Ramsay heroics all in vain
CAERNARFON Town aim to wipe out the painful memory of last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat against Barry Town United when the Canaries welcome fellow-promoted side Llanelli Town to The Oval this Saturday (2.30pm).
The 10-man Cofis looked more than capable of getting a late winner against Barry last Saturday, before the visitors’ Marcus Jones sealed the points with an 88thminute decider.
The result was more disappointing given Sean Eardley’s side had pulled off an heroic 1-0 victory at Connah’s Quay Nomads four days earlier (see below). Another win would have lifted them up to third in the Welsh Premier.
Eardley felt the 77th-minute dismissal of Canaries defender Clive Williams was a big turning point in the Barry game.
“The turning point was the sending off as we’d got the wind in our sails,” said Eardley.
“Losing Clive was going to be a massive miss because he’s been fantastic anyway, but we were still looking like winning it before we got caught on the edge of our box and, credit to their lad, he’s taken his goal well.
“It’s a bit deflating but I thought the performance was good, especially in the second half. We’re six games in, we’ve won three by 1-0, we’ve played well, in the final third we’ve been lively, creating opportunities but, sadly, today things didn’t come off for us.”
Despite last Saturday’s result, the 702 spectators at The Oval will have appreciated there was no lack of effort on the Cofis’ part.
Caernarfon started brightly and Darren Thomas linked well with Jamie Breese in the 10th minute to create some space in the box, but his effort was comfortably saved by Mike Lewis.
Jon Hood was unfortunate not to put Barry ahead in the 18th minute when his strike cannoned off the upright, then Alex Ramsay pulled off a smart save to keep out a Kayne McLaggon shot.
Next, it was Caernarfon’s turn to threaten, Clive Williams testing Lewis with a volley via a Nathan Craig corner.
Ramsay was at his finest when he pulled off a stunning double save to keep out McLaggon’s penalty and also his attempt from the rebound after referee Tom Owen adjudged Rhys Roberts had brought the striker down in the box.
Caernarfon upped their game in the second half as Noah Edwards, Jamie Crowther and Gareth Evans began to get on top in midfield.
Breese did well to outmuscle his marker in the penalty area before lashing into the side-netting.
Rhys Roberts twice went close to putting Town in front with headers from corners, while Lewis tipped over a Gareth Evans lob.
Caernarfon were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes from time after Williams was shown a second yellow but, despite this, it was the Cofis who seemed likeliest to score in the closing stages.
However, with two minutes remaining, Barry’s Jones did well to keep possession on the edge of the Town area before bending his strike past Ramsay and into the net.
The Cofis pressed for an equaliser, but Lewis stood firm against Roberts and Breese, while Ramsay pulled off the best save of the day to keep out a Momodou Touray effort.