Cymru Premier: Caernarfon win at Flint, Nomads held and Saints beaten

Flint Town United 0
Caernarfon Town 2 (Mendes 63, Bradley 66)

Two goals in a second half, three-minute spell clinched the points for Caernarfon at the Essity Stadium.

Paulo Mendes struck first, heading in a right wing corner from Telor Williams on 63 minutes, then on 66, a Ryan Williams throw-in down the right was helped on by Jack Kenny and Jake Bickerstaff, allowing Sion Bradley to finish smartly right-footed from inside the box.

The Cofis extended their unbeaten run to six matches and temporarily returned to the top six of the Cymru Premier, but dropped to seventh after Haverfordwest County upset The New Saints 2-1 in the evening live TV match..

Town manager Huw Griffiths made two changes to his starting line-up following last week’s draw with Aberystwyth, handing Wrexham loanees Max Cleworth and Jake Bickerstaff their first starts, and the team certainly proved him right, with a confident display from the off.

Flint goalkeeper Jonathan Rushton made the first of a number of fine saves in the eighth minute when he got down well to keep out a Bickerstaff effort.

Six minutes later Rushton managed to palm away a firm Bradley shot.

Flint finally got sight of Caernarfon’s goal in the 20th minute, when Ben Nash got on the end of a corner but saw his header cleared off the line by Gareth Edwards.

However, this was as good as it got for Flint in front of goal in the first half as the Caernarfon defence, boasting the dominant Edwards and Parker, dealt well with the hosts’ direct style of play.

For Caernarfon, both Bickerstaff and Kenny failed to beat Rushton with their on-target efforts and the Cofis will have felt frustrated not to have entered half time with a lead.

Half-time: 0-0

Flint began the second period well and, for the only spell in the game, were briefly on top.

Town’s Josh Tibbetts smartly kept out a low Conor Harwood effort but, having stood up to Flint’s purple patch, Caernarfon went ahead shortly after the hour mark via Mendes.

Three minutes later Bradley’s crisp finish made it 2-0.

Tibbetts made a late save to ensure a rare clean sheet for Caernarfon.

Flint: Jonathan Rushton, Edmond Clarke, Ben Nash, Kai Edwards, Rob Hughes, Richard Foulkes, Joshua Amis, Callum Bratley, Evan Gumbs, Jordan Buckley (Conor Harwood 11), Ben Maher.

Caernarfon: Josh Tibbetts, Gareth Edwards, Sion Bradley (Sam Jones 85), Paulo Mendes, Noah Edwards, Ryan Williams, Telor Williams, Michael Parker, Jack Kenny (Cai Jones 85), Jacob Bickerstaff (Michael Hayes 75), Max Cleworth.

Other results – March 13

Barry Town United 1 (Nat Jarvis 87) Aberystwyth Town 0

Cefn Druids 1 (Stefan Edwards 7) Bala Town 3 (Oliver Shannon 33 & 50; Chris Venables 70)

Haverfordwest County 2 (Corey Shephard 18, Cameron Keetch 74) The New Saints 1 (Blaine Hudson)

Newtown 4 (Tyrone Ofori 6 & 29, Jordan Evans 57 & 69) Cardiff Met University 1 (Bradley Woolridge 22)

Penybont 0 Connah’s Quay Nomads 0