Caernarfon Clinch Title Thanks To Five-Goal Showing

Caernarfon Town clinched their second Huws Gray Alliance title in three seasons with a 5-0 romp at bottom club Llandudno Junction.

They led by two goals at the break thanks to a Darren Thomas double, while Jamie Breese made it three two minutes into the second half.

Gareth Evans and Chris Williams completed the scoring.

The Cofis had already secured promotion to the JD Sports Welsh Premier League thanks to Saturday’s defeat of Caersws, but manager Sean Eardley and his men were intent on going up as champions.

There was an impressive crowd at the Arriva Ground. Caernarfon dominated possession, but their early goal threats came from crosses into the box which Junction dealt with.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 27th minute when Nathan Craig’s delivery to the far post was met by Rhys Roberts, who headed across the six yard box. Home goalkeeper Tom Hodson managed to keep Danny Brookwell’s header out, but the ball dropped for Darren Thomas and made no mistake from a yard out.

The hosts worked hard and looked to play the ball over Town’s defence with Sean McGaffery latching onto one delivery before seeing his goalbound effort blocked by Clive Williams.

Thomas doubled Town’s lead in the 38th minute when he met an excellent Jamie Breese cross to head across Hodson and into the far corner.

Jamie Breese is a key striker for Huws Gray Alliance champions Caernarfon Town.

Roberts went close to adding a third for the Cofis just before the break, but a last gasp tackle by a defender thwarted the defender’s  effort at the back post.

Leading scorer Breese made it 3-0 two minutes after the restart when he collected a loose ball in the penalty area after Hodson had kept out an Edwards header.

Gareth Evans made it 4-0 when he chased a long clearance from goalkeeper Alex Ramsay and the ball rebounded off Hodson, hit the Town playmaker and went into an empty net.

That goal gave Caernarfon the freedom to move the ball around and Edwards in particular showed his passing abilities as he found Brookwell, Lloyd and Evans on the flanks.

The impressive Chris Williams rounded off the scoring on the hour when he lashed his shot into the roof of Junction’s net.

There were opportunities for Shaun Cavanagh, Thomas, Craig, Breese and Kevin Lloyd before the final whistle, but Junction held out.

The Cofis will be handed the league trophy at their final league fixture, against Gresford at Airbus Broughton on Friday, April 27.

Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Kevin Roberts.

Llandudno Junction: Tom Hodson, Alun Roberts, Lewis Sirrell, Liam Jones, Daniel Roberts, Nick Clarke, Ben Roberts, Sean McGaffery, Paul Cassidy, Jack Nettleton, Owen Jones, Subs: Gregg Hall, Sam Carrier, James Lansdowne, Joe Morgan, Matt Evert.

Caernarfon Town: Alex Ramsay, Joe Williams, Chris Williams, Clive Williams, Rhys Roberts, Nathan Craig, Jamie Crowther, Kevin Roberts, Gareth Evans, Jamie Breese, Darren Thomas, Danny Brookwell. Subs (used): Shaun Cavanagh, Gareth Edwards, Kevin Lloyd. Not used: Jamie Crowther, Liam Jones.

Referee: Tom Owen.

In the only other league match on the evening Denbigh Town and Rhyl failed to score in an entertaining first half with few chances. Denbigh took the lead after 64 minutes through Craig Pritchard and this turned out to be the only goal of the game to give Denbigh the points.

A goal for the Cofis of Caernarfon.

In the Huws Gray cup quarter-final Holyhead Hotspur won 2-0 at Porthmadog.

The first half was goalless and then Mike Kelly shot through a crowded penalty area to give Hotspur the lead after 50 minutes.

John Littlemore doubled their advantage just after the hour to put Holyhead through to the semi-finals where they will play Flint Town United.

Huws Gray Cup semi-finals (to be played this Saturday, April 21): Llandudno Junction v Gresford Athletic, Holyhead Hotspur v Flint Town United (both 2.30pm).

HUWS GRAY ALLIANCE 2017-18

Rank Teams Pd Won Drawn Lost For Against GD Pts
1 Caernarfon Town 27 19 7 1 96 29 67 64
2 Airbus Broughton 28 17 3 8 67 42 25 54
3 Denbigh Town 25 17 2 6 61 39 22 53
4 Guilsfield 26 14 7 5 50 36 14 49
5 Rhyl 28 13 8 7 62 45 17 47
6 Holywell Town 23 13 7 3 70 30 40 46
7 Porthmadog 24 12 3 9 62 43 19 39
8 Gresford Athletic 26 12 5 9 55 52 3 38
9 Ruthin Town 25 10 4 11 48 44 4 34
10 Flint Town United 25 9 4 12 43 38 5 31
11 Penrhyncoch 24 6 9 9 36 44 -8 27
12 Holyhead Hotspur 27 8 3 16 36 56 -20 27
13 Caersws 23 3 3 17 31 62 -31 12
14 FC Queens Park 24 1 3 20 20 94 -74 6
15 Llandudno Junction 25 0 4 21 23 106 -83 4

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *