Cardiff Met University V Caernarfon Town FC
Saturday 09 August, 14:30
Cofi Messi Rescues Point for Town.
Cardiff Met 2 – 2 Caernarfon.
Richard Davies took his team to the capital on Saturday to play Cardiff Met on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Cymru Premier League season. He would not have been pleased with what he saw in the first half.
The Cofis had a positive pre-season and, having completed a part overhaul of his squad, Caernarfon’s manager will have been looking forward to seeing how his squad can fare in competitive action. They began well with victory over Colwyn Bay in last week’s Nathaniel Cup match but a fixture at Cyncoed is always a stern test for any side and yesterday proved just that.
The hosts began well and it is no understatement to say that they pretty much dominated the opening half.
The Cofis just could not get out of the starting blocks in first half and the Archers stuck to their game plan of pressing their opponents at every opportunity. Granted, a strong wide was at their back throughout the opening forty minutes but they made full use of it and were good value for going in front in the twentieth minute.
Town were guilty of giving Fumpa Mwandwe too much time on the ball when he cut inside to midfield and beat two players before sliding the ball to Sam Jones in the box. The striker went down as he attempted to go around Morgan and whilst contact seemed minimal, referee Mr Williams did not hesitate in pointing towards the penalty spot, whilst also giving Connor Roberts a caution for voicing his disapproval. CJ Craven was successful in his spot kick attempt to put the hosts ahead.
Try as they might, and they undoubtedly did, Caernarfon could not manage to get any kind of rhythm and struggled to keep the ball for any length of time. Mwandwe went close to finding the net for the hosts on the half hour mark and Reynolds did double their lead on the stroke of half time when his long range effort found the roof of the net.
There seemed an inevitability that the Cofis would re-emerge for the second period with more urgency and an improved shape and this is exactly what transpired. The changes Davies had made at half-time seemed to make an instant impact as his team finally began enjoying some good periods of possession but a weak back-pass from Sam Downey ten minutes after the restart nearly ended in a third for Met when Sam Jones pounced on the mistake and sped into the area. Thankfully for Caernarfon, recent signing Connor Roberts came off his line to close the angles and superbly saved his side from being given a mountain to climb.
Zack Clarke was disappointed not to halve the Cofis deficit two minutes later when he was put through by Owen but the tall striker could not keep his lob over advancing stopper Kelland Absalom from sailing over the target.
Roberts again came to Caernarfon’ rescue just after the hour mark to deny Reynolds and then got up well to gather the ball from his own six yard bod.
This near miss and the immediate introduction of Josh Lock into the action proved turning points in the match as from here on in the Cofis dominated proceedings and after two close shaves from Clarke and Paulo Mendes, and a Lock effort that ended wide there was feeling that the visitors were about to get on the scoreboard. This is exactly what happened in the seventy eighth minute when Clarke did well to cut into the box and beat his marker before squaring the ball into the path of Matty Jones, who struck from eighth yards.
It was very much game on at this stage and the introduction of Darren Thomas with six minutes remaining mean that Caernarfon had a front five as they searched for the equaliser. After a period of probing for that second goal, a Matty Jones cross found Dominic Smith in the box. The defender chested the ball down towards Thomas and the magician let fly from the edge of the area with a thunderous low half-volley that was too powerful for the diving Absalom as it hit the far corner of his net.
An exquisite finish from the captain, who once again proved why he is such a favourite with the club’s supports.
The match ended with honours even at 2-2 and it was probably a fair result.
A game of two halves is an oft used phrase in football but there is a grain of truth in it and the man credited with coining what is now considered a cliché, Jimmy Greaves, certainly knew what he was talking about. The Cambridge dictionary states that the phrase is used ‘that in a game of football, one team plays better in each half of the game’
With this in mind, yesterday was a perfect example!
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the match: Connor Evans.
Team: Connor Roberts, Morgan Owen, Matty Jones, Ryan Sears, Dominic Smith, Sam Downey, Paulo Mendes, Iwan Ellis, Danny Gosset, Adam Davies, Zack Clarke.
Subs (used): Josh Lock, Connor Evans, Darren Thomas. Not used: Hari Tomas, Gruff John, Phil Mooney.