Everyone loves a football comeback story. Especially one where the odds seem insurmountable against impossible opposition, and the Cymru Premier has its very own version of that.
Enter Carmarthen Town.
Exactly 15 years ago, 2-0 down heading into a European second leg against a superior Longford Town side and nearly 80 miles from their home ground, the Old Gold achieved what at the time seemed near impossible.
They produced one of the largest winning margins recorded by a Cymru Premier side in Europe to fire themselves into the second round with a 5-1 victory.
And two of the men who would know best about the occasion, former Old Gold boss Mark Jones and player Gary Lloyd, relive one of the top moments that helped put the Cymru Premier on the map in Europe.
Setting the Scene
Before their spectacular result in Newtown, an incessant rain had soaked the pitch at Latham Park, and as the heavens opened the belief stayed strong for both coach and players alike.
Scoring a brace on the evening, Lloyd himself however wasn’t certain of what would happen.
“To be honest with you, before the second leg I thought we didn’t have a chance,” he laughed.
“They were a good side.
“They were better beating us 2-0 in the first leg. We managed to get that result of 2-0, how I don’t know! They were a very good side to be fair to them.”
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The man in charge, however, was far more confident of what his side could achieve when facing the Irish outfit, having watched them play before the tie had begun.
“At 2-0 we still had a chance didn’t we, so we believed, the players especially did, we trained hard for it,” Jones said.
“We were a bit disappointed we couldn’t play at Richmond Park, but we went there and Newtown were absolutely brilliant to us.
“When we went to the game, I think the crowd was around 900 people and I think 750 of those would have been Irish! It was all Longford!
“It was unbelievable, when we went out for the night afterwards all you could see were red and black flags.
“They were scattered all around Latham Park. They were there to celebrate going through to the next round I suppose, there was no doubt about that, but our boys put on a great event.
Spectacular Second Half
The Old Gold took the game to Longford right from the first whistle, and their early pressure paid dividends.
Daniel Thomas broke the deadlock only 15 minutes in, toe-poking the ball past Longford stopper Stephen O’Brien but a 20th minute penalty to the visitors appeared to spell disaster at Latham Park.
And Jones admitted at half time the score line did not give the best hope of a comeback.
“We took a 1-0 lead and they scored in the 20th minute and so we came in 1-1 at half-time,” the former Carmarthen boss said.
“We’re 3-1 down on aggregate and now we’ve got an away goal to deal with also. So, the game looked all over. It wasn’t as if we absolutely dominated the first half, it was still quite an even game.”
All square at 1-1 during the break meant that Carmarthen would need three goals to advance into the second round.
And Jones remembers what he said to his side in preparation for what would be an incredible turnaround.
“The one thing I do remember, the boys were still upbeat, keen and they were fit because we’d trained so hard for it,” he recalled.
“I always remember saying to them to keep believing because we had about six half chances in the first half, so I said who knows.
“If every half chance goes in during the second half and we keep it tight at the back, it’s not over yet lads.
“I can vividly remember that.
“We went out and scored four wonderful goals in the second half and the boys were absolutely brilliant to a man, every player, they played as well as I’d ever seen them play.
“We really turned it on in the second half. At the end, I’ve always said this, I’ll always take my hat off to Longford Town and their fans because they clapped us off.
“They stood up and gave us a standing ovation and clapped us off, which was unbelievable.”
The Perfect Night
A 5-1 finish produced a spark of emotion throughout the ground, with celebrations from Old Gold fans undoubtedly steeped in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
It was a game that Lloyd holds special memories of, both in and off the pitch.
Gary Lloyd
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“It’s definitely up there as memories go,” he said, reminiscing of Carmarthen’s golden years.
“The people that were around us on the day, Mark Jones, Craig Lima, etc. they were great characters. Mark didn’t play with us, but he was a great manager, he was top class.
“He was massive. He just tried to calm everyone down, told us to play the game properly. Just to see what we could do, see if we could get the win.
“The rest is history isn’t it. Mark still mentions it today, whenever I see him, he still talks about that night. So, you can see how much it meant to him.
“I had a photo of my daughter; she would only have been about three or four and my father is with her.
“And I think I scored the penalty, and someone grabbed a photo of me running over to them and that was just fantastic for me.
“She wouldn’t remember it; she wouldn’t have a clue! She has seen the photo of me running up to them though.
“That’s what I remember most, scoring the penalty, running over to my daughter and saying we’re going on a plane!
“I’ve got my boy, I told him that I played for the club and scored a couple of goals. It’s nice for him to be able to look back when he’s older.
“Perhaps not so much now because he’s only 14, hopefully he’ll look back and think I wasn’t a bad player!”
And with memories of that famous night still around the ground in Carmarthen, Jones also remembers the emotion and joy surrounding the final whistle.
It was an event that created history for Richmond park’s occupiers, and the former Port Talbot manager also cites the fifth goal as one of his highlights on the night.
“I think it was Nathan Cotterall that scored the fifth, he broke brilliantly and beat the keeper, I suppose that was the highlight, when that fifth one went in, everybody sort of thought wow we must have done it,” he said.
“The final whistle, the emotion and enjoyment on everybody’s faces is what stands out to me from that game.
“There were some great photographs at the end where you could just see a group of players that had achieved something which was perhaps before the game was seen as something that was unachievable.
“We put the name of the Cymru Premier and Carmarthen Town into a bit of history.
“I think it was a very special occasion and I think every player still says it was a changing room that all got on together and we created something which will go down in Carmarthen’s history which is very special.
“We created history for Carmarthen Town which was fantastic.
“There’s a picture on the wall at Carmarthen with everybody at the end punching the air and I think it’s called the perfect night. It just was the perfect night; it was absolutely brilliant.”
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The next round dealt a different task, with the draw gifting the Old Gold Danish giants Copenhagen.
Despite the difficulty their opposition provided, both Lloyd and Jones have nothing but fond memories of facing their European competition.
For one of the Cymru Premier’s most decorated players, the occasion was simply unbelievable, and he reminisced on the group of players with him that had achieved what appeared impossible.
“You watch TV now and they’re in the Champions league against somebody and you think wow, I’ve played there,” Lloyd said.
“It’s unbelievable when you think about it. They were a good side, they battered us at Ninian Park.
“To get to Europe and to play games like that and hopefully get a win or two, that’s what it’s all about.
“As it happens, we got the one win. It’s about luck isn’t it, the luck of the draw.
“You could draw someone who’s done the same as us, by beating Longford we could progress further, and it was a great experience.”
“They were a really good bunch of boys at Carmarthen. They had great character.
“I think they had a night out last year, just a kind of reunion, unfortunately, I couldn’t make it, so I was a bit gutted with that. Hopefully, we’ll have another one in a couple of years.
For Jones, the group of staff and players he put together at Carmarthen stand out in his memories and claims the winning mentality they had played a major role in their comeback.
And it’s those players and people that provided the moment that put Carmarthen Town in the history books.
“I had the likes of Mark Aizlewood, John Karamousis and Kevin Morris, they were all tremendous as coaching staff. Bob Jefferies was the goalkeeping coach as well at the time. We were all a team,” he said.
“We had experienced players like Tony Pennock who played in the football league and the key to it was that we had a couple of winners.
“Gary Lloyd was a serial winner at Barry Town, Pennock was a winner in the conference, Neil Smothers was always superb in midfield, Nathan Cotterall was flying on the wing, he was almost unplayable that night.
“I’d brought Mark Dodds as a centre-forward from Port Talbot, he was a good player at the time.
“Kevin Evans was an ex-professional with Leeds United and Cardiff who was excellent. Richard Kennedy as well from Barry Town, he was one like I said with that winning mentality.
“One of the great ones was Luke Hardy who I signed, and Rhodri Jones was a good leader; he didn’t know when he was beaten.
“That winning mentality of four or five players who had come from clubs that had been winners. It does help and it does keep you believing, I think.
“If you’ve got players in your dressing room with a winning mentality, who are used to winning, it doesn’t half help a football team.
“We had great years at Carmarthen, the three seasons we were there we qualified for Europe every year, won the Welsh Cup, the League Cup and had a couple of wonderful campaigns in Europe.
“The memories are there. They are fantastic memories and they’re in my head forever.”
(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)
Peter Price
This result will go down with the very best achievements by league of Wales sides in Europe. Having supported Carmarthen since age of 10 and playing some 15 seasons for them there wasn’t a prouder person in Latham Park that night. I travelled to Longford for the 1st game and was also reporting on the game for the South Wales Evening Post. We lost 2-0 but it should have been 5 or 6-0. Therefore no one gave us a chance in the return leg. Having gone in at 1-1 half time on the night the most we could have hoped for was to give them a decent game and go down fighting. Little did the small band of Carmarthen fans who bothered to make the trip and who were well outnumbered by the Longford fans, realise what was to come. Four second half goals ensued for Carmarthen who blew their opponents off the park with an incredible display of attacking football. Long will those 45mins live in the memories of those Carmarthen fans who made the trip.