Canaries now unbeaten in six after Aber win
CAERNARFON extended their unbeaten run in the Cymru Premier to six matches on Friday evening with a 3-2 victory over Aberystwyth Town at Park Avenue, writes PAUL EVANS.
Goals by Noah Edwards, Nathan Craig and Leo Smith were enough to secure the points but the Cofis were made to hang on at the end as the Seasiders made an unlikely late charge to grab a share of the spoils.
It was a tight beginning to the encounter with both sides vying for domination of the ball but creating little in the final third of the pitch.
There was a half chance for Aber’s Luke Boundford early on but Alex Ramsay was alert enough to avert danger.
The hosts thought they had been awarded a penalty in the 15th minute when the referee seemed to point to the spot but a quick discussion with his assistant meant that they were given a free kick on the edge of the box, which eventually led to nothing.
The deadlock was broken in the twentieth minute when Noah Edwards picked the ball up in midfield and ran into the penalty area before sliding his effort past Connor Roberts and into the bottom left hand corner of his goal.
The Cofis went close to doubling their lead less than a minute later when Sion Bradley fed Darren Thomas in the box but a late Ryan Edwards challenge was enough to put the usually lethal no 10 off his stride and his effort sailed off target.
Aber responded well, stemmed the flow of Town’s quick game and levelled on the half hour mark with a superb strike from Joe Phillips, who fashioned some space for himself 25 yards out before striking into the top far corner of Ramsay’s net.
Gareth Edwards was disappointed not to put Caernarfon back ahead just a minute later when he headed over from a great position at the far post but the Cofis did not have to wait long to regain their lead.
Just two minutes later, home stopper Roberts clattered Jamie Breese in the area and Craig coolly slotted home from the penalty spot. Roberts made amends on the stroke of half-time when he stood up to the onrushing Bradley to keep out a certain third goal.
Caernarfon dominated the start of the second period and the impressive Smith latched onto a short back pass intended for Roberts and struck confidently past the glovesman to give the Cofis a twogoal lead.
The introduction of Danny Brookwell gave them an extra threat on the left flank and he was unlucky not to find the target with a volley that flew an inch over the woodwork after good work by Smith.
Thomas, Brookwell and Smith all went close to adding a fourth in the final quarter of the match as the Cofis confidently bossed the action but, having been cruising to victory, they suddenly found themselves on the back foot.
They failed to deal with a 90th minute corner and when Paulo Mendes headed past Ramsay from close range, he ensured a nervy final four minutes.
It was left to Ramsay to secure the victory when he pulled off a superb save to tip a Matthew Jones free-kick onto his bar and Caernarfon cleared the ball to safety as the referee blew for time.