Cofis V Colwyn Bay
Saturday 31 January, 17:15
Cofis Book Semi-Final Berth In Thriller.
Caernarfon 4 – 1 Colwyn Bay.
Two historical North Wales clubs met at the Go Goodwins Satdium on Saturday in the quarter-finals of this JD Welsh Cup and the teams served up a thriller that lived up to the hype.
The Cofis may be the higher placed team, league position-wise, but the Seagulls have won the two most recent matches between the sides and, with the Sgorio cameras in attendance, in addition to over 1200 spectators, the stage was certainly set for a special occasion.
Both sides settled well enough early on, but it was Bay who threatened first when Forde got on the end of a Hughes cross and whilst his header beat Connor Roberts, Morgan Owen was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball to safety.
There was a near miss for the hosts three minutes later when Sion Bradley cut inside from the left flank and drilled a low show that flew inches wide of the upright with Bay keeper left scrambling across his goal.
The patter of play was pretty well set in the first ten minutes as Caernarfon tried to play the ball to feet whilst Bay looked to take a more direct approach, which made them a threat at set-pieces.
The Cofis enjoyed a period of possession before their first penalty appeal of the evening which came after Bradley, on another run that took him into the box was felled from a push in the back, but referee Aaron Wyn Jones waved away their claims. Town’s second penalty appeal came on the half hour mark after Geroge Hughes caught Adam Davies on the calf as the striker was about to shoot from twelve yards but again the hosts’ appeals were waved away by Jones.
Caernarfon broke the deadlock in the thirty eighth minute. A Morgan Owen cross into the six yard area was cleared by the Bay defence to the edge of the area, where Paulo Mendes controlled the ball before an executing an exquisite back-heeled pass to Owen, who pulled the ball across the box to the late arriving Iwan Lewis and the midfielder calmly passed the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
The Cofis made a dream start to the second half when Bradley was teed up by Davies and his half-volleyed attempt from the ‘D’ flew past Alex Brown. Just minutes later Paulo Mendes nearly made it three with a shot that flew inches past the upright.
Caernarfon were well on top during this period of the match but the Seagulls were determined to make a fight of things and they pulled a goal back through Louis Robles in the fifty eighth minutes after the ball had bounce off a Caernarfon defender and into his path six yards out and the former TNS striker made the most of his opportunity to hit the net.
The action was fast and furious for the remainder of the match as the sides looked to go on the offensive at every opportunity albeit in contrasting styles of play.
Jordan Davies went close to an equaliser for Bay but it was Caernarfon who struck next when Danny Gossets’ free kick on the edge of the box was deflected by the visitors’ defensive wall on its way into the net.
The two goal cushion was timely for the Cofis as they looked to thwart Bay’s attempts to get back into the match and they all but clinched the victory with a goal by Zack Clarke in the eighty third minute when the tall striker netted from close range to mark his return to the squad after four month lay off with a goal.
It had been an excellent tie befitting of a quarter final in this special competition and the Cofis will find out their semi-final opponents in a live draw on February 9th.
Tyn Lon Volvo Man of the Match: Paulo Mendes.
Team: Connor Roberts, Morgan Owen, Phil Mooney, Kyle Harrison, Matty Jones, Paulo Mendes, Danny Gosset, Iwan Lewis, Sion Bradley, Adam Davies, Brad Young.
Subs (used): Zack Clarke, Rio Owen, Dominic Smith. Not used: Hari Thomas, Darren Thomas, Osian Ellis, Connor Evans.