Newtown AFC V Caernarfon Town FC
Tuesday 30 August, 19:45
Cofis Frustrated in Defeat.
Newtown 2 – 1 Caernarfon.
The Cofis headed back home from Lathan Park with nothing to show for their efforts, and they will feel frustrated that they could not gain at least a point after dominating long periods of the match.
Caernarfon do not have a good record of late against Newtown, and things did not look good when the hosts opened the scoring after just two minutes. There seemed little danger when Rob Hughes was robbed of the ball on the edge of the Robins’ penalty area by Ismail but he threaded an excellent pass into the path of Nick Rushton, who slipped the ball past the onrushing Josh Tibbets to put the hosts ahead.
Huw Griffiths’ men refused to let the early setback put them off their gameplan and they steadily took control of the match, gaining the upper hand in midfield and passing the ball well. Darren Thomas saw an effort from eighteen yards deflected for a corner whilst an excellent delivery from Laurie Bell found Ben Wynne in the box, and the striker was sharp to turn his marker but hit his effort just wide of Dave Jones’ right hand upright.
Wynne looked dangerous up front and in the thirty fifth minute he hit an effort that sailed high and wide of the target. He threatened again four minutes later when he cut inside from the left byline but hit his shot at Jones, who saved with his feet.
Whilst the first half had seen the visitors edge possession, Huw Griffith’s men dominated the second period, and were back in the game nine minutes after the restart when Wynne’s strike took a deflection off a Newtown defender and ended in the net, much to the delight of the travelling supporters.
Noah Edwards nearly levelled the score four minutes later after Joe Faux had found him in the box, but the midfielder’s low shot from fifteen yards went inches wide of the upright.
There was then a lengthy break in goalmouth action as Newtown played deep in their own half, with Caernarfon pushing forward without real menace. The hosts did create three half chances late on but could not find a way through Caernarfon’s defence again, whilst Noah Edwards seemed to carry out a personal crusade to find the equaliser in the last few minutes of the match. A left foot curler from twenty two yards sailed an inch over the woodwork, a low piledriver from twenty five yards hit the upright and finally, a minute into injury time, he hit the ball into the side netting from inside the box.
Unfortunately for Caernarfon, and not for the first time against the Robins, their luck was not quite what they wanted, and the final whistle blew on a frustrating evening for them.
Despite defeat, Huw Griffiths will feel that his team played well and they can now look forward to a match under the floodlights this Friday evening, as they face Airbus at the Oval. Kick off is at 7:45pm.
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Noah Edwards.
Team: Tyler French, Gruff John, Ryan Williams, Laurie Bell, Iwan Cartwright, Noah Edwards, Rob Hughes, Sion Bradley, Darren Thomas, Ben Wynne, Joe Faux.
Subs (used): Osian Evans. Not used: Aaron Simpson, Fabrizio Murtas, Gruff Jones, Tyler French.
