21.11.06 Carmarthen Town 3 Bangor City 1

Town produced a sparkling performance to dispatch a rejuvenated Bangor City in the second round of the FAW Premier Cup.

Following a goalless first half, when Town's Danny Thomas lost out in a one on one with Bangor keeper Ian Harvard who also palmed away Kaid Mohamed's narrow effort, the Richmond Park outfit made the breakthrough when Cotterall was upended by Kyle Jacobs in the box and the wing man converted his own spot kick on the hour .
Town doubled the tally thirteen minutes later. Paul Keddle, with a strong run, set up Mohamed who's strike was deflected in off Ashley Stott to give Town a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Stott set up an interesting finale when he halved the deficit with ten minutes remaining putting Bangor back in contention with a well hit effort from fifteen yards.
And with Bangor pressing for the equaliser Mark Dodds was forced to clear Stott's strike off the line after the ball had been held up well by Lloyd-Williams.

Cotterrall put the game beyond doubt on the stroke of full time when he broke from the half way line to fire in off the post and cap a fine Town performance. Town's reward is a home tie against a seeded side in the quarter final of the competition.

Town :Thomas, Evans, Keddle, Hancock, Dodds, C Thomas, D Thomas (Fleming 85'), Ramasut (Williams 90'), Fowler, Mohamed (Davies 80'), Cotterrall. Subs not used : Walters, Lima.

Bangor: Havard, Jacobs, Scott, McGinness, Webber, Beattie, Lloyd-Williams, Stott, Edwards, Jones (Roberts 61'), Walsh. Subs not used: Docker, Marsden, Newell, Karim.

Referee Mark Whitby.

18.11.06 Carmarthen Town 1 CPD Porthmadog 1

Having held a slim one goal advantage for the best part of an hour a defensive laps saw Carmarthen Town conceded a ‘sucker punch’ at the death that gave North Wales visitors CPD Porthmadog a late, but deserved, share of the points.

Town had taken the lead in the 32nd. minute when the in-form Kaid Mohamed had glanced home Sasha Walters’ corner but were unable to press home the advantage despite Nathan Cotterrall’s penetrating raids down the flank.

Porthmadog’s lone front man Les Davies had proved an ever present threat to the hosts in the first period. But with Town enjoying considerable second half possession Port’s keeper Richard Harvey produced three ‘top draw’ saves, one at full stretch from Sasha Walters that was destined for the top corner of the net, as Town looked to extend the lead.

But with Town comfortable and largely untroubled in defence Craig Lima’s headed clearance rebounded off the back of a defender to Port substitute Kevin Evans’s who’s half-hit effort squirmed home on the slippery surface to give the visitors a late 89th minute equaliser.

Having conceded such a late and somewhat unfortunate goal Town manager Mark Jones was naturally disappointed.

“Yes very disappointed. Especially after last week’s result at Aberystwyth I felt we needed to get three today and to have conceded such a soft goal in the 89th. minute I’m extremely disappointed. Yes very disappointing.

And how did the manager judge Town’s performance?

“We weren’t at out best but we worked hard and Cotteral had a good game on the left wing and supplied us with a lot of crosses. Their keeper made two magnificent saves that would have put the game beyond their reach. All for the sake of a defensive laps in the last minute we did OK.

“We weren’t great as we can be but we have a bad habit of not being able to keep clean sheets.

Jones praised the form of visiting keeper Richard Harvey.

“He made a wonderful save from Sasha with 20 minutes to go that was worthy of winning the game, then he tipped one over from Cotterall a couple of minutes later from the left hand side. But it was all about the second goal for me because we have difficulty in keeping a clean sheet.

And the reason?

“Defensive lapses. All the time there is something wrong. We have to be a bit uglier instead of pretty. Some people might say that we should play our way out of the back but you have to get your foot behind the ball and clear your lines. Especially in the last couple of minutes

With Liam Hancock suspended Town drafted in Craig Lima to partner Mark Dodds in the middle of the defence.

“Lima and Doddsy did quite well to be fair. Neil Thomas did not have a save to make in the second half at all. He touched the ball once, to pick the ball out of the back of the net in the 89th. minute.

And Jones was pleased with the way new signing Deryn Brace at left back.

“Deryn Brace did smashing for us. He defended well, talked well and his experience will be a factor. I’m very pleased with his performance.

Osian Roberts the Porthmadog manager felt his side deserved something from the game :

"I thought that we deserved at least a draw. Carmarthen had most of the possession but we had the better chances. Given the balance of play I thought a draw was a fair result. Certainly we deserved something from the game.

Having done well in cup competitions recently but with only one League win to their credit this was Porthmadog’s fifth draw of the season.

“There is no real difference in our league and cup form to be honest except a little bit of luck here and there. All the games have been tight with only one goal between us and the opposition.

“We’ll keep performing as we have and the results and the points will come. We don’t do anything different. We still crate chances. This is our seventh game and we have only lost to New Saints.

He added, “We could easily have had three goals in the first half today and Richard Hughes could have had one in the second half with a header.

“With the pattern we adopted we had to play five across the middle and we created chances. Towards the end we put two up front and we took a couple of risks in mid field but it paid off.

With keeper Richard Harvey making three magnificent saves in the second half did he keep Porthmadog in the game?

“To an extent yes, but that’s his job, to make saves. Up until then he hadn’t had a save to make.

We’re an honest team of players. We don’t have individual stars and therefore we have to be more of a team

“In the first quarter of the second half we had the upper hand. As in all games the momentum changes and Town had a period with two or three chances and Richard Harvey made some good saves. That enabled us to respond and go up the other end and score.

Carmarthen Town N.Thomas, Evans, Brace, Lima, Dodds, K.Thomas, D.Thomas, Ramasut, Walters, Mohamed (M.Davies 88'), Cotterrall. Subs not used: Fleming, Fowler, Butler, Stephens.

CPD Porthmadog Harvey, J.G.Jones, Foster, R.Roberts, R.Davies, Friel (K.Roberts 74'), Parry, Caughter (Evans 73'), R.Hughes, Owen (Sadler 46'), L.Davies.

Attendance: 318 Referee: Simon Jones

10.11.06 Aberystwyth Town 4 Carmarthen Town 2

In rain drenched conditions Town paid a heavy price for a lack of concentration and some indiscipline as they went down 4-2 to local rivals Aberystwyth on Friday night. This loss saw Aber leapfrog Town into fifth position one point ahead of the Richmond Park outfit.

With the rain lashing down Town made a disastrous start by conceding a goal in the opening minute. Andy Evans put the hosts ahead he was inexplicably left unmarked by the Town defence and after he accepted David Burrows’ cross he rounding the keeper to give Aberystwyth a dream start.

Town gradually played their way back in to the game and a good move by the visitors ended with the in form Kaid Mohamed shooting inches wide of the home goal.

Town added to their woes on the half hour mark as Liam Hancock was adjudged to have pushed Luke Sherborne to the ground after a tackle and was red carded by referee Brian James.

Reduced to ten men Town did well but conceded a second from a corner as David Burrows got above the defence to put the home side two up with a minute of the half remaining.

Four minutes into the second period Bari Morgan tapped in Stuart Roberts’ cross to give the hosts a comfortable lead.

But Town began to show some character. Mohamed menaced the Aber defence and his persistence paid off as captain Nathan Cotterall was released down the left and his pinpoint cross was slid home by the front man to reduce the arrears.

Both sides were reduced to ten men in the 80th minute as Aneirin Thomas was red carded for a foul on Mohamed. But the evening-up of the numbers provided little respite for Town as slack defending allowed Roberts to get his cross in and Craig Jones to claim Aber’s fourth of the night.

The scoring was eventually brought to an end in the 87th minute when both second half substitutes Craig Lima and Nathan White combined to score Carmarthen Town’s second of the evening and a slightly more respectable score line in the continuing downpour.

Town manager Mark Jones was understandably subdued after the game.

“We conceded such a sloppy goal at the start of the game. Then with the sending off of Hancock we were facing an uphill task for the rest of the match.

“I was pleased with the way we played in the last half an hour but must produce that form consistently for the whole of the game”

Aberystwyth Town: K.Lewis, G.Lewis, M.Roberts, Thomas, Burrows, Passmore (James 75'), Evans, B.Morgan, S.Roberts, Sherbon, C.Jones (Kellaway 89'). Subs not used: Watkins, Wilkins.

Carmarthen Town: N.Thomas, Evans (Lima 54'), Fleming (White 82'), Hancock, Dodds, K.Thomas, Fowler, Ramasut, Walters, Mohamed, Cotterrall. Subs not used: Williams, S. Davies, Horwood.

Attendance: 391 Referee: Brian James

07.11.06 Caersws FC 2 Carmarthen Town 1

Despite having taken an early lead through captain Nathan Cotterrall Carmarthen Town were unable to maintain their first half momentum as hosts Caersws levelled just before the break and, having netted a winner ten minutes before time, dumped Town out of the Loosemoores Cup in this Quarter Final tie at the Recreation Ground last Tuesday evening.

The early omens were good as Cotterall had put Town ahead after five minutes when the wingman broke free at the half way line and struck home in a one-on-one with the Caersws keeper Andy Mulliner.

Kaid Mohamed came close to extending Town’s lead on a couple of occasions but a Ross Stephens free kick on 35 minutes sounded a warning and five minutes later the hosts drew level when Geraint Lewis latched on to a poor clearance to rifle home a speculative 25 yard effort.

With the equaliser galvanising the hosts the Bluebirds enjoyed considerable second half possession.

Mohamed remained dangerous on the break forcing Mulliner to block but it was Neil Thomas in the Town goal that was the busier of the two keepers.

Angled efforts from Neil Mitchell and Graham Jones came close and with Thomas keeping out Graham Evans and Chris Venables the pressure mounted on the Town defence and Venables saw his explosive finish to a free kick rattle the Town woodwork.

With ten minutes remaining a defensive error saw the hosts capitalise to grab the winner. With Evans latching on to a long ball his first effort was palmed away by Thomas but poor covering allowed the predatory striker a second bite as he fired the loose ball into the net to put the Mid Wales outfit into the semi final of the competition.

Town manager Mark Jones was bitterly disappointed.

“I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed. As a manager I want to retain an interest for as long as possible in as many competitions as possible. It’s always disappointed to see a cup run come to an end.

“We were without three influential players, Dodds, Tom Ramasut and Loss but that’s not an excuse as the lads that came in did well.

“I thought our first half performance was good. We created well. They had a bit of luck with the equaliser but I thought we would finish the job in the second half.

“I can’t really explain our second half performance. They had the better of us and a defensive mistake gave them the winner”.

Caersws FC : Mulliner, Thomas, Grist, Reynolds, Davies, G. Jones, Venables, Mitchell, Evans, Stephens, G. Lewis. Subs not used: Griffiths, C. Jones, M. Lewis.

Carmarthen Town: N. Thomas, Evans, Keddle, Hancock, Lima, K. Thomas, D. Thomas, Fowler, Walters (White 84'), Mohamed, Cotterrall. Subs not used: Fleming, Williams.

Attendance: 110 Referee: Ceri Richards

03.11.06 Carmarthen Town 2 West End 0

CARMARTHEN TOWN became the first side to reach the Welsh Cup's last 16 with a 2-0 win over Swansea based outfit West End on Friday evening.

The MacWhirter league visitors had eliminated Welsh League champions Goytre United in the previous round and could well have taken an early lead when Carl Smitham twice went close with headers in an untidy and edgy first period.

Whatever Town manager Mark Jones said at half time certainly worked as Town got to grips with the challenge and Sasha Walters settled Town's nerves with a goal seven minutes after the break. With the wing man both instigator and assassin he dispossessed West End in mid-file and having set Nathan Cotterall free collected the return to set Town on their way.

Stung by the goal West End responded immediately and it took a point blank save at the foot of the post from home keeper Neil Thomas to deny former Welsh Premier frontman Carl Mainwaring from converting a corner.

But with the hosts largely untroubled in the second period Kris Thomas made the game safe in the 66th. minute heading in Walters’ cross at the far post to ensure that it was Town’s name that went into the hat for the Fourth Round draw that will be played on the 3rd. February 2007.

Having seen his side retain their interest in a third cup competition, Town play Caersws in the Quarter Final of the Loosemoors Cup on Tuesday evening and Bangor City in the FAW Premier Cup on the 21.11.06, manager Mark Jones was naturally pleased.

“In all fairness West End gave us a good test in the first half and could quite easily have come in one up. They had some experienced players that were always a danger.

“It was a 50 /50 game and I thought they played some good football. In fact I think that’s the best football we’ve seen from a Welsh League side for a long time.

“We had a few words at half time and I think the boys reacted magnificently. We took our chances and in the end I think that was the difference.

I’m delighted we got the result. I love the Welsh Cup it’s a great, fantastic competition.

West End’s long serving manager Donny Smitham was very positive regarding his sides Cup performance,

“I’m very pleased with the performance and I have to be realistic about the result. Carmarthen Town is a very good side and they are not in the top four for nothing.

“We were punished for two mistakes and Carmarthen attacked so quickly.

“We came to play and I think we did that. We could quite easily have come in half time two up. We’re a second division side and but I think we played some good quality football.

“We need to take that quality into our league to get promotion. Hopefully one day we can be up there with Carmarthen.

“The club is very proud of the players and it’s been a great experience for them all but especially the youngsters.

Town: Thomas, Evans, Ramasut, Hancock, Dodds, C Thomas, D Thomas, Colin Loss (Fleming 25'), Walters, Mohamed, Cotterall (Davies 90')

West End: Marsh, Otten, Smitham, Kavanagh, Wright, Jones, Morgan (R Jones 83'), Evans, Mainwaring (J Jones 86'), Jones, Smitham (Hole 80').

Attendance 239 Referee K Morgan (Pontarddulais)