a new level of success. I also saw some of the players and the manager and not surprisingly we all had big smiles on our faces. 

Whilst some will say it was nothing more than a victory against a side from a higher league, I would argue that it was more than that, and on more than one level. The committee at Caernarfon Town has always tried its best to do things the right way, and to try and create a community club that the Town’s people can be proud of. We have also tried our best to give local players the opportunity to play for the club. It may not always seem like but as a member of that committee I know it’s true. Most of our team at Nantporth were locally based players who train in this area and the performance just goes to show that you don’t have to fill your squad with players from up the Coast to have a decent team. 

I've come to the conclusion that Kevin Keegan was right all those years ago and whilst his side could not quite manage to put one over their great rivals at the time I am pleased to say that the team I follow was more than up to the task. 

It was a memorable night and I loved it!

Jamie Breese, Kev Roberts and Dubious Penalties?

The First Month Part Two.
Caernarfon’s first victory of the season, at Denbigh, must have been a huge relief for Iwan Williams and the players, not to mention the supporters, and in addition to giving us all a real boost I hope it proved to the manager that the style of football he wants the team to play can work.

The first three matches had all been against sides that play a much more direct style than the Canaries and, whilst Holywell and Prestatyn had given the team problems with their physicality, I think the players got to grips with this side of the game much more at Denbigh and got their just rewards. They certainly matched the hosts’ physically whilst the playmakers in Town’s line-up gave us the edge, a pattern I believe, and hope, we’ll be seeing plenty of this season.

Gareth Edwards dealt well with Conwy's aerial threat.

Conwy Borough visited the Oval five days later and provided another stiff test, although the match was not the most entertaining I’ve seen. Again, Conwy set up solidly, looking to keep things tight whilst playing mostly on the break. However, unlike the previous home match against Prestatyn, the Canaries showed much more patience going forward and although the free-flowing football of pre-season was only fleetingly seen, I thought the players did well. Jay Gibbs and Nathan Craig just about edged the midfield battle, although Conwy’s Rob Jones had an excellent evening and was a real nuisance throughout. He was Conwy’s best player on the night and must have impressed Iwan, as he has since brought him to the Oval.
For Caernarfon, special mention must be made of the defence on the night as, despite needing to re-shuffle after an early injury to Chris Williams, they gave Conwy little change and Gareth Edwards in particular dealt confidently with the aerial threat posed by the visitors.

Ellis Healing in action against his former club, Conwy.

Town’s winner came from Ellis Healing, who scored from the penalty spot against his former club. I was not too far away from the action when he was brought down just inside the area and thought the referee got it right, although Conwy’s management team were less than happy about the decision. That is to be expected of course, but I had to laugh when I read the match report on Conwy’s official site the following day, where it proclaimed Caernarfon had been awarded a ‘dubious’ penalty. Really?  How many times do we hear people call penalties ‘dubious’ whenever it’s one against their own team? Seeing this on the club’s site suggested a touch of sour grapes from the author and whilst I know only too well how hard it is to try and be impartial when writing match reports, this type of thing never looks good. 

We were on our travels again a few days later and my usual away day companion, Bob, didn’t fancy the trip so I was on my own. I’ve been watching football with Bob for well over thirty years and the last five seasons have seen us miss just a handful of away matches so it’s always odd when I’m travelling solo. To be fair, I couldn’t really blame him for giving it a miss as even I have to force my way up the A55 when we’re playing up the coast. I put this down to my fellow Caernarfon Town committee member Kevin ‘Becks’ who apparently has something to do with putting cones down the lanes at ridiculously regular intervals!

A very quiet welcome at Cae y Castell.  

I arrived at the free car park in plenty of time and it was so quiet that began thinking the match had been called off for some reason. This might have been something to do with a previous visit to Cae y Castell two years ago when we arrived at the venue only to be told that the match had been postponed, just twenty minutes before kick-off! Thankfully there was no such call this time and my mind was put at ease when I saw John Watkins perusing his match programme the other side of the turnstile.

The match itself was a much more entertaining affair than the one at the Oval in midweek although it very much followed the now customary pattern of the Canaries dominating

Jamie Breese.

possession and spending most of the match looking for ways to unlock a resolute defence. The team played really well and deserved the three points and whilst we won courtesy of an own goal, it may as well have been credited to Jamie Breese because he created the problem for the Flint defence out of nothing and did everything but find the net himself. When Jamie signed during the Summer I thought he would be in the team to put away chances in the box, a 'goal poacher' in the mould of someone like Gary Lineker, but how wrong was I? Yes, Jamie is a great finisher but he is so much more than that and I can honestly say that I can’t remember a striker at Caernarfon who ever worked as hard as he does over the course of a match. Iwan’s system of using so many flair players in the team means that Jamie has periods in matches where he ploughs a lone furrow up front and he works his socks off doing it. He’s already proved a favourite with the supporters in his short time at the club and I imagine he will be a key figure for us in the future.

A rare cameo from Iwan.

There was a decent sized Cofi Army in attendance and the players’ celebrations with some of them after the goal was worth the entrance fee alone. Iwan often talks of being one club, and everyone pulling together in the same direction, and I think the celebration was a great way of proving that players and supporters have already got a great rapport.

If there was one negative aspect from the afternoon it was seeing Kevin Roberts walking off the pitch injured. I can only assume that he must have either kicked a rock or tackled himself, as no other footballer could possibly have given him a knock in a tackle! Iwan made a rare appearance as a replacement in the final minutes and found enough time to get in two bone shakers of his own in midfield, which shows that he, too, loves a tackle! 

Kev Roberts with his bag of ice......

Before setting off home I saw Kevin emerging from the dressing room with a slight limp and a bag of ice cubes. Having got over the shock of what I was seeing I managed to take a photo as proof that my eyes were not deceiving me and Kev assured me he’d be back to full fitness in no time, which was no surprise!

So, another tough match, and a third successive victory for the Cofis, who again proved that they can ‘win ugly’ when needed. I think we were all still waiting to see the free flowing football we'd been hoping for but I’d much rather see the team grinding out wins than playing pretty football and losing. With the players Iwan has in his squad I am convinced it is just a matter of time before the team starts putting on the style and winning matches by more than the odd goal. 

For once, the A55 was clear on the way home and there was the prospect of a very interesting match against our greatest rivals, Bangor City, on the horizon….

      

A Reality Check and How Many Times....

The First Month Part One.

Four weeks have passed since the last blog and, on the whole, it’s been a great first month of the season for Caernarfon Town.

I wrote the last entry following the team’s first match of the campaign, the goalless draw at Holywell and, since then, the Canaries have had a pretty good time of it, bar the home defeat to Prestatyn.

Reality Check.

As a Caernarfon Town supporter the Prestatyn match has obviously been the team’s only real low point so far and if ever a defeat provided a reality check, then this was it.

Prestatyn proved more than a handful for 'Pritch' and his defence.

Following an excellent pre-season campaign, confidence was high amongst everyone at the club, and when Daily Post reporter Dave Jones named the Canaries as his favourites to win the Cymru Alliance League, he seemed to be merely justifying our belief that the team has a real chance of returning to the Welsh Premier next March.

However, I’m not sure how many of us had quite that same belief following the defeat to Prestatyn, when the team was very much second best to the Seasiders on the day. From what I have heard, Prestatyn have retained the majority of the team that got relegated from the top tier last term and they certainly looked a very physical, and direct side at the Oval. In fact, as  far as I’m concerned they are the perfect example of the type of teams we will come up against every week the season. 

We already know that Town manager Iwan Williams wants to play an expansive, high tempo style, with lots of quick, smart passing, and we had seen it during the pre-season friendlies, but Prestatyn didn’t allow the players to get into their rhythm and, for want of a better word, bullied us out of the match. There were one or two positive passages of play from Caernarfon, especially in the first half, and if we had held on to the lead following Nathan Craig’s opener until half-time, things could have been different, but there’s no denying who was the better side on the day.

Ellis Healing impressed on his Town debut.

One bright spark of the day was Ellis Healing, who came on as a second half substitute and showed enough glimpses to hint that he could be an excellent addition to the squad. Quick and skilful, Ellis fits into the team’s playing style perfectly and Iwan has done well to bring him to the Oval on loan from Airbus UK.

One point from two matches was not what most people would have expected and the first week of the season underlined just how hard it will be to push for the title in a league that probably surpasses the Welsh Premier for competitiveness, if only for the fact that The New Saints are so dominant at that level.

A few days after the match Iwan sent me an email to publish on the club’s website in which he gave his reaction to the defeat and I was mildly surprised, but also pleased, by how forthright he was: “…..the performance was well and truly below par. We scored early on and instead of shutting up shop for five minutes we showed naivety and went looking for a second goal which left us exposed at the back. You can have all the talent in the world but you also need heart and desire which we lacked in certain parts of the game on Saturday. However, I will continue to back my players to the fullest. I will be looking for leaders this week and I believe that I have plenty of strong characters within my squad.”

Iwan and his assistant Gareth Parry had plenty
to discuss following the Prestatyn reverse.

I don’t think anyone could ask for a more honest appraisal than that and I have rarely heard, nor read about, managers at any level (except for the ‘Little Fergies’ in junior football, but that’s another matter!), stating quite bluntly that the team had underperformed.

Of course, certain factions on social media were not slow in highlighting the slow start to the campaign, and could not wait to reference Dave Jones’ pre-season prediction. There were even some calling the Presatyn match a ‘six pointer’, which was ridiculous for just the second fixture of the season, and I certainly had the feeling that people from outside the club and supporters were looking closely at Iwan and the team, and waiting to see how they would respond.

The response came a few days later at Denbigh, and I’m pleased to report that it was an excellent one!

We have not done too well at Central Park in recent seasons but it’s a venue that I always enjoy visiting. The surface never fails to look good and there’s a decent welcome to be had by the club, if not by all the ‘older’ local supporters who frequent the ground (an episode you can read about on page 192 of the ‘Oval Ways’ book).

Iwan got his selection spot-on against Denbigh.

I saw the team sheet upon arrival, and noted that the manager had made two changes, with  Clive Williams and Ellis Healing named in the starting eleven at the expense of Grahame Austin and Kevin Roberts. It was an interesting decision by Iwan, with Grahame and Kevin having been stalwarts of the team in recent seasons but it also showed he isn’t afraid of making hard decisions, which is something every good manager is expected to do.        

Iwan’s selection on the night was the right proved spot on as, from the very first minute Town bossed the match. Despite going a goal down and missing a few opportunities to equalise, the players stuck at it and their perseverance finally paid off with two late goals to win the match. Having ‘knocked on the door’ for the whole of the second half, once Gareth Edwards rose at the far post to head in the equaliser, there was only ever going to be one winner and I think it’s fair to say that we were all thrilled it was Jamie Breese who got us the winner. Jamie arrived at the Oval with high expectations and I am sure he will prove to be a match winner on plenty of occasions for us again during the course of the season.

Gareth Edwards rises at the far post to equalise.

He deserved his goal and the celebrations with the Cofi Army after his effort found the net was a great way to mark his first competitive goal for the club.

I take photographs during most matches in the hope I can manage to use one or two on the club’s website and facebook page and, although I am the first to admit I’m no Richard Birch, from time to time I do manage a good photo. However, most are unusable and two such examples are the shots I took of Gareth and Jamie’s goals, which are out of focus, and generally just a blur. As this is a personal blog, I’m including both here, if only to give people an idea of how they looked from where I stood. So near to being good photos, but oh so far….   

Jamie Breese nets the winner at Central Park. 

On a personal note I had been due to attend a family wedding but used a ‘Get Out of Jail’ card with my wife to attend and will, I fear, be paying my instalments for quite a while.  However, the team’s performance was worth it, and the manner of the 2-1 victory was probably just as pleasing as the three points.

How Many Times?

I left the ground with a huge smile, not only because of the victory, but also because Jamie’s winner had instantly pressed a ‘mute button’ on Denbigh manager, Gareth Thomas, who would be odds on favourite for any award given to the least imaginative shout of the

The referee should have given Gareth Thomas his answer
before kick-off.

season. His default shout whenever any of his players were challenged, tackled or generally just fell over, was ‘How Many Times, Ref?’

He bellowed this out at the man in black throughout the ninety minutes and stopped only when we went ahead. I spotted Thomas enjoying a chat with the referee and his assistants before kick-off and just wish they had answered his question at that time!
The Canaries have played four more matches since the visit to Denbigh, and I’ll be catching up by taking a look at them in the next entry, to be published in a few days….Paul. 

Cofis 'Refuse To Lose'!

When the season’s fixtures were announced over the Summer, I’m sure I was not alone in thinking the Canaries had been handed a tough opener. The Cymru Alliance is a tough league and there are no easy matches, but I can certainly think of one or two more appealing openers than having to travel to Holywell to face the reigning Welsh Alliance League Champions.

Their manager John Haseldin has been at the club for a number of years and has been successful in turning things around for the Wellmen. He has always had a good side there and, having seen them enjoy a remarkable promotion winning season last time around, I think everyone connected to Caernarfon Town would have expected a difficult challenge on Saturday. And this is certainly what the team got!  

This was my first visit to Halkyn Road since that infamous evening in March 2013, which saw firecrackers, sending offs, a rather disjointed performance from an inexperienced referee and his  linesman and, ultimately, defeat for the Canaries, who were so near at the time to clinching the league title and promotion. It was such an odd and disappointing night that I felt it warranted a chapter in my ‘Oval Ways’ book, which I titled ‘The Battle of Halkyn Road’. A tad over the top maybe, but it conveys how I feel about the experience. 

Thankfully, Saturday was nowhere near as dramatic but one thing is for sure, the football on display  was every bit as good, and exciting, as had been expected. 

Welcome to Halkyn Road.

The first thing I noticed when walking through the old entrance is that the club has built a fence to properly enclose the pitch and added a new turnstile block. It is certainly a massive improvement from the old entrance and, just to finish the job off properly, there was even a Welsh speaker operating the turnstile itself. Surprising, but impressive! Incidentally, I took a quick look at the old turnstile near the main stand and was pleased to see that, although closed on the day, it is still there, and still proudly sports the club’s motto ‘Refuse To Lose’.

Another addition to the ground from three seasons ago was a very smart looking clubhouse, which my mate Bob told me serves 

My son Iwan at the new turnstile block. 

a decent pint of Worthingtons. I’ll take his word for that but my son  Iwan and I can certainly vouch for the cheeseburgers they serve! Someone told me at the match that Holywell paid for the clubhouse with money they received from their Welsh Cup run two season ago and whilst I have no idea as to how accurate this is, I do know that it’s been an excellent addition to Halkyn Road.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of attending your teams first match of the season. The hopes, fears and a nervous tension are unique to the opening day of a new campaign and Saturday was no different. In fact, the feeling was probably more intense this year as Caernarfon are under a new manager and, although the team has done well in pre-season, there are a number of new faces in the squad, and so they’re all still gelling as a team.

However, as we travelled up the A55 the mood amongst us was one of quiet confidence that the team could get a positive result and, after a very good first half performance, I felt we could go on to  win the match. I’m sure there’s a cliché about former strikers finding the net against their old sides and the Cofi Army must have been thinking along these lines when they saw that former Town striker Steve Lewis was in Haseldin’s starting line-up. ‘The Beast’ received some criticism when he arrived at the Oval last season, mainly because he did not look in the best of condition, fitness-wise, but he proved before the end of the term that he has plenty to offer as a frontman, and is a real handful for any defence.    

Holywell started well but the Canaries had improved after a slow start and were the dominant force for the majority of the half. Michael Platt made a number of good saves during the first forty five to keep the Wellmen level, and they could also thank the linesman for spotting an infringement in the box when Nathan Craig put the ball in the net in the eight minute. I’m not sure what he actually saw, but, judging from my photo, assume it was an offside verdict against Jamie Breese?

Nathan found the net with this effort, but his 'goal' was disallowed for an infringement.  

The Oval Ways Man of the Match was 'Pritch'.

To be fair to Holywell, they were excellent in the second period and created a number of decent opportunities, although nothing special enough to beat Town’s number one, and my man of the match, Paul Pritchard. I’ve been saying for the past three years that ‘Pritch’ is the best keeper outside the Welsh Premier League and probably on a par with the best in the top tier too. He was in inspiring form all afternoon and, together with an impressive never say die attitude from the whole team, Town came away from the match with a deserved point.

I’ve read a few messages on Social Media from people of a Holywell Town persuasion who feel their team deserved to win but I would point out that the Canaries were much the better side in the first period and could have been two or three goals ahead at half time. Platt also made a superb save to stop Toby Jones scoring a late winner, whilst Jay Gibbs too had a decent opportunity for the Cofis before the final whistle. Taking the match as a whole, I’m sure both managers felt their team could have won, but I believe the draw was a fair result.

Toby Jones' late effort is pushed wide by home
Holywell stopper Michael Platt

It’s impossible to make any predictions after the first match of the season but things that I learnt on Saturday were that Caernarfon can play fast, decisive football in patches (as showed in the first period, during which Jamie McDaid was outstanding) and. despite Hollywell’s motto, they are not the only team to ‘Refuse To Lose, as the Cofis showed in the second half.

Finally, whilst pre-season friendlies serve a purpose and help teams prepare for the new term, Saturday’s thriller at Halkyn Road showed that the real thing is finally back. I can’t wait for the next instalment this Saturday as Town host Prestatyn and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be another cracker!

Come on the Town!