Boss proud of Cofis:
CAERNARFON Town hope to build on last weekend’s excellent 0-0 draw with high-flying Connah’s Quay Nomads when they visit Welsh Premier strugglers Carmarthen Town this Saturday (2.30pm).
Manager Sean Eardley is proud of his Canaries side for taking four points out of six against potential title challengers Nomads this season.
The Cofis denied the Deesiders a goal for the second time this term in a fullblooded clash at The Oval last Friday night.
Eardley said: “That’s four points off Connah’s Quay, I don’t think many teams are going to do that this year because they’re a terrific outfit.”
The boss had called on his players to produce a positive reaction after the previous weekend’s 3-0 home loss to Newtown.
He added: “We reacted tonight by being brave, defending our box, being bold and just doing the ugly things throughout the 90 minutes. Credit to my lads, a clean sheet against Connah’s Quay is very rare for any team, but we’ve managed to do that twice this season.”
In front of a crowd of 861, Town’s Gareth Evans saw an early effort deflected inches wide of the upright.
A scramble in the box ensued from the resulting corner, and Sion Bradley was frustrated to see his close-range effort at the far post blocked.
The Nomads seemed stung by Town’s near misses and enjoyed a good period of pressure, although they failed to make inroads into the hosts’ danger zone, man of the match Gareth Edwards marshalling the home defence impressively.
The opening half ended positively for the Cofis when Ryan Williams, Bradley and Jamie Breese linked on the right to navigate their way through the defence before Williams’ dink over the centrehalves proved a fraction too long for the onrushing Evans at the far post.
Caernarfon were on the back foot for the opening 15 minutes of the second period as the visitors shifted through the gears and Alex Ramsay thwarted Callum Morris seconds after the restart.
The hosts were limited to quick breaks upfield as they worked hard to weather the Nomads storm. Darren Thomas and Breese nearly fashioned an opening for the latter eight minutes into the half.
Quay were down to 10 men after a red card for Ryan Wignall in the 78th minute and this gave the Cofis the opportunity to gain parity of possession but, despite the introduction of Cai Jones and Ben Maher to form a two-pronged attack, they could not find a way to fashion a winning goal.
Indeed, it was the Nomads who had the best opportunity to clinch the three points when Morris screwed his low effort wide when in an excellent position 12 yards out.