Cardiff Draconian’s title winning manager Layton Maxwell has said that the club has ambitions of the Welsh League after their recent title win.
The club made their ambitions of the Welsh League in a club newsletter as they look to secure funding to make sure their Llanidloes Road pitch is capable of Welsh League football, but understand a temporary move elsewhere may have to happen if the club are continue their ambitions.
“When I took over nearly 2 years ago now I expressed my individual ambition of taking the Dracs into the Welsh League pyramid. The club wants exactly the same thing. We have a Large committee who devote a lot of time to fundraising and other work for the club.The work on the pitch this season by Nipper Palmer has let us play the type of football we want. For example the club did a few fundraisers this year and then invested into a new Pitch Mower. This gave Nipper to maintain the pitch to a high standard all year round.”
A 3-1 win over Dynamo Aber meant that promotion was secured at Llanidloes Road as Leighton James scored a brace as well as a single goal from Joey Hooper.
Fast forward a week and the Dracs secured the league title with a narrow 1-0 victory over Penrhiwceiber Cons Athletic. The former Liverpool player says that promotion is a proud moment for him, showing the transformation for the club, he also put praise onto Phil Broker, who has assisted the club in promotion.
It makes me very proud thinking where the club is now to where it was when I took over the club. Back to back promotions is not easy at any level.This year I brought in Phillip Brooker to assist me. Phil has been working at the Cardiff City Academy and is going for his B licence this year. He brought a few new ideas particulary to our training and has been a great asset.Going back to the team itself, we have a great closeness within the group both on and off the field. They are first and foremost good friends and socialise with each other as well as team mates.
In the same week, the Dracs booked their place in the final of the W John Owen Cup as they beat Division Two title winners in a clash of the Champions.
What Maxwell has put the title win and two cup finals down to is being able to choose a consistent team throughout the season.
“From October time I have been lucky enough to pick near enough the same Goalkeeper (Dom Smyth) and the same back four. (Anthony Southard – Darren Bennet – Lee Denna – Jake Gammond). All 4 have been brilliantly consistent and gave the team a great platform by keeping clean sheets.
We always fancy ourselves to score a goal or 2 going forward against anyone so keeping it tight at the back is very important and all 5 have been superb.
The consistency of not messing around with the team too much is a major factor. We have a big squad of young raw talented youngsters. The attacking energy we have is second to none at this level with plenty of pace up top.”
Despite being from the North of Wales, Maxwell has made a name for himself in South Wales and some have even jokingly suggested that a statue of the former Wales U21 international should be erected at the Dracs home.
They’ll be building a statue of @Maxilad1 outside the Centre at this rate!!! @CDraconians #GabalfaLegend
— Darren Buttle (@DButtle) April 8, 2017
Maxwell has said that despite such a flatteing compliment, that he’s just focused in taking the club to the next level.
“I have done a good job so far, you never know what is around the corner, especially in Football. My aim is to take the club as far as possible. The fact that we are attracting players from higher divisions is a massive statement for the Club. I am already looking forward to next season and where we can strengthen the squad. Even though the last league game is on Saturday the hard work for next season starts now.”
(Featured Image: Cardiff Draconians)
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