The New Saints 0 Carmarthen Town 3

Carmarthen Town produced a superb performance to gain an emphatic and thoroughly deserved win at the new home of the Principality Welsh Premier League champions TNS. Town dominated in all aspects of play and gained three priceless points to maintain the momentum for a European placing.

A delighted manager Deryn Brace outlined the significance of the win. “Today the result and the three points were vital to keep us up there in contention. To have done it against TNS was especially pleasing and a measure of the form we are in at the moment”.

“We produced a great performance against them a couple of weeks ago and having had the break last weekend we produced it again today with everyone doing exactly what we asked of them”.

Having toppled the table toppers the Richmond Park boss was quick to highlight the danger of complacency. “We need to be on our guard, we can’t afford any complacency with players thinking that now we have beaten TNS the job is done. We need to keep this form going if we are to challenge for fourth or even third at the end of the season”.

This was Town's second win in as many weeks over the hosts. Having recently dumped the FAW Premier Cup holders out of the competition the Park Hall based outfit were desperate for revenge but found Deryn Brace’s men in uncompromising mood.

A brace of goals from Tim Hicks and a 25 yard stunner from Paul Fowler saw the League leaders relinquish top spot and in the process suffer their first home defeat of the season as Town became the Park Hall party poopers.

Initial pressure came, as expected, from the professionals with Kevin Townson’s early effort ruled offside having found the back of the net.

But there was no doubting the validity of Town’s opener on 24 minutes. Jamal Easter’s superb run down the right took him past three defenders and to the bye-line and having crossed the ball beyond keeper Paul Harrison Tim Hicks headed home from two yards at the back post.

With Town keeper Neil Thomas virtually redundant he was alert to tip a TNS effort around the post on the half hour mark. But the back four of Richard Hughes, Chris Thomas, Liam Hancock and captain Nathan Cotterrall ensured that he was rarely troubled.

Brace was quick to acknowledge the contribution of his defensive line-up. “The back four were superb. They stayed tight to the TNS forwards and gave very little away. Neil (Thomas) was largely untroubled with regards to shots but what we needed him to do was to take out the crosses and he did it magnificently".

“Chris Thomas partnered Liam Hancock in the middle of defence and once again did a superb job. He’s helped us out a few times and each time he has been excellent. Nathan (Cotterrall) has become something of a revelation at left back and Richard Hughes is developing into the player we all thought he could be".

The advantage was doubled on 34 minutes when Paul Fowler, whose pace and power dominated midfield, shot powerfully from twenty five yards. With keeper Harrison having an afternoon to forget he spilt the ball into the net giving Town a two goal cushion.

With returnee Gregg Coombes becoming influential and Fowler and Cattlin dominating the middle of the park Paul Keddle battled bravely down the left despite picking up a knock as Town comfortably held their lead to half time.

Following the resumption the hosts upped the ante with manager Ken McKenna bringing on Duane Courtney and Jamie Wood. The change came close to paying dividends with Thomas forced to finger-tip John Toner’s effort round the bar. A vital save at a crucial time as it denied the home side the impetus they needed as they pushed to reduce the deficit.

The game was settled with a flourish with a move involving second half substitute Danny Thomas, Easter and Coombes who combined well to provide for Hicks in the box. With time to step inside Mike Taylor, Hicks coolly netted his fifteenth strike of the season a new personal tally.

Hicks will now have Richard Parker’s 99-00 club tally of eighteen goals in a season in his sights and Brace was delighted that the player he brought back to Richmond had beaten his personal tally.

“Tim is getting better and better but he will be the first to acknowledge the help and support that the squad has given him. I feel that he has 20 goals in him with another eight games to go”.

Brace also felt that toppling the full timers for a second time confirmed that his side had regained its early season form and that the squad has the strength and versatility to deal with the late season run in.

“Of course there will be plenty of twists and turns before the end of the season as players challenge for positions and we have injuries and suspensions".

“Danny Thomas came on into central midfield today after Phil Cattlin took a knock and was great. Young Ben Morris doesn’t put a foot wrong when he comes on and I think that highlights the strength of the squad - we have young, versatile players who can play in a couple of positions".

Having been retained in the Wales U23 Semi Pro squad Fowler’s strike was his second of the season. Having scored a winner against Airbus a fortnight ago the powerful midfielder struck again at a crucial moment to give Town that vital cushion and confidence of a second goal.

“Paul Fowler's been outstanding and I’m really pleased for him. He had a fantastic first season and it could quite easily have developed into second season blues".

“But it hasn’t. He has taken it forward again and the experience of playing international football can only be good for him as a player and for us as a squad".

Town maintain their recent momentum and are now one point adrift of Bangor City in fourth.

TNS: Harrison, Naylor (Wood 46'), Baker, Holmes, Taylor, Henry (Courtney 45'), Ruscoe, Hogan (Lamb 64'), Townson, Toner, King.

Town: N Thomas, Hughes, Keddle (Morris 89'), Coombes, Hancock, Thomas, Cattlin (D Thomas 58'), Hicks, Fowler, Easter, Cotterrall. Sub not used: Brace

Attendance 231 Referee Kevin Parry

16.02.08 Carmarthen Town 5 Welshpool Town 2

Jamal Easter’s four goal finishing proved too much for the visiting defence as Carmarthen Town continued their recent run of fine form with a convincing win against fellow European hopefuls Welshpool Town.

Town manager Deryn Brace was delighted to have leapfrogged Bangor City back into fourth place. “Yes a pleasing result. The win was all-important and to score five goals was an added bonus, especially against a team of Welshpool’s quality who are in and around us in the League”.

“Every game now is vital if we are to maintain the pressure and push on the teams above us. Realistically we need to win all our remaining game if we want a European place”.

Easter opened the scoring after only two minutes when a fine run down the left by Paul Keddle resulted in keeper Gerard McGuigan spilling the wing man’s fierce shot for striker Tim Hicks to offload quickly to his fellow front-man who finished well for an early opener.

Despite the early setback Ross Stephens probed from midfield for the visitors and Town keeper Neil Thomas forced to hold a fierce shot from Richard Harris.

But Town soon dominated with some slick passing and movement and Hicks come close on a couple of occasions around the 20 minute mark to extending EMC Services sponsored Carmarthen Town’s lead before Easter doubled his, and Town’s, tally on 28 minutes. Hicks created space for himself inside the box but having been denied by a last ditch tackle the ball spilled to Easter who found the back of the net to make it a comfortable 2-0 at the half way mark.

With Phil Cattlin suffering somewhat with a foot injury Brace took advantage to get wing man Sacha Walters ‘back on and involved’ as he replace the midfielder following the break. With Gregg Coombes moving into the middle Walters bolstered forward options down the right and Town looked to be heading for a comfortable victory; especially when Welshpool’s John Keegan saw red for using foul and abusive language towards referee Phil Southall five minutes into the second half.

But the standard football cliché of “it’s often harder to play against ten men than it is eleven” rang true as Welshpool quickly halved the deficit two minutes later. Town’s hesitancy in the box following McGuigan’s long ball allowed sub Will Thomas to play in Steve Rogers from twelve yards to put the Lilywhites back in contention on 52 minutes.

Clearly buoyed by the goal Welshpool’s tenacity disrupted Town’s fluency of passing and Rogers remained a threat throughout as the visitors forced a series of corners and free kicks in their best period of the game.

Gradually Town made superior numbers count with Walters forcing McGuigan into a fine one handed save. Then a quick break down the left involving Keddle and captain Nathan Cotterrall saw Dave Cunnah penalised for handling the cross and Easter completed a fine debut hat trick from the spot to restore Town’s two goal cushion.

Cotterrall’s delivery is second to none and now that he has the support of another naturally left sided player in Keddle it has taken a little bit of pressure off Town’s captain as Keddle also takes responsibility to create attacking options as recent results have shown.

But a long ball up field saw the home defence again under threat with Calvin Davies capitalising on some hesitant defending to reduce the deficit on 79 minutes.

Easter, who has benefited from a settled position and has been able to take advantage of a clearer role made the game safe for Town with his fourth strike of the afternoon. With five minutes remaining substitute Walters provided from the bye line for the in-form forward to make it 4-2.

Brace is clearly pleased that his early season signing is now showing his undoubted potential. “We’ve been asking him to play in several positions but now he has a clear role he is able to show us what we all knew he could do. He has a hanger and a desire and he wants to do more”.

Having replaced Hicks substitute Danny Thomas completed the scoring in time added-on as Cotterrall provided with a pulled-back ball for the versatile striker to net Town’s fifth with his fourteenth strike of the season.

As manager Deryn Brace confirmed despite the emphatic score-line Town had to work hard for their success. “The first half performance fully justified the score-line but on our second half performance we scraped through. The damage was done in the first half as our passing and movement was exceptional and too good for Welshpool to handle on the day”.

“Second half they regrouped and with them having a player sent off most probably hindered us more than it hindered them. They played it very well and they made the game scrappy”.

With fellow European hopefuls Bangor City dropping two home pints to Llanelli the win puts Town back into fourth place one spot off another European adventure.

Town: N. Thomas, Hughes, Keddle (Brace 83'), Coombes, Hancock, C. Thomas, Cattlin (Walters 46'), Hicks (D.Thomas 78'), Fowler, Easter, Cotterrall.

Welshpool Town: McGuigan, Hughes, Dowridge, Cunnah, Windsor, Keegan, Venables (Thomas 51' [Davies 55']), Stephens, Rogers, Shannon, Harris.
Sub not used: Webster.

Attendance: 298 Referee: Phil Southall

23.02.08 NEWI Cefn Druids 3 Carmarthen Town 1

Not having lost at NEWI Cefn Druids on eight previous occasions Carmarthen Town succumbed to their first and very disappointing defeat at Plaskynaston.

Excellent performances against TNS and Welshpool should have seen the Richmond park outfit maintain recent momentum against a side hovering just above the relegation zone. But the nature of the defeat with two players, Neil and Chris Thomas seeing red, will certainly have repercussions for manager Deryn Brace who was clearly very disappointed at the game’s outcome.

“It’s a difficult one to swallow. At the end when we review the season if we haven’t achieved what we planned to achieve we may well look at this game as the one that has cost us”.

“It’s difficult when you look at individual performances, no one played badly. But players have to be looking to do more in games like this. They have to show the heart that the teams that are scrapping at the bottom are showing”.

“I don’t think we were complacent, we never are. Its just one of those games that’s passed us by before we can really have an influence on it and unfortunately the result was poor and the ending, with the sending’s off, is going to hurt us even more”.

With the wind an influencing factor Dan Bartlett did well in the NEWI defence to deny Danny Thomas and Jamal Easter any leeway. And with the Ancients only threat coming from Kevin Holsgrove down the left hand side keeper Chris Mullock produced a brilliant save to deny Easter’s 20 yard screamer after the forward had turned experienced defender Tim Edwards.

Having sustained an injury Holsgrove was replaced just after the half hour mark by Mike Thompson. But his replacement proved his equal and two minutes later after Druids had forced their first corner of the game, Thompson provided from the set piece for former Wrexham forward Karl Connelly to drive his left footed effort through a sea of defenders to give the Ancients an unexpected opener on 35 minutes.

With the wind and the referee’s whistle a factor the game lacked any flow. Gregg Coombes’ penetrating ball across the six yard box lacked a finishing touch and Druids sounded a warning when Wayne Phillips’ free kick flashed across the face of the Town goal as the Ancients retained their slim lead to the break.

Following the resumption Town forced an early corner as they pressed for an equaliser and when Coombes put Richard Hughes clear it took a last ditch challenge from Aled Rowlands’ to deny the overlapping defender.

Town were further rocked when Chris McGinn added a second on 52 minutes. Town’s goal kick was returned by Edwards’ header and with the No 10 running on to the ball the Ancients looked for their first win in six.

Manager Deryn Brace immediately made changes. Paul Keddle replaced Hughes and Sacha Walters replaced Phil Cattlin. The changes renewed momentum as Chris Thomas’ strong run and cross provided for Danny Thomas whose header was denied by the in form Mullock.

In the swirling wind McGinn’s long range effort went just wide of the upright but with Town looking to reduce the deficit Keddle and Nathan Cotterrall combined well but a final finish again proved elusive.

With an quarter of an hour remaining and the hosts under constant pressure Town finally grabbed a lifeline when Coombes won the ball in midfield and having laid off for Walters the wing man drove the ball in for Thomas to turn and find the net.

Walters remained a threat. Having driven in from the right and played a one-two with Coombes the wingman’s powerful effort was cleared off the line by the Ancients experienced player / manager Phillips.

But, with Town pushing forward and threatening the equaliser, the game was turned on its head. A stray pass saw the ball ricochet off a player in midfield and with the ball breaking to Connelly his long ball forward was chased down by Darren Williams.

In a bizarre situation both attacker and keeper slipped and with Fifa referee Lee Evans adjudging that Thomas has deliberately denied the forward he dismissed the keeper with Smothers taking over the gloves as Connelly grabbed his brace from the spot.

Then with the game deep into injury time Chris Thomas also saw red, having collected his second yellow of the afternoon, and Town’s excellent records at Plas Kynyston came to an ignominious end.

Was the sending off justified? Manager Deryn Brace was quite clear in his assessment.

“It’s easy for me to say no. I think you can leave it to everyone else to think what they want because the only person in the ground that saw it as a sending off was the referee but unfortunately he’s the man that counts.

“Everybody else has realised that the player has slipped and he’s given the penalty and sent him off. Unfortunately, with the cameras not there, we will not have the evidence that says, OK he’s been harshly treated but we’ll not punish him anymore or we won’t punish the team anymore”.

“You look for consistency from referees. I’ve spoken to Wayne(Phillips) and Lee(Jones) and they are in agreement that there hasn’t been a bad tackle in the game but the cards and sending’s off will give an other impression.

“It’s been a good result for them and a poor result for us but we’ve had an indifferent display from the man in the middle. We can’t blame him for the defeat but he hasn’t helped the game in any way.”

Brace was especially disappointed in the fact that with the results all going Town’s way it was an opportunity for the Richmond Park outfit to have staked their claim for a top three spot.

“Today could well have been a might-have-been. Before today you would have asked for all the other results to have gone the way they did and the only result that didn’t go our way was the one we had the biggest influence on.

“What it means now is that of the remaining games we probably have to win all six so we will have to go on a magnificent run”.

“We have got to learn to come to sides that are fighting for their league survival and show the same passion. If we don’t do that then we will always be a ‘nearly’ team instead of being up there challenging for honours”.

But the Richmond Park boss sees the loss of influential players such as Neil Thomas, Chris Thomas and Jamal Easter as a positive incentive to others in the squad to stake their claim to a regular spot.

“Yes it’s going to be a factor because you would prefer these players to be available. But we’ll cope with it as we have done over the season and other players will have an opportunity to come in.

“Players have shown that they only need one chance of a player getting injured or a player getting suspended to take that chance and stay inside”.

“Unfortunately now for these players they have to sit on the other side and be patient and serve their game ban whilst the others have an opportunity to produce the goods”

Druids: Mullock, Phillips, Rowlands, Powell, Edwards, Barnett, Mazzarella (Williams 72'), Lewis, Connolly, McGinn (Jones 83'), Holsgrove (Thompson 27'). Subs not used: Hematinafar, Aby.

Town: N Thomas, Hughes (Walters 53'), Smothers, Coombes, Hancock, C Thomas, D Thomas, Cattlin (Keddle 53'), Fowler, Easter, Cotterrall. Subs: Brace. Referee L Evans. Attendance 72