Cymru Premier: Pennock left frustrated as Bluebirds let it slip
Honours ended even at Bridge Meadow Stadium as visiting Caernarfon Town hit back twice to draw 2-2 with Haverfordwest County in the Cymru Premier Play-Off Conference.
Goals in each half by Jack Wilson and substitute Kyle Patten had twice put the Bluebirds ahead, but the Canaries levelled through Gruffydd Williams and an own goal by Jordan Davies to secure a point.
The result was enough to keep the Bluebirds three points clear in the race for the play-offs, with four games to go, ahead of this weekend's trip to face Flint Town United.
"It's a point closer to where we want to be, but to be ahead twice then concede from two set-pieces is extremely frustrating," said manager Tony Pennock after the game.
"We had a lot of the ball, but Caernarfon were well-organised out of possession and at times they were very dangerous on the counter-attack. We dealt with that better in the second half than we did in the first half.
"I thought we had enough chances to win the game, we got balls into dangerous positions in their area, but it wouldn't fall for us today, or we didn't get on the end of it.
"We're still in seventh place, it's a point more than we had at the start of the game, but two lapses in concentration have cost us two points today.
"We've got four big games to come, all we can do is keep looking after ourselves and give the best account of ourselves, and if we do that and take our chances things will be fine."
Gêm gyfartal rhwng Hwlffordd a Caernarfon 🤝@HaverfordwestFC 2-2 @CaernarfonTown #JDCymruPremier 🏴 pic.twitter.com/4WgXk63QBi
— Sgorio ⚽️ (@sgorio) March 25, 2023
Early chances had seen Robert Hughes fire wide from the edge of the box for the visitors, and Jordan Davies had a shot blocked by keeper Joshua Tibbetts for County.
The breakthrough arrived in the 12th minute when Jamie Veale’s brilliant crossfield pass was controlled beautifully by Jack Wilson, who took a superb first touch before firing home.
Within a couple of minutes the Canaries were back on level terms, however, as Gruffydd John was allowed space to crash home the equaliser from a corner.
Dan Hawkins and Jordan Davies both missed chances, but on the half hour mark, Jazz Richards left the field with a leg injury, and was replaced in the defence by Kyle Patten.
The hosts regained the lead in the 71st minute from a well worked short corner which saw Wilson set up Patten to score from close range.
But again the Bluebirds let it slip within a couple of minutes as a long throw-in in the Bluebirds’ box saw Jordan Davies glance a header into his own net.
The striker also headed wide at the other end late on, before the visitors were reduced to ten men as Darren Thomas was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle on Rhys Abbruzzese.
HAVERFORDWEST: Zac Jones, Jazz Richards (30’ Kyle Patten), Rhys Abbruzzese, Dylan Rees (Captain), Lee Jenkins, Henry Jones (76’ Corey Shephard), Oscar Borg (65’ Ioan Evans), Jamie Veale, Jordan Davies, Jack Wilson, Daniel Hawkins. Substitutes not used: Lee Idzi, Iori Humphreys, Elliott Dugan, Harri John.
CAERNARFON: Joshua Tibbetts, Iwan Cartwright, Gruffydd Williams, Dion Donohue (Captain), Sion Bradley, Daniel Gosset, Darren Thomas, Robert Hughes (78’ Cai Powell), Ben Wynne, Josef Faux (83’ Cai Griffith), Rhys Williams (64’ Thomas Hughes-Marsh). Substitutes not used: Ryan Woods, Caio Evans, Fabrizio Murtas.
OFFICIALS: Referee: David Morgan. Assistants: Lewiss Edwards & Matthew Johnson. Fourth Official: Tom Bevan.