Caernarfon Town 3-0 Cefn Druids: Strong second-half sees Canaries beat Ancients
CAERNARFON, WALES - 14 AUGUST 2021: Caernarfons Llywelyn Jones scores to make it 2-0 and celebrates during JD Cymru Premier league fixture between Caernarfon Town FC & Haverfordwest County AFC, The Oval, Caernarfon, Wales, 14th August, Wales, UK. (Pic By John Smith/FAW)
Caernarfon Town scored three goals in the second half against the Cefn Druids to record their second win of the Cymru Premier.
Cefn Druids started without club captain Michael Jones in goal as he was replaced by Ryan Neild and Kane Lewis made a debut at centre back. While for the Cofis, Josh Bailey made his first league start and Jakub Orzynski returned in goal after a spell on international duty.
Caernarfon started the game on the front foot and had the first shot on goal through Danny Gossett however his shot didn’t trouble Neild, the same was the story for former Druids player Iwan Cartwright as his shot was easily parried by Neild. Caernarfon had the better of the first 10 but there was no real cutting edge to the play.
Cefn Druids began to impose themselves on the game and enjoyed a bit of possession however they looked bereft of ideas going forward and Emmanuel Agyemang wasn’t proving to be an useful outlet for them. The first half lacked quality from both sides however as the half went, Caernarfon started to assert their dominance, however Ryan Neild was having the half of his life in goal for Druids.
Iwan Cartwright was the first to be denied after being put through on goal however Neild pulled off a fantastic save with his right foot, minutes later Mike Hayes was denied after Rob Hughes found him unmarked in the box however Neild spreaded himself well to smother the chance. From the resulting corner, he was finally beaten however his defence was on hand to clear on the goal line and throughout their dominance, Caernarfon could not find a goal and we went into the half level at 0-0.
Seconds after the restart, Caernarfon should have been one up, Rob Hughes intercepted straight from the kick off and he went on a mazy run and set up Hayes who looked to have the goal at his mercy however he blasted over. Caernarfon came out for the second half much the better side however were wasteful in front of goal and when good chances came their way, Neild was proving to be a tough nut to crack.
The Caernarfon faithful were starting to feel a bit of Deja vu from the Wales v Estonia game as whatever they tried just wouldn’t work. The breakthrough came on the hour and it was Darren Thomas who had the magic touch as he went on a rampaging run, beat three defenders and slotted the ball confidently past Neild and the Cofis had a deserved lead and it came through the crowd favourite.
Druids’ task was made much harder as 20 minutes from the end, Liam Buckley saw red for two yellows and Caernarfon had a free-kick in a great position and Rob Hughes stepped and fired a delightful strike past Neild and Caernarfon had the buffer of a two goal lead and the slender chance of getting anything for Druids had been extinguished after a deserved goal for Hughes.
Caernarfon were now hungry for more and brought on Cai Jones however minutes later, he pulled his hamstring and had to be replaced by Gwion Dafydd who was given the last five minutes. Dafydd was straight into the action and forced Neild into a smart save.
The icing on the cake was provided in injury time as Rob Hughes and Darren Thomas combined and Hughes unselfishly put the ball on a plate to Dafydd who had an empty net in front of him and the teenager fired it in for his first goal in front of a home crowd.
It ended in a deserved 3-0 win for the home side, a solid performance and three points to go with the three goals. Cefn Druids showed plenty of effort however seem to be lacking ideas going forward.
Next up for Caernarfon are Cardiff MET at The Oval while Cefn Druids welcome Penybont to The Rock.
