Caernarfon Town V Briton Ferry Llansawel
Saturday 14 September, 14:30
Clarke Hat-Trick Clinches Victory for Cofis.
Caernarfon 3 – 2 Briton Ferry Llansawel.
With four points from their opening five Cymru Premier League fixtures, Caernarfon were in dire need of victory against Briton Ferry Llansawel at the Carling Oval.
The visitors are experiencing a torrid introduction to life in the top tier following promotion last season and approaching this match they had yet to claim a point from the opening six matches.
Returning to Richard Davies’ starting eleven after being absent last week were Stephen McMullan, Danny Gosset and Phil Mooney, whilst Darren Thomas also returned to the team, and Stef Edwards made his first start at left back, with Paulo Mendes deemed fit enough for a spot on the bench following injury.
The Cofis immediately settled into a good rhythm and the bossed possession during an impressive first quarter of the match.
During this period they opened up a two goal lead, courtesy of Zack Clarke. The young striker first struck with a rocket from twenty yards after Edwards crossed into the Llansawel box and the ball was headed out to Clarke who took the ball off the toes of Darren Thomas before firing into the roof of the net.
The Caernarfon number seven only had to wait another four minutes to clinch his second when another delivery into the visitors box caused them panic and Clarke’s looping header went in off the upright. Louis Lloyd was inches away from adding a third for the hosts when he dinked in from the left flank and beat keeper Rhys Wilson with an excellent effort but saw the ball cannon off the bar.
Llansawel were shell-shocked and seemed to struggle to cope with the pace of the match as Caernarfon stroked the ball around the pitch, although they seemed void of much penetration up front after Clarke’s salvo.
Despite Caernarfon’s dominance the visitors got back into the match in the thirty eighth minute after Dier crossed from the right and Tyler Brock got to the ball first at the near post to turn the ball in. Phil Mooney went close to restoring the Cofis’ two goal lead just before the break but his header sailed narrowly wide of the upright.
Where Caernarfon had dominated the opening half it’s fair to say that Llansawel certainly upped their game after the break and they enjoyed much more possession as Caernarfon seemed to fall back to try and defend their lead, a ploy which went close to backfiring on them on a number of occasions in the second half.
They had three close calls early after the break when poor finishing and decent saves from McMullan kept the Cofis in front.
Llansawel’s Ellis Sage should have done better in the seventy fifth minute when through on goal but he lobbed the ball over both the advancing McMullan and the goal from twenty yards.
The introduction of Paulo Mendes on seventy five minutes gave Caernarfon much needed control in midfield and the playmaker was very much in the thick of things as soon as he joined the action. It was Mendes who started the move for Town’s third goal when he powered upfield from the centre circle and found Adam Davies in the box. The tall striker’s effort at goal was blocked and the ball fell to Clarke at the far post, and he made no mistake as he clinched his hat-trick to put the Cofis two goals ahead.
Caernarfon were still not out of the woods, however, as with a minute left of the ninety, a low Rickey Lee-Owen shot took a wicked deflection off Mooney that saw the ball loop over McMullan and into his net. The hosts did enough to keep the visitors at bay for the remainder of the match and, whilst not a convincing performance, at the very least achieved their goal fr the day: three points.
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Zack Clarke.
Team: Stephen McMullen, Morgan Owen, Stefan Edwards, Phil Mooney, Ryan Sears, Daniel Gosset, Marc Williams, Louis Lloyd, Osian Evans, Darren Thomas, Zack Clarke,
Subs (used): Adam Davies, Paulo Mendes, Sam Downey, Joe Faux. Not used: Hari Thomas, Caron Williams.