Despite a strong second-half showing, Haverfordwest County were edged out 2-1 by Caernarfon Town in a keenly-contested affair at the Ogi Bridge Meadow yesterday.
Goals from Noah Edwards and Cai Jones were enough to give the north Walians all three points, despite Mason Jones-Thomas’ impressive solo effort threatening to start a Bluebirds comeback.
County trailed 1-0 at the break but were on top for much of the second-half, however they were unable to find the equaliser that their pressure deserved.
Wayne Jones made two changes to the side that drew with Barry Town United last Tuesday – both of which were injury-enforced – with captain Dylan Rees and Jones-Thomas returning to the starting lineup in place of Kieran Lewis and Kurtis Rees.
Both sides went close to scoring within the first five minutes, with Lee Idzi making a good save to deny Darren Thomas from close range, before Jack Wilson saw his sweetly struck volley deflected just wide.
Wilson sent a free-kick just over the bar after 20 minutes, then, shortly after, Ben Fawcett had a shot saved at the near post by Jakub Ojrzynski, before Danny Williams’ cross was tipped over the bar by the Cofis stopper.
10 minutes later, however, the visitors took the lead when Edwards advanced to the edge of the area before firing past Idzi into the bottom right corner.
The Bluebirds made a changed 12 minutes into the second-half, when Alhagi Touray Sisay was replaced by Alaric Jones.
Huw Griffiths’ side found a second goal four minutes later when a scramble inside the penalty area resulted in Cai Jones stabbing the ball home to double his side’s lead.
County fought back impressively, with Rees seeing his effort deflected over the bar, before Jones-Thomas cut in from the left side and fired a shot past Ojrzynski at his near post to halve the deficit.
From this point onwards, it was one-way traffic as Jones’ side pushed hard to find an equaliser.
There were a few nearly moments for the Bluebirds, with the best chance falling to Fawcett as he struck just wide from inside the area.
Haverfordwest County had dropped down to 10th position after Aberystwyth Town’s win against Cardiff Metropolitan University on Friday evening, and this result sees them remain there, with just six points separating fifth-placed Bala Town from 11th-placed Cardiff Met.
The JD Cymru Premier takes a break next weekend, with the Nathaniel MG Cup semi-finals taking centre stage. The Bluebirds are back in action on December 4, when they travel to north Wales to take on Flint Town United.
