Cofis miss chance to seal top six spot
CAERNARFON Town find themselves just a point away from cementing their place in the top six at the half-way mark of the season, after a hard-fought goalless draw at Penybont, writes PAUL EVANS.
Sean Eardley has had to contend with a number of injuries to key players in recent months and today he had no less than six of his squad missing.
Thankfully, the Town boss knows he can rely on his full squad to compete and perform and this is exactly what they did at the Kymco Stadium.
Having said this, the Cofis will be slightly frustrated not to have clinched the points that they needed for the top six berth, after a decent performance during which they created a number of goalscoring opportunities.
Town’s first opening arrived in the sixth minute when an excellent Darren Thomas cross from the right flank was only half-cleared by the Penybont defence and the ball landed at the feet of Cai Jones, who hit his effort narrowly wide from 20 yards.
Jones went close again five minutes later when Danny Brookwell fed him in the area and the striker’s shot was just inches over the woodwork.
Caernarfon were on top at this stage and home stopper Ashley Morris was forced into a smart save to keep out a Jamie Breese effort after the striker had fashioned some space for himself in the penalty area.
Penybont stemmed the tide after this and were a match for Caernarfon for the remainder of the first period, although there was a lack of goalmouth action at both ends, despite the best efforts of both sides.
Rhys Griffiths’ side began the second half well and, just two minutes in, Kane Owen was frustrated to see the ball strike the side netting from his free kick effort from 18 yards.
Caernarfon were finding it difficult to create opportunities up front and Eardley introduced Sion Bradley on the hour mark in an effort to change their fortunes.
The tricky winger made an instant impact and, within two minutes of entering the fray, he got on the end of a Cai Jones delivery to shoot goalwards but saw his effort blocked.
Penybont were given a golden opportunity to go in front in the 68th minute when Gareth Edwards was deceived by the bounce of the ball and Kostya Georgiesky found himself with just Ramsay to beat but he ballooned the ball over the woodwork from eight yards.
Caernarfon responded well to this near-miss and sped upfield, where Darren Thomas was unfortunate to see his powerful drive blocked by a desperate lunge from a home defender.
The Cofis continued to push forward in search of the win and Ben Clark forced an excellent save from Morris in the 82nd minute, the onloan keeper from Bala doing well to get his hands to Clark’s left footed curler.
Two late opportunities, for the hosts’ Luke Borelli and Caernarfon’s Bradley, failed to result in a winner and so the sides had to settle for a point each.
Caernarfon will get another opportunity to clinch their top six place on Friday evening, when they welcome Aberystwyth Town to The Oval.