Manager Tony Pennock said he was content to take a point from our visit to Colwyn Bay yesterday, as the Bluebirds extended their unbeaten run to three matches in the JD Cymru Premier Playoff Conference.
In a game where clear-cut opportunities were hard to come by, the draw was a fair result, however County could have returned south with all three points had Kai Whitmore’s goal not been ruled out for offside.
The result saw the Town maintain top spot in the Playoff Conference ahead of a crucial clash with Penybont at the Ogi Bridge Meadow next Friday.
Here’s what he had to say in full after the game:
On the result
“It was tough today, Tom. The pitch wasn’t great, the conditions were tough for both teams and at half time we just said the least we walk away with today is a point and a clean sheet and, in fairness, I thought second half we were far better than we were first. So I’ll take that, I’ll take a point away from home.”
On the performance
“First half, we found it hard to adapt to the conditions, and they were better than us. Colwyn Bay had better chances and they looked more of a threat than we did. Although in saying that, we had a few opportunities first half that we didn’t test the keeper with.
“But second half we made things tougher for them. We got higher up the pitch and we did create a few chances. But again, a clean sheet on the road is something that we’ve been striving for for some time. That’s three games unbeaten and we look forward to a really big game on Friday night.”
On the changes to the side
“I said a few weeks ago that this is the biggest squad available that I’ve had since I’ve been at the club. Wattsy has played a lot of games, Dan Hawkins has played a lot of games. I wanted to give them a bit of a rest today and give others an opportunity because they’re fit and fresh, but unfortunately Willy came off early with an injury. Dan is fit and ready to go, so Dan came on for him, and Macca was ill. He felt ill before the game and he was ill during the game, so Macca came off half time and Wattsy slipped straight in then.
“So when we’ve got a full squad, or as many available as we have at the moment, there are going to be changes to the team. It’s something that will help us in the long run because we know we’ve got six tough games left.”
On the battle in the bottom six
“Everyone can beat each other in the bottom six. We’ve seen that ourselves this season. We’ve had three tough games against Colwyn Bay already this season. Aber, Ponty, Barry and Penybont, we know how tough it is. We’re all striving for that seventh place and all we can do is keep clean sheets and try and pick up three points in our next game, and we’ll prepare for a very tough game on Friday night.”
On next week’s challenge
“Every game is tough, and Penybont are no different. Penybont are a very good side. They played in Europe last year, they’ve been a top team in this division for a number of years, and we know how tough it’s going to be. However, we’re at home, we’ve got six games left and four of them are at home, which is big for us.
“We know what a tough fight it’s going to be. We’ll work extremely hard this week in preparation for that game and, hopefully, we put in a good performance and have a big crowd there on Friday night.”
(Featured image: Damon Mead)