According to Dave, I should start my match report by mentioning Men in Black and that device they use for altering memory, which seems as good a place as any. For this was one of those games which sets you thinking things such as "When do I wake up?" as Ryan Nicolls made the Caernarfon goalie look more than a little foolish before slotting home Aber's third late in the second half. To make matters more surreal, Aberystwyth was boiling hot, the club was waking up to its financial failings and attempting to do something about them by selling season tickets and the like and Richley was content to cruise across Wales stuck in a long
queue of traffic. The crowd for today's game didn't seem to match the figure for last season's encounter but it will probably still be the highest in the, still unsponsored, League of Wales. Aber started the day top by virtue of alphabetical listing and ended up second by virtue of Carmarthen scoring more goals, which was a bit annoying. On the field, Aber strolled through the heat to
a surprisingly easy victory over a team that challenged Barry for much of last season and only just missed out on a European place. It seems they miss Eifion Williams a little more than most people thought they would. Their attacks lacked direction and K was never really threatened in the Aber goal. Aber's passing and movement were sound and the alterations in playing positions, notably Wyn Thomas in the defence, seemed to work. Nicholls is now the captain and he shouts more than Griff ever did, so he'll probably enjoy his new role.
Caernarfon, wearing their Norwich style colours instead of that claret and blue mess, were permanently offside and the game grew slightly ill tempered as they failed to get back into the match following two well executed first half goals from Gavin Allen. The drunken gogleddwyr behind us, the only people in the ground speaking loudly in Welsh, also got more annoyed as the game progressed but I don't think they could see too clearly what was going on anyway, as they spent most of the match slouched on the grass bank opposite Nark's looking bewildered.
So, Aber get off to a winning start, which should shock them into a total defeat by Inter CableTel on Wednesday whereas Caernarfon are going to need something more than a kick up the backside if they are to avoid results like this becoming commonplace.
