JD Welsh Cup Round 2 - Fantastic night at Central Park

Despite the result, Denbigh came away winners, having footage of the renovated Central Park broadcast the length and breadth of the World, with spectators, including our own Chairman, Shaun Powell following the coverage provided by Sgorio from distant lands. A crowd in excess of 600 turned up for our first home match since January 2020 and were not disappointed, with the new surface in pristine condition, Malcolm Allen stating that there is 'no better pitch in the Welsh Prem'.

The Denbigh Town team were escorted onto the pitch by mascots from the Under 9s team, all kitted out in Denbigh Red.

An impeccable minute's silence was held in memory of club stalwarts Will Jones and Andre Grief who sadly passed away this year.

Town started brightly with a Kristian Pierce effort from 25 yards just inches over the cross-bar after 7 minutes. Caernarfon soon settled into their stride and went ahead after nine minutes following some neat work down the left from Rob Hughes who found Cai Jones unmarked in the box to slot home into an empty net.

This somehow took away the nerves from Denbigh's play and after 22 minutes an audacious Lee Davey volley with the outside of his right boot from fully 35 yards was inches away from drawing the home side level. This was the wake up call Caernarfon needed, and following a string of missed opportunities, on 36 minutes, they went further ahead with Cartwright climbing unmarked to head home a Hughes corner.

Hughes was a constant menace down the left hand side and on 43 minutes got his just reward with a well taken shot low passed the diving Griffiths to send Caernarfon in at the break with a three goal cushion.

During the half-time interval, Simon Newport was on hand to present Mark Roberts with his award for 'Player of the Round' for his exploits against Rhuddlan Town in the Second Qualifying Round of the JD Welsh Cup.

The second half was a much more even contest, with chances few and far between. On 63 minutes Dewi Llion made some changes bringing on Jake Walker and Mark 'Robbo' Roberts into the attack replacing Leigh Craven and Jacob Barratt.

The change brought almost impact, when on 67 minutes a Roberts cross found Davey at the far post, but he could only direct his header straight at French in the Canaries goal. On 70 minutes, a final throw of the dice saw Sam Tate replace the hobbling Kristian Pierce, and within a few minutes Tate was in the thick of the action, setting up Lee Davey to fire just over on 77 minutes.

Denbigh were now knocking on the Cofi door, when on 80 minutes, some lovely play from Denbigh saw Paul Fleming cut inside from the right, finding Roberts whose cheeky back-heel setup Will Ashley whose fine effort went just over the bar. Somewhat against the run of play, Hughes made Denbigh pay on 83 minutes, cutting in from the right to coolly slot home and finally put the tie to bed.

Denbigh almost grabbed a late consolation, when on 88 minutes Mark Roberts broke down the right, finding Walker in the centre with a pinpoint cross, who headed past the stranded keeper French, only to see his effort cleared off the line by the impressive Donohue at the heart of the Caernarfon defence.

Caernarfon ran out comfortable 4-0 winners in the end, but the Denbigh team can hold their heads up high following a battling performance against a very talented young side from the Cymru Leagues. It was an occasion that the Town turned out for in their droves and a fitting start to life at the newly renovated Central Park.

Denbigh Town FC
Joe Griffith, Mattew Morris, Mike Sharples, Moses Barnett, Billy Holmes, Paul Fleming (Capt), Kristian Pierce, Will Ashley, Leigh Craven, Jacob Barratt, Lee Davey.

Subs: Mark Roberts, Sam Jones, Jacob Walker, Sam Tate, Sion Jones

CPD Caernarfon Town FC
Tyler French, Iwan Cartwright, Joshua Bailey, Gruffydd Williams, Dion Donohue, Daniel Gosset, Darren Thomas, Robert Hughes, Noah Edwards, Cai Jones, Bobby Beaumont-Broadhead

Subs: Steven Evans, Michael Hayes, Ryan Williams, Caio Evans, Gwion Dafydd

Referee - Aaron Wyn Jones
1st Assistant Referee - Andy Harris
2nd Assistant Referee - Connor Fowler

Fourth Official - Simon Evans

Attendance : 604