Cofis warm up for Saints clash with cup win
AN early goal from Gareth Evans set the Cofis on the way to a hardfought 2-0 victory at Corwen in the second round of the Nathaniel MG Cup.
With Allan Bickerstaff having left the club on the eve of the new season, Sean Eardley returned to the hot seat and must have been pleased with the fast start made by his charges.
With just three minutes on the clock, an excellent long delivery by debutant Mike Pearson tempted Corwen’s Dylan Jones to rush off his line but Gareth Evans did well to nudge the ball past the keeper and finish into an empty net.
Danny Jellicoe’s side could have been back on level terms three minutes later when Sam Henry intercepted a Gareth Edwards pass and raced into the penalty area, where he was frustrated to see his goalbound effort blocked by Edwards, who had done well to recover and rescue the situation.
Evans put Leo Smith through on goal in the eighth minute and whilst the midfielder beat Jones with an angled low effort, the Corwen defence managed to clear the ball off the line.
It proved to be a brief reprieve however for Danny Jellicoe’s side, as the Cofis doubled their lead in the sixteenth minute after excellent work on the left flank between Darren Thomas and Sion Bradley ended with the latter pulling the ball back from the byline to Noah Edwards, and the youngster finished in style from eight yards.
Halfway through the first period Sam Henry was inches away at the far post from reaching a fine low cross to reduce Corwen’s deficit whilst, a minute later, Jones scrambled successfully to keep an Evans strike from finding the target.
The stopper was forced into another save just before half-time when he got his hands to a Cai Jones header.
Corwen had given an excellent account of themselves in the first 45 minutes and they continued to do so after the break, making Caernarfon work hard for possession and giving little space for the Cofis to play in midfield.
Despite this, however, they were close to going further behind on numerous occasions, as Cai Jones, Thomas, Bradley and Smith threatened with strikes that narrowly failed to hit the onion bag.
Town’s number one, Alex Ramsay, was hardly a spectator though, and he was forced into impressive saves to deny both Hughes and Watkins in the closing stages.
An excellent result for the Cofis in their first match of the campaign and Eardley and his men will now turn their focus to their opening Cymru League match of the season, a visit to Welsh champions The New Saints on Sunday, August 18, kick-off at 2.30pm.
Bickerstaff ’s departure was announced last Friday. He joined the club in May but, due to work commitments, has decided that he will be unable to fulfil the role to the best of his ability and therefore the club has reluctantly decided to accept his resignation.
In a statement, Bickerstaff said: “After a short but thoroughly enjoyable time at Caernarfon Town, due to personal and professional demands on my time, I am not in a position to fulfil my initial plans, which was to enable this fantastic club to take the next step forward to becoming a major force in Welsh football.”