Haverfordwest County AFC manager Tony Pennock was satisfied to leave Cyncoed Campus with a point and a clean sheet yesterday, but knew that on another day his team could have taken all three against Cardiff Metropolitan.
The Bluebirds created more scoring opportunities in the capital, but it proved to be one of those days in front of goal as they had to settle for a point which extends their unbeaten start to the season to four matches.
Ben Ahmun his the crossbar with his header in the second half as the Town pushed hard to find the net, but it wasn’t to be as the focus now shifts to Friday night’s meeting with Newtown at LHP Stadium in Carmarthen – which will be played in front of the live Sgorio cameras.
Here’s what the manager had to say in full after the game:
On the performance
I thought we weren’t at our best first half. We were sloppy in the final third and didn’t really create a lot or get in good positions and did nothing with it. But second half I thought we played a lot better, created the majority of the chances and unfortunately we just couldn’t get on the end of one or two balls that were played across the six yard box. Obviously Ben’s hit the bar, their keeper has tipped one over. On another day we win it, but it’s a clean sheet away from home, three away games unbeaten, another point on our tally and we look forward to Friday night.
On our development
I think it shows how far we’ve come that the boys are disappointed because they feel we should have won the game. But we’ve kept a clean sheet, that’s the first and foremost thing we have to do in any game – it gives you a chance to win. But if we look back, we’ve not won a game at Met since I’ve been here, so it shows what a tough place it is.
They finish top six all the time, or have done for several years, and they’re a team with a lot of experienced boys who’ve played a lot of games in this league, and we just couldn’t find a way of getting the ball across the line today.
I thought our second half play was a lot better than the first half and if we take that into Friday night then we can have a positive result, but Newtown got a good win away from home today against Barry so we know it’s not going to be easy.
On our start
I’ll say it again, the first six games that we’ve got this season are all against the top teams in the league, or the top teams from last season and from previous seasons. A point at home against Penybont is no disgrace because I think Penybont will definitely be top three this season, so Friday was a good performance. Today, we backed that up with an away clean sheet. It’s just when we get those chances, we need to be a bit more clinical, and maybe we haven’t missed chances today, we just made the wrong decision at the top end of the pitch. We’ll keep working on that, and hopefully that’ll come soon.
On the two personal milestones
It’s great for Iori to get his 50th appearance for the club. He’s been a big part of what we’ve done the last two years. He’s maturing with every game. The more games he plays, the better he gets as well. He can play in a number of positions, so it’s fantastic. And then Ricky making his 400th appearance for the club just shows what a great servant he’s been, and he’s still as eager as ever to play every week. It’s fantastic. Maybe we have to look after him a bit more than previous years because, he won’t mind me saying it, he’s not the same age as Iori, but 400 appearances for any club is a fantastic achievement and, as long as I’m here, I look forward to watching him in a lot more appearances than 400 – so long may that continue.
Ricky’s a great athlete. He looks after himself, he trains hard, he does a lot away from the club as well as having quite a physical job as well, so it’s testament to Ricky and his attitude to the club that he’s made all those appearances. So, like I said, Ricky’s a big part of the squad this year and has been for the two years I’ve been at the club. So I’m looking forward to Ricky being a big part of the club for many years to come.
On the talent in the county
We’re fortunate that there’s a lot of talent in Pembrokeshire. We’ve brought a few boys back home to the club this year, obviously with Alaric [Jones] and Greg [Walters] as well. There’s Ben Fawcett as well, and obviously Jack Wilson is out for the season, Jacob Owen too. It’s important that we have local boys playing, and we’ve got quite a few at the moment. Dylan Rees will be back in the next few weeks as well. I look on the bench and it’s massive for us that we have local boys in the squad. It gives the community and the town a good feeling to see people they know and have known for a long time playing for the Bluebirds. So long may that continue.
