By James Dow

Haverfordwest County extended their unbeaten run to three matches in the JD Cymru Premier after a 1-1 draw with early pacesetters Caernarfon Town at the Ogi Bridge Meadow on Saturday.

A first-half penalty from Ben Ahmun saw the Bluebirds take the lead against the Canaries, before Dominic Smith levelled proceedings ith 15 minutes to play.

County probably shaded a competitive first half that saw both sides have chances to take the lead before Ahmun netted from 12 yards having been brought down inside the area by defender Phil Mooney.

The visitors came out stronger in the second half and found the equaliser, securing what was ultimately a fair result.

The first chance of the half saw Luc Rees make a tremendous save to deny a close-range effort following a scramble in the box from a corner.

The visitors enjoyed more of the ball during the early stages, with two efforts from Smith and Danny Gossett unable to test Rees in the Bluebirds goal.

The Bluebirds’ first real effort came minutes later when Ben Fawcett linked up with strike partner Ahmun, who drove towards goal before his pass back to Fawcett was blocked. The ball rebounded kindly to the striker, but his effort from distance drifted just past the right post.

The Town’s best chance of the first half, aside from the goal, came in the 23rd minute when a precise through ball from Corey Shephard sent Dan Hawkins through one-on-one with Connor Roberts, but his right-footed curling effort went agonisingly wide of the right post.

Chances began to fall for the Bluebirds as they grew into the game, with Fawcett seeing a tame effort blocked before the rebound fell to Iori Humphreys, whose first-time strike from a tight angle flew over the bar.

Tony Pennock’s men also did well to restrict the visitors – who had scored 15 goals in their opening four league matches – to very few opportunities, with the only real chance of note falling to Josh Lock, whose long range strike sailed well over the bar.

Ahmun opened the scoring six minutes before half time after being brought down in the box by Mooney, sending Roberts the wrong way from the spot to net his second league goal of the season.

The Cofi’s almost produced an instant reply, but Hawkins came to the rescue with a crucial goal-line block to deny Sion Bradley’s goalbound effort from inside the area.

Just after the hour mark, the Canaries’ first big chance arrived when Lock’s cross-cum-shot forced Rees to tip the ball onto the bar, with the rebound falling to Adam Davies whose strike from a tight angle hit the right post.

Bradley continued to test the Bluebirds from set-pieces, with his 20-yard free-kick deflecting wide for a corner.

The Cofi’s pressure resulted in a goal after a Bradley corner was delivered into the box and met by Smith, who guided his header past Rees to level to scores with just over 15 minutes to play.

With a strong wind behind them, the away side had the better opportunities to find a late winner, with substitute Osebi Adadaki using good skill to create space for two powerful strikes at Rees, who made two important saves to deny the winger.

The Bluebirds held firm against late pressure from the visitors to ensure the points were shared, extending our unbeaten run against Caernarfon Town to eight matches ahead of Saturday’s visit to reigning champions The New Saints.

Haverfordwest County: Luc Rees, Iori Humphreys, Ricky Watts, Alaric Jones, Kyle McCarthy (Panashe Makwiramiti 76′), Rhys Abbruzzese, Corey Shephard, Greg Walters, Dan Hawkins, Ben Fawcett (Luc Owen 87′), Ben Ahmun (Owain Jones 87′)

Substitutes not used: Ifan Knott, Tom Shepherd,  Ashley Watkins, Will Hughes

Caernarfon Town: Connor Roberts, Morgan Owen, Phil Mooney, Dominic Smith, Matty Jones, Iwan Lewis, Danny Gosset, Sam Downey (Osebi Abadaki 63′), Sion Bradley (Connor Evans 83′), Josh Lock (Darren Thomas 83′), Adam Davies

Substitutes not used: Hari Thomas, Kyle Harrison, Osian Ellis

Highlights