FLASHBACK – 20 YEARS AGO: Caernarfon Town v Porthmadog, Welsh Premier – Nov 19, 2005

VAUXHALL MASTERFIT WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE – NOVEMBER 19, 2005

Caernarfon Town 1 (Evans 65)
Porthmadog 2 (C Owen 6, 34)

Report: Mr Gareth Williams

Carl Owen was the hero of the night as his two first half goals proved enough to give Port the three points.

But the eventual victory was achieved at a considerable cost to the nerves of Port managers and supporters as Caernarfon threw everything into a second-half fight back.

Port were out of the blocks as soon as referee Brian Lawlor gave an opening blast on the whistle and this seemed to catch the home side by surprise with their minds perhaps still on the events of a fortnight previous when the the Canaries cruised to an easy 3-0 Welsh Cup win at the Traeth.

There was to be no repeat performance with the visitors dominating the opening exchanges and indeed after only six minutes they struck the first blow.

A good exchange of passes between Les Davies and Danny Hughes enabled the latter to break to the by-line and when he crossed low to the near post Carl Owen got in front of his marker and though keeper Paul Pritchard got a hand to the shot he could not keep it out.

Port could have gone further ahead as they piled on the pressure with Carl Owen hitting the side-netting, then a dipping Les Davies shot dropped inches over the crossbar.

After this frenetic start inevitably the game drifted into a quieter period and though Caernarfon came more into the game they rarely threatened the Port goal. Lee Webber and Ryan Davies were outstanding at this stage and Richard Harvey in the visitors’ goal had very little to do.

Gareth Parry came close for Port as he fastened on to a Carl Owen flick but his shot flew just over the bar.

In the 34th minute, Neil Thomas, in outstanding form in midfield, put Carl Owen through with a perfectly weighted pass and the striker fired low past Pritchard.

After Les Davies had further tested Pritchard with a 15 yard effort the home side threatened the Port goal for the only time in the half but no one was able to get a final touch to sub Steve Watkin’s header to the far post.

HALF-TIME: Caernarfon Town 0 Porthmadog 2

The second-half proved to be an entirely different game and six minutes in, Caernarfon right back Mark Evans found himself unmarked at the far post but fired into the side-netting.

The home side continued to pressure the Port defence and the goal which brought the home side well and truly back into the game came on 65 minutes when a Mark Evans shot from 30 yards thundered past Harvey.

Panic now seemed to grip the Port side as they defended deeply and lost their shape. Jason Sadler struck his shot into the side-netting and Harvey did well to keep out a Rob Williams close range effort.

It was all hands to the pumps as Ryan Davies cleared near the far post and former Wrexham striker Watkin saw yellow for his dive on the edge of the box.

Carl Owen could have settled the match and completed his hat-trick when after 82 minutes he was put clear by Gareth Parry, but keeper Pritchard denied him with a good save.

A couple of late corners kept the tension going to the end and then after four minutes added time visiting supporters gave a mighty sigh of relief for the first away three points of the season were in the bag.

Caernarfon Town

Paul Pritchard, Mark Evans, Jimmy McNulty, Kenny Irons, Eifion Jones, Dan March, Gwyn Peters (Marcus Orlik), Rob Williams, Jason Sadler, Lee Jones (Watkin), Dylan Owen. Sub not used: Waynne Phillips.

Porthmadog

Jason Harvey: Rhys Roberts, Ryan Davies, Lee Webber, Mike Foster: Danny Hughes (Ywain Gwynedd), Gareth Parry, Neil Thomas, Ritchie Owen: Carl Owen, Les Davies (Tony Williams).. Sub not used. Jason Harvey.

Attendance. 374

What happened to these teams in 2005-06?

Porthmadog finished 11th in the Welsh Premier table, Caernarfon Town 13th

How many times did they meet in this season?

Three – November 5, 2005 – Welsh Cup: Porthmadog 0 Caernarfon Town 3; November 19, 2005 – Welsh Premier: Caernarfon Town 1 Porthmadog 2; March 25, 2006 – Welsh Premier: Porthmadog 2 Caernarfon Town 3.