Caernarfon Town FC V Connah's Quay Nomads
Saturday 28 September, 17:15
Cofis Too Strong For Nomads.
Caernarfon 3 – 1 Connahs Quay Nomads.
Caernarfon boosted their hopes of entering the league’s top half for the first time this season when they outplayed Connahs Quay Nomads at the Carling Oval in front of the Sgorio cameras.
The Cofis began strongly and they forced visiting keeper Jon Rushton into action in the sixth minute when he denied Daniel Gosset after good work by Louis Lloyd on the hosts’ right flank. Rushton was called upon again eight minutes when he tipped the ball over his bar from a Darren Thomas piledriver.
The opener for the hosts arrived in the eighteenth minute after good work by Zack Clarke, who picked the ball in midfield before striding towards the Nomads area. His delivery to Louis Lloyd was blocked by Kai Edwards but the ball fell into the path of the onrushing Paulo Mendes who found the bottom corner of the net with his low drive.
The hosts appealed for a penalty in the twenty seventh minute after it seemed that Darren Thomas was brought down in the box but referee Rob Jenkins waved away the Cofis’ appeals, and booked Thomas for showing his disdain at the decision.
Caernarfon became increasingly dominant as the half progressed and Rushton thwarted Mendes late on, whilst Clarke was unlucky not to score when his shot beat he keeper but skimmed inches wide of the upright.
Town captain Thomas doubled Caernarfon’s lead in first half injury time as he robbed the ball off John Disney in midfield before powering to the edge of the penalty area and struck a bullet that was too good for Rushton as it found the bottom right corner of his net.
The visitors hardly looked like getting back into the match after the break as Caernarfon continued to play on the front foot, Mendes and Clarke again threatening early on.
Clarke finally got on the scoresheet just before the hour mark when he followed up Mendes’ header that struck an upright, and the big striker pummelled the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
The remainder of the match was comfortable for the hosts as Nomads could not quite manage to get a foothold back into the match. The Cofis went close to adding a fourth through Thomas and Lloyd but had to settle for their three goals.
Town stopper McMullen brought down former Caernarfon player Ben Maher in the dying minutes and Disney found the net from the spot, but it was nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.
The victory saw Caernarfon jump up to seventh in the Cymru Premier League.
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Paulo Mendes and Darren Thomas (joint).
Team: Stephen McMullen, Morgan Owen, Stefan Edwards, Matty Jones, Phil Mooney, Ryan Sears, Daniel Gosset, Louis Lloyd, Paulo Mendes, Darren Thomas, Zack Clarke.
Subs (used): Matty Hill, Adam Davies, Sam Downey, Joe Faux. Not used: Hari Thomas, Gruff John, Osian Evans.