By James Dow
Haverfordwest County AFC captain Dylan Rees believes his side must not take home advantage for granted ahead of their JD Cymru Premier European play-off final against Caernarfon Town at the Ogi Bridge Meadow Stadium on Sunday.
The Bluebirds are gearing up for the showpiece event having achieved our joint-highest finish of third in the top-flight, but Rees says the final is a one-off game where form goes out of the window.
“Everyone’s excited,” said the defender when speaking on the Pure West Radio Sport Show earlier this week. “They’re chomping at the bit. We’ve been training really hard, obviously keeping a keen eye on what’s been happening in the quarter-finals and the semis.
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“We’re really confident going into the game. It’s an anything-can-happen game, there’s no favourites or anything like that, it’s just who can play the best on the day.
“We did speak about it [trying to achieve Europe] at the start of the season. Obviously there’s a [European] spot less this year in league because of the coefficient and how it’s worked in previous seasons. But if someone said to you in August you’re going to have a one-off game to get back into Europe at home, you’d have said yes straight away.
“But it doesn’t always work like that. The home advantage is going to be brilliant for us. We’ve got some fantastic fans and local supporters, but we won it away at Newtown when Newtown we’re at home, so we know how difficult it can be from both ends of the spectrum.”
Tony Pennock’s side have not played since the final game of Phase Two on April 19, but Rees believes the side should take it as a positive, with fresher legs going into the game.
“I wouldn’t call it a couple of weeks off with the way Tony trains us. You could think of it like that, but then at the same time we’re going to go into it fresh when they may have a bit more tired legs. If someone said to me before a final that you’re going to play two or three extra games before it, you could think of it as if they may be a bit tired towards the end of the game.
“We back our fitness against anybody, so I think going into the game our outlook is that we’re fresh, we’ve had time to prepare – not rest time – time to prepare properly. It’s not been easy by any shadow of a doubt, so I think we’re in the best possible place we can be in to go and win the game.”
The Bluebirds will have several faces in the squad who competed in the last play-off final win against Newtown two years ago, with Rees hoping that experience will stand them in good stead going into Sunday’s game.
“We’ve kept a few faces, which is great. Keeping that spine of the team is really important, and then for someone like myself, it’s going to be my third play-off final, so hopefully I can pass down sort of keeping the composure and things like that into the game and see how it goes from there.
“I was so proud to captain Haverfordwest to Europe through the play-off final in Newtown, but obviously I unfortunately missed out playing in Europe myself, although it was fantastic for the club. So I’d like to do it on a personal note, but also just to get the club there again, regardless of if I play or not, it would be massive for the club and massive for the area and the people around it.” the skipper said.
The Bluebirds’ Development side also have their final match of the season this weekend, facing The New Saints in the National Academi Development League play-off final, and Rees believes the team’s recent achievements – which include back-to-back league titles and a FAW Youth Cup triumph – just goes to show the quality of footballers that have come from Pembrokeshire in recent years.
“All across the county, there’s such a good standard of football right from grassroots, from the under-6s all the way through to senior football,” he continued. “There’s such a good standard. I’ve got lots of friends playing in the West Wales Cup final on Thursday, and some of them could easily be playing where I am if they had had a different journey, so I think with the catchment of the nearest clubs being Swansea and Cardiff professionally, I think sometimes some of the younger children are maybe overlooked when, in fact, there are some really good, fantastic footballers down this way.
“And that just proves it with how well the Development have done this year. Obviously Dan [John] has captained the side really well. So they’ve got another massive game against TNS on the weekend, hopefully they can get over the line as well and get the credit that they all deserve.”
The Ogi Bridge Meadow has been a fortress since the Bluebirds returned on New Year’s Day, with our only defeats coming to the top two sides in TNS and Penybont, while enjoying an average attendance of 790. The captain was keen to praise the support, anda believes they could be the 12th man during difficult periods of the game.
“It’s massive,” he insisted. “We can feel the difference when we do have a crowd there. It’s quite clichéd, but it does give the players that extra bit of support and extra bit of encouragement that they can go that extra stride or make that extra yard or make that tackle, take that shot.
“It’s really important, and if we can pack out the Ogi Bridge Meadow again, it’d be such a good boost for us, and also to make it difficult for the other team. That’s the advantage of having a home draw, it makes it difficult for them and gives us that extra boost.”
