CAERNARFON, GWYNEDD, WALES - 10th MAY 2024 - Caernarfon celebrate their first goal during Caernarfon Town FC vs Cardiff Metropolitan University FC in the JD Cymru Premier playoff semi-final at The Oval, Caernarfon (Pic by Sam Eaden/FAW)
Has Caernarfon Town’s time finally arrived?
Qualification at last for the European adventure their supporters have always longed for?
On Saturday afternoon, the Carling Oval will host one of the biggest games in Town’s history.
A place in the 2024-25 European Conference League is up for grabs when Richard Davies’ Canaries take on Penybont in the JD Cymru Premier European Play-Off Final.
Caernarfon finished fifth in the CPL this season, while South Wales outfit Penybont ended up top of the Play-Off Conference, but seventh overall, to clinch a place in the Euro Play-Off semis.
Last weekend’s semi-finals saw Caernarfon see off Cardiff Met University 2-0, while Rhys Griffiths’ side walloped Newtown 5-0.
Caernarfon have appeared in two play-off finals – losing one to Newtown and winning the second versus Flint, but in that season the Welsh Premier had lost one Euro spot so the Cofis ended up with a Scottish Challenge Cup berth.
Preview: faw.cymru
So it all comes down to this. The final game of the 2023/24 JD Cymru Premier season to decide who takes the league’s last spot in next season’s UEFA Conference League first qualifying round.
Caernarfon Town host Penybont in what should be a cracking winner-takes-all battle.
The Cofis have never qualified for continental competition, while the Bont only made their European debut last summer when they were beaten by Andorran side FC Santa Coloma in the UEFA Conference League.
It means that Caernarfon have a chance to make history and they will be roared on by passionate home support – 1,285 fans packed into The Oval to see the 2-0 win over Cardiff Met in the play-off semi-final last Friday.
It should not be forgotten how Caernarfon only narrowly avoided relegation last season and the turnaround overseen by Richard Davies since his appointment as manager has been very impressive.
The Cofis finished the regular season in fifth place, with only The New Saints and Connah’s Quay Nomads scoring more goals across the campaign.
Strikers Adam Davies and Zack Clarke netted 25 league goals between them, while Sion Bradley – the matchwinner for Cymru C against England C in March – and Louis Lloyd provided plenty of threat in attack too.
After their third-place finish last season, Penybont will have been disappointed to drop into the bottom half this season but it did allow them to enter the play-offs on a strong run of form after leapfrogging Haverfordwest County into seventh place on the final day of the regular campaign.
Rhys Griffiths’ side have kept a remarkable seven clean sheets in a row – not conceding since the beginning of March – and have won six of those matches.
The evergreen Chris Venables joined from Bala Town last summer and has 20 JD Cymru Premier goals so far this season – including seven in his last four games – while captain Kane Owen is a constant danger with his menacing deliveries from out wide.
Despite finishing lower in the table, Penybont actually won both games against Caernarfon in phase one this season, with Venables scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory at The Oval in November.
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