Canaries must fly high to tackle the Nomads
CAERNARFON Town manager Sean Eardley will urge his players to put on a big show for the fans when the Canaries host high-flying Connah’s Quay Nomads at The Oval on Friday night (7.45pm).
Both teams are coming off the back of 3-0 defeats – the Cofis going down at home to Newtown last weekend, while Nomads lost the Welsh Premier leadership after losing at champions The New Saints.
Earlier this season, Eardley’s warriors claimed their best win since their return to the WPL when they triumphed 1-0 at Deeside Stadium.
A similar result on Friday would do very nicely for the Town support, which broke the 1,000 barrier for the Newtown game.
Eardley was disappointed with the second half display against the Robins, who notched all three goals in that 45-minute period. The manager will demand better against the Quay.
“We’re in for a hellish tough game,” he said. “It’s important after our secondhalf performance (last Friday) that we bounce back, not just for the team but also for the fantastic support we’ve had tonight - the Cofi Army were different class. We owe them a performance.”
Defender Rhys Roberts will return from suspension for the Canaries to boost competition for places in a rearguard which also includes Gareth Edwards and Clive Williams. Both Edwards and Williams are getting over recent injuries and were involved against Newtown.
With four of his squad unavailable for selection, Eardley was forced to juggle his team and an unfamiliar line-up seemed slightly disjointed at times against the men from Latham Park.
Yet the evening had started well enough for the hosts as a slick move ended with Darren Thomas drilling just wide.
A Steven Leslie strike in the seventh minute forced Town stopper Alex Ramsay into an excellent fingertip save. Luke Boundford very nearly found the target for the Robins just two minutes later.
The on-form Danny Brookwell produced a trademark dribble in the 18th minute which saw him skip past two markers before sliding the ball through to Sion Bradley, who could not manage to control it quickly enough to get his shot away.
Unfortunately for the hosts, this was Brookwell’s final meaningful action as he left the pitch due to a suspected hamstring injury.
Ben Maher forced a save from Jones minutes later before Thomas felt he had been pushed over in the penalty area, although his claims were waved away by referee Cheryl Foster.
Town’s best opportunity of the match came to Thomas in the 35th minute when the Robins failed to deal with a Ross Stephens delivery into the box and the ball fell to the unmarked playmaker, who saw his first time attempt slide agonisingly the wrong side of the upright.
Ninety seconds after the break, Newtown took the lead when Boundford headed past Ramsay from eight yards.
The visitors were now in control, Nick Rushton and Neil Mitchell adding goals before the end.