Carmarthen Town

3rd October 2000: Welsh Premier Cup Group A

Wrexham Triumph in Downpour

In conditions which made avoiding a disaster more pressing than turning on the style, Wrexham put up a professional performance to conquer an in-form Carmarthan Town and claim the £1,500 prize money for three points which makes such dour evenings worthwhile.

The howling gales and heavy rain made conditions a lottery from the start, and the teams were to be congratulated for trying to play as much football as they did. However, as the match wore on, life got harder and the second half offered little to inspire BBC Wales viewers to pen letters of gratitiude for this use of their licence fee. The effects of the weather were apparent immediately when an attempt by Darren Ferguson to drift a corner to the far post went straight out for a goal kick before it reached the goal, and soon after he swung another corner in which looped across the face of goal before the goalkeeper Fitzgerald scrambled it behind. Even more strange was a comical second half incident when Kevin Dearden came ten yards out to launch a clearance down the right wing only to see it arc back for a throw in level with the edge of the area on the other wing! Conditions were reminiscent of a Welsh Cup tie against Bridgend in the 1980s, played the night after a gale had ripped a strip off the Kop roof, when Dai Davies had to save one of his own throws as he threw it into the teeth of the wind! On that occasion, having played into the storm in the first half and emerged only 1-0 up, Wrexham returned with the conditions in their favour and ran out 8-0 winners. The gusts were more egalitarian this time, though, favouring neither team in any sense.

In the conditions, well-placed set-pieces were likely to cause confusion in the box, and Wrexham forced a procession of corners in the first half from which they hoped to capitalise. It was from one of them that they took the lead. A short corner was worked to Ferguson on the edge of the area, and his fierce drive was diverted in by Craig Faulconbridge, making his first entry into the free-for-all for the £10,000 top scorer’s prize won last season by Andy Morrell. Both Faulconbridge and Chris Killen, making a last appearance before returning to Maine Road, ought to have doubled the lead just before half time after Faulconbridge had won a corner in bizarre circumstances, turning the keeper as he chased a loose defensive header only to find that the linesman had dubiously adjudged the ball to have gone out in the process. From the corner, Killen struck a close range shot which Fitzgerald saved well low to his right, and Faulconbridge lashed the rebound over. It was not the only key save which the portly keeper was to make, starting with a great one-handed reflex stop after Paul Barrett had driven a shot from 25 yards which took a nasty deflection, and when he was beaten Walker was on hand to clear a Faulconbridge header off the line from Martyn Chalk’s corner.

Carmarthen had sporadic moments of hope, but their respectful approach, fielding one man up front until the 73rd minute, limited the threat they could present. However, that lone striker, Nicholls, led the line manfully and drew two good saves from Dearden, turning and hitting a shot from ten yards which was blocked sharply by the keeper’s left boot and capping a terrific run in the first forty seconds of the second half with a shot from the edge of the area which was saved well to Dearden’s right.

The second half was scrappy, with Town more willing to rely on the physical side of their game and fortunate a lenient referee only produced two yellow cards. Carlos Edwards, looking singularly uncomfortable all through the match, came in for particularly harsh treatment, being fouled by Rees whenever he received the ball. Most of the opportunities which were carved out fell to Wrexham, with Mark McGregor prominent as he relished a rare return to his usual right back position. He fed a Faulconbridge run into the channel which resulted in another sharp stop by the keeper, then worked a 1-2 with Gareth Owen which sent him clear only for him to lose his nerve and his footing as Fitzgerald advanced, the ball trickling weakly wide as an unlikely joint lead in the top scorers contest beckoned. Owen, on for Barrett, almost scored himself when a well worked free kick saw Faulconbridge’s first time lay-off struck immediately just wide by the Welshman.

With Faulconbridge denied two more times by Fitzgerald and a terrific interception by O’Brien, the scoreline remained 1-0, although Owen prevented a last minute surge by Carmarthen with a cynical foul on Davies which halted a dangerous break. Victory was earned by virtue of a solid, professional performance, with some positive points emerging from the exercise: Emad Bouanane showed great appetite for the scrap once more, going forward with purpose and continuing to show pace and strength, if a lack of polish, at the back; Faulconbridge’s industry was capped by his first goal since the victory at Bury; and Adrian Moody made a sound debut in trying conditions, looking solid in the air and sensible on the floor. However, the real plus point was undoubtedly the prize money!

CARMARTHEN TOWN (4-5-1): Fitzgerald; Rees, O’Brien, Barnhouse (c), Jones; Meredith (Williams 87), Rossiter (Parker 73), Thomas, Walker, Evans (Davies 80); Nicholls.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Dearden; McGregor, Ridler, Moody, Bouanane; Ferguson (c), Barrett (Owen 62), Chalk; Edwards, Faulconbridge, Killen.

Referee: Ceri Richards (Llangennech)

Bookings:
Carmarthen	Wrexham
Rees (Foul on Chalk, 56)	Chalk (Foul on Meredith, 70)
Jones (Foul on McGregor, 76)	Owen (Foul on Davies, 90)

Attendance: 998

FAW Premier Cup 2000-1

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