Caernarfon Town V Haverfordwest County
Saturday 17 August, 17:15
Cofis Fall to Late Defeat.
Caernarfon 1 – 2 Haverfordwest.
The Cymru Premier League returned to the Carling Oval on Saturday and the hosts faced stiff opposition in the form of Haverfordwest County, who opened their league campaign last week with a victory at Connahs Quay Nomads.
This was the Cofis’ first league match of the new season and a decent crowd of 715 turned up to ground, despite an awkward tea-time kick off and live coverage on youtube.
The first half was as even a contest as you could see, with both sides on top at certain stages of the forty five minutes but really it was very much a case of them cancelling each other out.
As expected, as hosts Caernarfon were always more on the front foot and the attacking policy of manager Richard Davies was prevalent throughout, whilst the visitors were probably more conservative in their approach but nevertheless still looking a threat on occasions.
Caernarfon dominated the early stages without creating much up front, and whilst Zack Clarke was the focal point it was Darren Thomas who looked the more dangerous during Town’s attacks. The first real opening arrived in the fifteenth minute after Thomas had crossed into the box and Danny Gosset arrived late on the edge of the box only to see his volley fly over the woodwork from twelve yards.
For the visitors, Ben Ahmun should have done better with a far post header in the twenty first minute but saw his effort go wide of the upright.
Just before the half hour mark Morgan Owen found Louis Lloyd in the box with a delicious pass but the Caernarfon wide man opted to try and pass the ball when really a better option would have been to pull the trigger from his position in the area. Owen was in action again two minutes later but this time it was in his own penalty area as he scurried to complete a last ditch tackle to thwart Ahmun.
Darren Thomas and Morgan Owen went close to opening the scoring with decent efforts before the break but the score remained 0-0 as the teams walked off for their half-time refreshments.
On the hour mark Caernarfon were given a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after Thomas was brought down but Lloyd was wasteful with his effort, the ball flying well over its target, much to the frustration of Town’s resident free kick specialist, Danny Gosset.
Darren Thomas provided a highlight moment two minutes later when he picked the ball up in midfield and danced past three opposing players on his way into the box but his powerful strike hit advancing Haverfordwest keeper Lee Jenkins in his face, the stopper fortunate to get in the way of the ball as he knew little about it.
The visitors went ahead in the seventy three minute when Ahmun placed the ball past McMullen from close range to give his side an unlikely lead.
This setback spurred a bit more urgency in Town’s play and they were back on level terms two minutes later, when the visitors failed to deal with a cross into their box and the ball landed at the feet of Matty Jones, who drilled the ball past two defenders and Jenkins on the way into the net.
From hereon in Caernarfon pressed hard for the winner and substitute Adam Davies was thwarted by a Jenkins tip-over and in the last of regulation ninety minutes, his near post effort was deflected wide by a defenders’ leg.
As the hosts looked to press forward for the three points they left themselves open at the back and a quick break upfield from County led to an injury time winner from Owain Jones.
It was a harsh lesson for Caernarfon, who will feel that they deserved at least a point from the match for their endeavours.
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Paulo Mendes.
Team: Stephen McMullen, Gruff John, Ryan Sears, Phil Mooney, Maty Jones, Morgan Owen, Paulo Mendes, Danny Gosset, Zack Clarke, Darren Thomas, Lous Lloyd.
Subs (used): Marc Williams, Adam Davies, Osian Evans, Matty Hill. Not used: Hari Thomas, Sam Downey, Joe Faux.