19.04.08 Connah’s Quay Nomads 4 Carmarthen Town 3

With player manage Deryn Brace forced to take an unaccustomed role as stand-in keeper, following the late withdrawal of Neil Thomas due to family illness, Town produced a stunning second half performance to level a three goal first half deficit.

But, looking as if they had deservedly turned the game around, Town were stung by a late Chris Williams header leaving them empty handed following an enthralling encounter.

Coach Mark Aizlewood reflected on the outcome:

“The game today, on the ninety minutes, in many ways tells the story of our season. Even in the first half I felt we dominated the game but we conceded three goals from three mistakes”.

“Three nil down at half time we had to do something drastic. Not very often can you come back from three nil down away from home but we managed to do that then we got caught with a sucker punch again at the end. So that really is the tale of our season”.

In gusting wind conditions and on a difficult bobbling pitch Town held the early initiative. But it was the the hosts that took an unlikely lead against the run of play. With Brace having parried McNutt’s low shot Ged Courney pounced on the loose ball to lift the ball past the stranded keeper and give the Nomads an opener on seven minutes.

Two minutes later, despite Town’s territorial dominance and possession, Nomads doubled the tally. Having conceded a corner McNutt’s set piece was flicked on to the far post and hesitancy in clearing proved costly as Craig Jones pounce to compound Town’s miserable start.

Town gradually regained the initiative. Sacha Walters produced a mesmerising run down the flank and with Tim Hick’s effort cleared off the line it rebounded off Nathan Cotterrall but fell kindly to keeper Paul Pritchard.

Town maintained the pressure raiding down the flank. Cotterrall connected with Hick’s cross but the wing man saw his placed header denied by the bar.

The windy conditions and uneven ground made the ball unpredictable and when defender Liam Hancock looked to take a touch to control a high ball he was cruelly beaten by the bounce and McNutt ran on to the loose ball to net passed Brace.

With the break approaching Hicks looked to have reduced the deficit but the assistant referee flagged the offside and when the front man was brought down in the box the referee waved play on to leave the hosts with a comfortable first half advantage.

Following the break Town rearranged moving to two central defenders with Chris Thomas sweeping in front. Gregg Coombes and Nathan Cotterall pushed on down the wings and Walters  joined the front line.

The move saw Cotterrall and Coombes provide a steady stream of possession from the flanks and finally Town broke the Nomad’s resistance. Walters took the ball to the bye line and having played back to Cotterrall was well placed to head home and give Town some reward for their considerable endeavour.

Town continued to press with Coombes providing momentum. Then when Williams brought down Jamal Easter on the edge of the box it was the former Cardiff City player who fired home the set piece through the defensive set up a pulsating comeback.

Constant pressure saw Walters play in Coombes and it took a superb one handed save from Pritchard to deny the equaliser. Chris Thomas saw his header cleared off the line by Chris Herbert but Town needed a cover clearance from Neil Smothers as McNutt latched on to a long ball down field.

Finally Town looked to have salvaged something from the game. Coombes’ throw-in found Hicks who took the ball to the by-line before crossing to Walters who bagged his second of the afternoon and his eleventh of this year’s campaign.

But then with ten minutes remaining the final twist saw a rare breakaway from Nomads force a corner and in a crowded box Tom Baker’s set piece was glanced home by the impressive Williams to give Nomads the points and some revenge following a 8-0 drubbing earlier in the season.

Despite the defeat coach Mark Aizlewood put the result into perspective:
”If you look at it, Llanelli Rhyl and TNS who are standard bearers for the Welsh Premier, came to this stadium and only scored three goals between them but crucially didn’t concede any and that possibly is our downfall. We sometimes give goals away too cheaply.

“I think the season has been a learning curve for a number of players. We’ve had a number of young players come in and play their first season in the Welsh Premier.

“People like Greg Coombes and Jemal Easter have come in and acquitted themselves well but they will be better next year. Tim Hicks has come in and been asked to do things he’s not been asked to do before and we’ve given opportunities to a number of our youth players. So the average age of our players is around 24 last year it was 29.

“The budget’s less and we’ve beaten every statistic from last year so the club is going forward. What Deryn and myself have to do is to continue to work with the players to help them learn the game and improve and, over a 46 47 game season to eliminate the mistakes. The challenge is to continue to go forward.

CQN : Pritchard, Baker, Morgan (White 75'), Alton, Williams, Jones, Cadwallader, Cook (Cronshaw 65'), Courtney (McAllister 46'), Herbert, McNutt. Sub not used:  Price.

Town: Brace, Palmer (May 81'), Smothers, Coombes, Hancock, C Thomas, Walters, Hicks, Fowler, Easter, Cotterrall (Morris 75'). Attendance: 110 Referee:    Mike Jones

12.04.08 Carmarthen Town 0 CPD Porthmadog 0

In a lacklustre and untidy end of season affair relegation haunted visitors CPD Porthmadog battled for their League survival to gain a precious point. Despite having the majority of possession, opportunities and a numerical superiority for the best part of an hour, Town failed to break the visitors down with the game ending in a goalless stalemate.

What proved to be a disappointing finale to the season at Richmond Park left manager Deryn Brace frustrated not to have taken a full quota of points. "A frustrating experience. We got behind them and created about six good chances but failed to capitalise. It was a far more open game when it was eleven against eleven. We just didn't take our chances when we had the opportunity and paid the penalty".

Coach Mark Aizlewood agreed, "We had enough play and things go our way but we didn't turn those opportunities into goals. Too often our final decision was the wrong one.

"They've conceded 70 goals with eleven men during the season but we failed to score against ten. As for positives we kept a clean sheet and it was great to see Nicky Palmer play a full ninety minutes following his horrendous injury earlier in the season".

Town clearly controlled the early exchanges with Sacha Walters, Tim Hicks and Nicky Palmer probing down the right but as the half hour approached Port had their best period with David Hughes making the visitors tick with some probing runs and incisive distribution.

But with Rhys Roberts collecting his second yellow on the half hour Port made it difficult for themselves and for Town. Paul Roberts dropped into a more defensive role and keeper Richard Harvey produced a stunning save to touch Jamal Easter's driven shot on to the bar after a weaving run from Nathan Cotterrall. Just before the break Paul Fowler put Hicks through on goal but again it was Harvey who came out on top winning the one-on-one to keep it goalless at the interval.

Following the resumption Paul Fowler sent Cotterrall down the flank and despite spilling the wing man's low cross Harvey managed to gather the loose ball before Hicks pounced.

Just after the hour Danny Thomas replaced Hicks and despite netting Deryn Brace's shot-come-cross his effort was flagged for offside. Town's best chance of the half to break the deadlock came with ten minutes remaining when Chris Thomas broke from deep and having cut inside pulled his left footed shot into the side netting.

With Viv Williams clearly the happier of the two managers with the outcome Town player / manager Deryn Brace, who played a full ninety minutes, is looking for his players to finish the season on a positive note.

“It’s not a case of going to CQN with nothing really to play for except three extra points and seeing the season out. Those three points are vital to us and will determine, depending on other results also, whether we finish 4th. 5th. 6th. or even 7th.

“Position is important. It gives people confidence and a boost. I want us to go to CQN and produce a more positive performance. I’m looking for players to see the season through in a positive way”. 

Town: N Thomas, Brace, Smothers, Coombes, Palmer, C Thomas, Walters, Hicks (D Thomas 61’), Fowler, Easter, Cotterrall (Morris 80’) Sub not used: Cattlin

Porthmadog: Harvey, JG Jones, Smart (Foster 46’), R Roberts, Davies, Parry, David Hughes (Orlik 59’)  , D Hughes, P Roberts, Owen, Rowlands Sub not used : M Thomas.

Referee Huw Jones Attendance 31

04.04.08 Port Talbot Town 2 Carmarthen Town 0

Carmarthen Town’s dismal record at The Remax Stadium, the home of Port Talbot Town, continued last Friday evening. Goals by Martin Rose in the first half and Liam McCreesh in the second condemned Town to defeat leaving  both sides level on  53 points in the league with Carmarthen retaining fourth position by virtue of a better goal difference.

The home side started strongly utilizing the favourable strong wind but without putting the visiting defence, missing the suspended Liam Hancock, under severe pressure. Neil Thomas, in the visiting goal, was rarely troubled dealing easily with two long range shots by Rose and Martin McGibbon.

On the half hour mark the home side took the lead. A strong run down the left flank by Lee John resulted in the ball being pulled back for Mc Creesh to shoot from the edge of the box. With Thomas parrying the front man’s effort the rebound was returned into the box for Rose to score despite considerable pressure from the Town defenders.
The home side came close to doubling the tally before the break but Mathew Thompson’s shot was comfortably saved by Thomas going low to his left.

With Mathew Rees and late replacement Carl Evans in commanding form at the back for the Steelmen Town’s attacks proved limited.

The second half began brightly for the visitors. Town’s new record scorer Danny Thomas came close to levelling when his snap shot just cleared the bar. But with the home side striking back immediately a long ball into the visiting penalty box led to a mix up between Phil Cattlin and Thomas leaving the predatory McCreesh with a simple tap-in ten minutes into the half to give the home side a comfortable two goal lead.

With EMC Services Carmarthen Town player manager Deryn Brace’s wasting little time in responding to the situation he brought on all three substitutes on the hour.

A bright spot for Town supporters, in what was a disappointing display, was the return to Old Goal colours of mid fielder Nicky Palmer following his absence through injury, having sustained a broken leg back in October.

But by now the home side was in complete control of the game with the visitors having to work hard to limit the damage.

And with Town’s only on-target effort coming from Gregg Coombes after eight five minutes a comfortably save by Kristian Rogers in the home goal ensured that the hosts maintained their advantage to finish. 

With the Steelmen now on level points with Town, and with a game in hand, the Richmond Park outfit’s grip on fourth spot looks under pressure with both Neath Athletic and Bangor City also closing in to make it a very tight finish to the season.

Port Talbot : Rogers, McGibbon, de Vulgt, Phillips, Rees, Evans, John, Thompson (Blain 80'), Rose (Baker 88'), McCreesh (Evans 84'), Barrow. Not used: Surman, Payne.

Town : N Thomas, Smothers, Keddle (Morris 61'), Coombes, Cattlin (Palmer 61'), C Thomas, D Thomas, Hicks (Easter 61'), Fowler, Walters, Cotterrall. Not used: Brace.

Attendance 244 Referee Darren Adie.