Honours even in eight goal thriller.
Three goals in injury time ensured a dramatic end to the game and help Denbigh pick up what seemed an unlikely point when barely five minutes earlier when they were losing 4-2.
Caernarfon started the strongest and dominated the first half, and after six minutes they lead, albeit to an awful misjudgement from Denbigh centre half Kyle Scarisbrick finding his outlandish kick swooping over Keeper Power and into the empty Denbigh goal.
The evening continued to be an uphill struggle for Denbigh as Caernarfon continued to unleash a multitude of attacks at the home side’s goal, but despite their dominance could not find a way through.
However on 43 minutes, Caernarfon’s wave of domination paid off as Clive Williams slotted home a simple chance from two yards out. Denbigh could count themselves lucky they were not further behind at the break, only for Caernarfon’s lacklustre effort in front of goal kept the score line down to a credible 2-0.
A stern word and two substitutions at half time seemed to wake Denbigh up and they came out with more steam and started to attack Caernarfon more often. However for all their effort they could not break down the visitor’s defensive line and dually Caernarfon made the Denbighshire side pay the price as Jamie Breese, in the 75th minute, scored from twenty yards out firing his shot into Powers’ bottom left hand net.
3-0 down with less than 15 minutes to go, you could excuse Denbigh for giving up, but not so, within a minute after going 3-0 down, Abe Dobson fired an absolutely beauty from 30 yards out into the top corner to make the score line 3-1.
Denbigh felt revitalised and went in search of a second and with less than ten minutes left their reward for pressuring Caernarfon was justified when Alan Bull nicked the ball into the goal to make it 3-2 to Caernarfon. With Denbigh’s tails up, they went in search of the equaliser but a minute into injury time Jamie Breese scored his second of the night, after a quick counter by the Canaries, coolly slotting past Power.
4-2 and only minutes to spare and with the home fans leaving the stadium empty after their exodus from the ground, Ant Williams popped up to fire home a solid shot from inside the area.
Unbelievably the action wasn’t over and straight from the kick off Denbigh found themselves back in Caernarfon’s half attacking the visitors. A foul just outside the box gave Denbigh one last opportunity to swing the ball into the penalty area and what was almost the last kick of the night Mat Hughes scrambled the ball over the line to make this a glorious comeback for the men in red.
From 3-0 down to being 4-2 down and with only 4 minutes of the game left, you can’t help but admire the tenacity of Denbigh to never give up. It was a dramatic end to the game, one that I have not seen end that dramatically in a long time.
Both managers will have a lot to think about come tomorrow, Iwan Williams will have to ponder about how his men threw away a 3-0 and a 4-2 lead. However Denbigh can reel in their teams amazing comeback for a few days before they concentrate on their next fixture, an away trip to Buckley Town.
