Fairwater manager Casey Warren has insisted that his side – who compete in the eighth tier of Welsh football – are prepared to face Welsh League opposition once again when they host Garden Village on Saturday.
The Cardiff outfit thrashed a below-par Aberystwyth Exiles 8-2 in the opening round of Welsh Cup qualification. A Daniel Mais hat-trick along with a brace from Nathan Jones helped Fairwater seal an emphatic victory over their Cardiff Combination rivals.
“I was expecting a tighter game against Aberystwyth Exiles,” Warren claimed. “The past couple of seasons they have proven to be a very good footballing side, but on the day we just clicked and exploited their weaknesses early on and built on it.”
Following their impressive victory at Poplar Park, Fairwater have already bettered last season’s Welsh Cup run, and Warren puts that down to recruitments both on and off the pitch.
“I am so proud of everything we’re doing at this club. Year on year we strive to improve on the previous year’s achievements and so far we have done that in the five years I have been in charge.
“We are a tight-nit community club and we’ve already improved on last year’s Welsh Cup campaign with the victory over Aber Exiles in round one of qualifying, and that’s down to the commitment of not just the players but the coaching staff, too.
“We have brought in some very good additions to the squad of players, all with higher league experience and the coaching staff with Welsh League experience. Daineal Cameron and Matt Boyd-Anderson – added to the staff – have been great for the club in bringing different styles to training and matches.”
The Cardiff side now face Swansea-based Garden Village in the second qualification round. The Canaries aren’t heading into the tie in the best of form, having won just once in their opening five matches in Division One of the Welsh Football League.
Warren added: “Obviously it’s a massive step up in quality of team compared to who we play weekly, but we do have experienced players and players of good enough ability to cause an upset. We’re just going to go out and play to a game plan and put it into action as good as we can.
“It’s the biggest game that has been played at Poplar Park which is great. I suppose it gives us the advantage that it’s on our home pitch and we play and train on it weekly, we just want to give a good account of ourselves and we’ll see what happens.”
If Fairwater were to defy the odds and stun Garden Village, they’ll move into the Welsh Cup first round proper. How far could they then go in the competition?
“I can’t really look past Garden Village to be fair,” proclaimed Fairwater’s manager. “It’s going to be a great game and occasion for us to be testing ourselves against Welsh League opposition again, but this time on our pitch. The players, coaching staff and fans can’t wait.”
Poplar Park will be rocking come Saturday afternoon as Casey Warren’s Fairwater set their sights on causing a huge upset.
(Featured Image: David Sweet)
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