Pontin's, Kwik Save... and Bastion Gardens

EvilDave · March 2, 2015

It was never going to be the dream job, but it was a good one, and one I’d have been foolish not to have taken. Short of hoping beyond hope that my beloved Dragons would come running to a non-league nobody, getting a foot in the door of the Welsh top flight would be as good as it got.

Looking at the other posts out there – and there were a couple that I considered moving for – Prestatyn Town were the obvious option. Established in the division after a couple of years in the Premier League, and with European football to boot on the back of an unlikely Welsh Cup win the previous season, the board were nevertheless keen to hang on to top flight status. You can hardly blame them either – I’ve played in the Cymru Alliance myself, and wouldn’t wish it on anybody.

How did I get the job? Well, from what I understand there weren’t too many candidates, which is little surprise really as the football up in North Wales is not spoken of in the highest regard. A club trying to punch above its weight against corporate giants, big cities and the glamour of the English Premier League in the south of the country, Prestatyn relies as much on dads from the nearby holiday park paying a curious visit as much as any loyal support. As a semi-professional outfit, it was never going to attract José Mourinho.

With that in mind, my CV looked very respectable. A modest playing career spent mostly at my hometown club Blaenau Ffestiniog Amateurs, interspersed with a couple of years in the reserves of Newport County and a season or three on Anglesey with Holyhead Hotspurs, followed by a rapid progression through the coaching ranks at Blaenau. From there I’d taken Abertillery Bluebirds to within a whisker of the top division before my old friends at Newport wanted me for the youth squad. There were no titles to speak of, no obvious trajectory to world domination, but for a lad from North Wales it wasn’t all bad.

When the chairman, Chris Tipping, asked what else I’d do to supplement the £250 per week the club was offering, I told him I wouldn’t need to. The players and staff might be part-time, but I was able to give the role every spare hour I could find. I’d been lucky like that – not long after we’d married, Rachel landed a directorship at a local recruitment firm, and while we were hardly millionaires it set us up comfortably. She could work from home, I could focus on the football – I’ve known worse marriages in my time.

The rest of the interview went as I’d expected – the perks of living with a recruiter – and my vision seemed to do the trick. Overhaul the aging first team, bring in as much young Welsh talent as possible and watch the squad grow together. Mr Tipping wanted survival, I told him we could finish the right side of the mid-season split, and he liked the ambition. He also liked it when I told him I dreamed of overhauling TNS at the top of the Welsh game.

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Welcome to another EvilDave story, this time running on FM14 with just the Welsh league active and English pyramid of view-only. Enjoy!

neilhoskins77 · March 2, 2015

Looking forward to this one EvilDave. Hopefully you can overhaul the status quo at the top of the WPL in a few seasons time. Best of luck fella.

tenthreeleader · March 2, 2015

Good luck with the save and your story, ED!

EvilDave · March 3, 2015

Many thanks for the kind words of encouragement folks! Neil - I'm a couple of seasons down the line, and it's one heck of a status quo isn't it?! Wales certainly has its own challenges...

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Ah, TNS. They may well be my least favourite letters in the alphabet. The New Saints, or Total Network Solutions to a slightly older generation, are the only professional football club in the Welsh system, and accordingly possess a competitive advantage which would be outlawed in any other industry. Not only can they offer full-time wages to make my semi-professional charges weak at the knees, they also play their home games in England, somehow qualifying for Welsh competition from the border town of Oswestry.

As you might expect, more often than not they run away with the league title, claiming the sole Welsh spot in the Champions League, getting beaten by a group of Eastern European no-marks in the qualifiers and pocketing the hundreds of thousands of pounds in prize money. As long as they keep getting UEFA’s money, the gap between TNS and everybody else will continue to grow, and there’s little we can do about it.

There is a slim chance, however, and it relies on everything going perfectly according to a plan not yet devised. Win the league, and take their Champions League spot from them. Force them to spend a year slumming it in the Europa League, watch as their spiralling wage costs are too much for their reduced income, and pounce to claim domination of the domestic game.

Of course, such a vision is a pipedream at this stage – we have the smallest wage bill in the Premier League, a squad in need of reconstructive surgery, and little chance of beating Dinamo Minsk in our own qualifier, just days after the players I hope to release return from their fortnight in Lanzarote. But the beating we will undoubtedly take – particularly as UEFA have seen fit to give us just two days between the two legs – will swell the coffers with a token participants’ reward, and set us on the way to a somewhat healthier bank balance to fund our future efforts. The chairman seemed to like that idea as well.

Even so, I fear I may be fighting a lonely battle when it comes to the enemy across the border. As I developed as a coach, seeing TNS defeat all before them from their English outpost hurt even more than seeing my favoured Wrexham decide to keep competing in the English leagues when the FAW launched their own elite competition. To see the country’s footballing resources – its money, its talent and its plaudits – sucked across the border to Oswestry pains me greatly, and if we one day manage to get the better of them, I will have no hesitation in kicking them when they’re down.

neilhoskins77 · March 3, 2015

It's a huge advantage that they hold, being the only pro club competing in the Welsh system. I remember when they started as little Llansantffraid, then this sponsorship started, the name changed etc, and they have been blowing everyone else away ever since. Over the years, many challengers have taken them on, and often caused themselves issues by trying, and ultimately, failing, to compete with TNS. Bangor City, Newtown, Llanelli, Rhyl......they have all given it a go.

Hairycull · March 3, 2015

I have never tried a welsh save in FM, so im looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds.

EvilDave · March 4, 2015

Thanks Hairycull, it's my first time in Wales as well so I'm very much learning as I'm playing! Neil - I've come to seriously dislike TNS is a pretty short space of time, I can't imagine how anyone could beat them regularly IRL. Hopefully I can do something about it on FM!

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Before I could even pester a local amateur side to come along for a friendly, we found ourselves thrust into Europa League action against Dinamo Minsk. On the plus side I don’t suppose they’d managed to do a great deal of scouting ahead of the match, but equally we didn’t have too many experts on football in Belarus to turn to for advice. Scouring the internet, I got that they were a decent enough outfit, weren’t quite the side they were in the heyday of the Soviet Union, and were a poor second to BATE Borisov on the domestic front. Nothing that would really help us a great deal, then.

Still, we welcomed them with open arms to Belle Vue – which is actually the home of our close rivals Rhyl, their stadium being far better equipped for the rigours of the continental game than our own Bastion Gardens. Having a bigger, more modern stadium was on my mental to-do list, but it was very much secondary to winning football matches and beating the traitors at TNS.

We had a decent crowd in – filling around three quarters of the 1,720 seats – and thankfully our ticket office had done a good job of making sure none of the gang from Rhyl managed to infiltrate on behalf of our opponents. After a dull first half hour, in which our counter-attacking tactic fell foul of the fact Dinamo weren’t really attacking, we took a miraculous lead, English striker Lee Hunt getting above his man to turn in a good cross from Jamie Price out on the left wing. That was how it stayed to the break, and all of a sudden we were 45 minutes from springing a surprise.

Unsurprisingly, our Eastern European opponents didn’t take too kindly to the idea of being embarrassed by a bunch of part-timers from Wales, and so four minutes after the break decided to do something about it with a well-worked equaliser. We barely got out of our half after that, and in the end the inevitable came, a second goal for Dinamo with 20 minutes to go putting them firmly in the driving seat ahead of the return leg in two days’ time. Still, we hadn’t disgraced ourselves, and it looked like we had a couple of decent players at least.

Playing in Minsk in 32 degree heat – who knew summer was so hot in Belarus? – we knew we had an uphill battle on our hands. We not only had to win, but make sure we scored at least two in the process thanks to the pesky away goals rule that seems to have stifled European competition. By the time we got on the scoresheet, Hunt again finding the target on our behalf, our hosts had already extended their aggregate lead and were as good as through. In the second half they scored twice more to add a touch of gloss to the overall scoreline, and took their rightful spot in the second round of qualifying. As for us, we took away little but a consolation cash prize and a late-night Aeroflot flight out of the Belarusian capital.

Still, we hadn’t disgraced ourselves, Hunt had proved himself a decent goalscorer even against far more talented defenders, and we had a bit of money to play with. Of course, there was no guarantee I could tempt anyone to Prestatyn with the fact we hadn’t been thrashed by the Belarusian Cup winners, and even if I could, there would have be cuts to accommodate them on the payroll. Before the league began, there would be a cull of incredible proportions.

EvilDave · March 6, 2015

Such was the scale of the overhaul that we even made the back page of the Rhyl Journal two weeks running – over the course of just a few weeks I brought in around 25 players and got rid of even more, so that by the time we lined up against Bala Town on the opening day of the season, it was a very different Prestatyn Town to the one which had taken the field in Belarus. Given that the paper rarely features anything other than our rivals and the local rugby scene, we were certainly grabbing attention.

Of the players to leave, there weren’t too many who I had any qualms about letting go. Neil Gibson was one such man, but as the fans’ favourite to take a player/manager role full-time, he didn’t feel he could continue to contribute without that nagging feeling that he should be in my seat. I wasn’t going to argue, and while he could still do a job, the fact he ended up at lower-league Porthmadog rather than one of our WPL rivals told me he could definitely be replaced.

Another man out the door with a hint of regret was centre-back Tommy Holmes, who forged a career in these parts with the enemy at TNS before joining Airbus and then arriving at Bastion Gardens. A decent centre-back by all accounts, but he was after far too much money to extend his stay beyond the current season and was happy enough to take his severance when given the chance. Fellow Englishman Sean Hessey did the same, ending his non-contract terms, when I asked him to play second fiddle to a younger Welshman. His loss.

The final Englishman to depart – and please, don’t think this was some sort of ethnic cleansing process, Andy Parkinson stayed on with us – was none other than Lee Hunt. So far he’d scored the only competitive goals of my brief tenure, but he was also the highest-paid player in the squad and unwilling to negotiate. I wanted younger, cheaper talent to give us strength in depth, and after a long discussion with the chairman, we made the decision to buy Hunt out of his contract. It left us looking very thin on the ground when added to the raft of other departures, but I had plans.

On day one of my contract, I’d made the call to Luke Button, an old friend of mine from the Holyhead days, to sound him out about moving to Denbighshire and doing some scouting for us. He was more than happy to get out of Anglesey, and recommended a couple of other scouts that would be able to help him out. By the end of my first week, I had a long list of players who would not only improve the quality in the Prestatyn squad, but far surpass it. With money tight and the only strikers left still at the local college, I hoped they were right.

EvilDave · March 9, 2015

Looking at the type of clubs our proposed targets were currently playing for, I at least knew Luke and his mates were being serious – not one of the names on the list played for a Premier League outfit regularly, and only a handful were even on the books of a top flight side. Make no mistake, we were dealing with the cast-offs, the unfortunate, the injured and the troublemakers. My list was made up of players who had either never been given a chance, hadn’t taken the one they’d had, or didn’t have the attitude to earn a second one. The latter group I tried to eliminate as quickly as possible.

Nevertheless, because of their lowly status, it proved relatively easy to convince them to come to Prestatyn in their droves – as I said, somewhere between 20 and 30 new faces rocked up at Bastion Gardens before our first league match, so a significant part of the first training sessions was spent doing the basics – learning everyone’s name, remembering who played in which position, and generating something resembling a team spirit. I won’t bore you with the intricacies of everyone that has come on board – after all, some of them barely played for us - but the spine of the team was something worth mentioning.

Between the sticks, I placed my faith in young Rhys Wilson. At just 21, the lad had already gone through the difficult situation of being told he wouldn’t make it at Swansea, and had moved steadily down the pyramid, heading to Carmarthen before finding himself at Taff’s Well in the second tier. Hardly a club anyone dreams of playing for, but then neither is Prestatyn. Rhys was raw, there was no doubt about it – his kicking from hand was atrocious at times, and set-pieces were a bit of an issue – but he had enough talent to do a job for us, and looked like a good shot-stopper. With little in the way of backup, the job was his to lose.

In front of him, marshalling the defence, would be giant centre-back Martin Edwards. Now at the other end of his career and the wrong side of 30, there were few clubs in Wales that Martin hadn’t played for at one time of another. He may have lacked a yard of pace, but he was unbeatable in the air and willing to put his body on the line to keep the ball out of our net. With youngsters like Wilson all around him, his experience would come in handy.

In midfield, all our creative hopes rested on the youthful shoulders of Elliot Scotcher. He’d been probably the most difficult signing of them all, and I was hoping he was worth it. Only a couple of months on from his 20^th birthday, Elliot was still studying sports science at Cardiff Metropolitan University, turning out for the university side in Division One. He had a year of his course to go, and was loath to leave the big city for quiet little Denbighshire, but after a private word with the dean of his faculty, the university allowed him to watch his lectures via video-link and still head south to take his exams – he was used to the travelling after all, having been picked for Wales under-17s early in his career. With his range of passing and accuracy from dead balls, we just had to hope his exams didn’t clash with any of our matchdays.

Last, but by no means least, was Josh Knight. Instantly identifiable as captaincy material from his natural confidence and strong character, Josh had come through the academy across the border at West Bromwich Albion, only to be let go and never given a chance in the first team. From there he moved to Port Talbot, getting a grand total of 12 minutes on the pitch, before joining local side Aberdare Town as their star striker. Good in the air with an eye for goal and youth on his side, 22-year-old Josh would lead the line in our 4-4-2 formation. If he didn’t score, chances are we’d be in trouble.

That wasn’t everyone of course – I could mention Josh’s strike partner Craig Frater, left winger Sam Hart who we stole from league rivals Airbus, Scotcher’s teenage midfield companion Cullen Kinsella, schoolboy cap and strong defender Kyle Graves, or even a couple of the players I decided to retain, right-back Chris Davies and veteran midfielder Andy Parkinson, whose past clubs include sides as varied as Sheffield United and Grimsby Town. They would all need to contribute for us to have a successful season, and by the time it came to lining up against Bala for the season opener, I was confident of a decent campaign. For the sake of my job, we needed one.

EvilDave · March 11, 2015

In the meantime, of course, we had a whole bunch of friendly fixtures to be played to try and get my new charges up to something resembling match fit for the big kick-off. Ignoring the two games against Dinamo Minsk – very few of the players from those games were retained – I had a new squad which had only ever played together in training, and that was something that needed fixing.

First up was something of a ‘glamour’ tie against Championship side Bristol City. They might not be the biggest team in the world, but they were happy enough to cross the Severn for a small fee, and the draw of a professional team from the English system seemed to go down well with the locals, pulling in a bit of a bumper crowd. As in Europe, we gave an obviously superior side a decent game, eventually going down 0-2 and wondering what might have been had Frater’s early shot wound up a couple of inches left of the goalpost rather than on the outside of it.

From then on, it was all about fitness levels and teamwork, particularly now everybody knew who their team-mates were. I’d arranged something of a tour of North Wales, taking in a variety of local lower league sides including a trip to my old friends at Holyhead. The players seemed to enjoy the trip to Anglesey, and it was nice to show my old colleagues that I was making progress by walking off with a comfortable 4-1 win.

The remainder of our friendlies took in a wide range of smaller clubs – ranging from Y Glannau, who held us to a 1-1 draw, to the excellently-named Flint Mountain, who fell to a 3-1 defeat. Our lack of clean sheets was somewhat worrying, but with our attack seemingly firing on all cylinders – netting five against Caerwys and four on my return to Blaenau Ffestiniog – I was pleased with how quickly my new signings seemed to have gelled.

Of the nine games we played, there were only two real blemishes on the record – the first a disappointing 0-1 reverse at our neighbours Prestatyn Rovers, when nothing would go in and they somehow scored with their only attack of the game, and a defeat by the same scoreline to our own youth team in our final warm-up fixture. We played it behind closed doors – probably for the best as I can’t imagine the Rhyl Journal would have missed the chance to give us a kicking for losing to our own kids – but in truth some of the senior lads weren’t taking it all that seriously, seemingly more intent on trying new tricks and embarrassing the youngsters than putting the ball in the net. Yes, it was fun and games, but I reminded them they’d have to be an awful lot better to beat Bala in the Premier League.

EvilDave · March 12, 2015

Travelling to Bala, I had to come up with a team ready to take on one of the sides expected to be up competing for European qualification – which, in the Welsh leagues, effectively means finishing in the top half. I was happy with my choice of signings, but picking an 18 for a competitive fixture seemed somewhat more daunting.

In the end, and with help from my erstwhile assistant Gary Powell, I came up with the names that would start our opening league fixture. With Wilson in goal, Davies and Jack Lewis on the right and left of Edwards and Graves in defence, a midfield pair of Scotcher and Waters flanked by Jamie Price on the left and Parkinson on the right, and the hopefully deadly duo of Knight and Frater up front, I felt we had a balanced side ready to give our hosts a game. While Davies would rotate with Lee Owens and Price with Sam Hart over the course of the year, by the time we arrived I was fairly settled on my first team.

After shaking hands with my opposite number, the long-serving Colin Caton, I took my place in the blustery dugout for what would be one of the dullest 45 minutes of the season. Both sides had a single shot on goal in the first half – Frater having the dubious honour of our first attempt of the season – and while both were technically ‘on target,’ neither was troubling the pair of rather bored-looking goalkeepers.

In the second half everything changed, and quickly. We won the ball out on the right, Parkinson beat his man to whip a decent ball in, and after the defenders allowed the ball to bounce it was Frater who reacted quickest to give us the lead. I wanted the lads to keep their heads, but it was futile – five minutes later we gave them a silly free kick, and former Sunderland, Doncaster and Leyton Orient stalwart Sean Thornton stepped up to beat Wilson from 25 yards with a sweet strike.

With that, we conceded the momentum, and with a few hundred fans cheering them on, the Lakesiders grabbed the winner despite the game slowing down with substitutions, Crewe Alexandra veteran Kenny Lunt belying his 35 years with an accurate drive from the edge of the box to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage. Fifteen minutes later, the referee lifted his whistle to his lips and we’d been beaten fair and square, but encouraged by a performance enough to trouble the vast majority of Premier League sides.

“Good luck,” were Caton’s considerate words over a post-match pint, “you’ll need it next week.” He had good reason– our first home game of 2014 saw us welcome none other than TNS to Bastion Gardens, and if the bookies were anything to go by, we were in for a pasting.

EvilDave · March 16, 2015

After defeat at Maes Tegid to Bala, the chance to return home in the league was a welcome one. While Bastion Gardens could not possibly be described as a fortress, or boast state-of-the-art facilities, it was nevertheless our home, filled (at least partially) by our fans, and would provide a welcome respite over the course of the season from travelling the length and breadth of Wales.

For visitors TNS, of course, they included England in their travels, having to trek across several miles of border country for each away game. Under new manager Neil Ardley, perhaps best remembered for his playing exploits with the original Wimbledon before they sold their soul down the river to Milton Keynes, they had been knocked out of Europe by Cliftonville over two legs, and had surprised many by being held to a goalless draw by Port Talbot on the opening day of the season. Still, they were huge favourites to hand us a second defeat.

For all TNS’ professional status, English home and record of success, there is an underlying arrogance which makes the whole package deeply unpleasant. My own thoughts on the club are well-known, and my prejudices were justified when Ardley neglected my offer of a pre-match handshake, turning to ask his assistant who I was before tutting at ‘the state of the dugout.’ I had better things to be worrying about – including letting Jamie Price know that Sam Hart would be taking his place on the left wing – but if my opposite number had wanted to anger me, he had done it well.

Truth be told, I barely remember what I said to my men in the dressing room before kick-off, and for the sake of the censors it’s probably for the best. Raging with indignation at Ardley’s arrogant snub, I made sure the players – most of whom had been working with me for a month or less – knew that this was more than just a football match, and a chance to get one over the traitors from Oswestry. My rallying cry was met with a mixture of confusion and self-belief, but deep down I didn’t think anyone expected us to beat the professional.

Yet, as we sat tight in the first half, dropping off the TNS midfield and harassing their New Zealand international forward Greg Draper any time the ball came near him, we started to believe. For all their possession – and there was a lot of it – they weren’t hurting us, and Ardley’s frustrated shouts from the dugout next door were music to my ears. At half time, we were level, and I was delighted with a point.

We wouldn’t get a point, however – we would get three, and they would come from a source that would slap TNS all the way across the border. Sitting the deeper of our two central midfielders was Darius Waters, an understated character for whom Prestatyn was clearly his last chance in football, and he would prove the unlikely hero. After the opposition goalkeeper’s clearance bounced free following a schoolboy-style melee in midfield, it was Waters who collected it 40 yards from goal. The 19-year-old who Wigan released before his 17^th birthday calmly laid it off and kept on running, before receiving a return ball 25 yards out. The boy who failed to make a single appearance at lowly Port Talbot weighed up his options, and again played an easy ball. In came the cross from wide, and the youngster, picked up off the footballing scrapheap of Briton Ferry in Welsh Division Two got there first, shooting home at the near post in the 72^nd minute. TNS had no answer, and at the final whistle my fists pumped wildly at the heavens – we’d done it.

This time, Ardley felt he had no choice but to shake my hand, but returned my offer of a post-match tipple with a choice expletive or three. His arrogance, his inability to accept defeat, his ridiculous statement to the media about the ‘brutality’ of our high pressing game – they all served to prove to me that TNS were professional in name alone. For now, the glory was all ours, and we had won the first battle of a lengthy war.

neilhoskins77 · March 16, 2015

Brilliant! An early season win over the pro's is a great step forward. Well done EvilDave!

tenthreeleader · March 16, 2015

Nicely done, with your usual sharp match-writing. And yeah, beating the big dogs is always fun!

EvilDave · March 18, 2015

Thank you for the kind words chaps, I'm having a lot of fun with this one. I'd love to say the TNS game was perfectly planned, but I think 'beginner's luck' may have played its part!

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If anyone had told me that the win over TNS would be the first of six in a row, I wouldn’t have believed you. After all, we were Prestatyn Town, lucky holders of the Welsh Cup and predicted by all in the know to spend our season battling relegation. Even as the team’s manager, I had hopes of a finish in the top six (and therefore another shot at European qualification), but to be up there at the business end of the table after seven games was nothing short of a miracle.

Our run was no fluke either, and a testimony to the talents of our front two. We travelled to local rivals Bangor City where Craig Frater bagged the only goal five minutes from the end, and the next week away in Aberystwyth he put the gloss on a 3-0 win that was sealed in the first half by a brace from Josh Knight. The latter grabbed the decisive goal in an end-to-end 3-2 win over Connah’s Quay back at home, and the next week three goals in 10 minutes – one each from my in-form strikers and a Jamie Price penalty – saw us come back from the dead to beat Carmarthen at Bastion Gardens.

It was Knight who was the hero in our next game, his brace seeing off visiting Airbus, and when we travelled to Newtown for our first away game in four, it was a major surprise to see the 90 minutes pass without a goal. Still, the draw showed just how far we had come – Newtown were another team predicted to struggle at the wrong end of the table, and while they were performing in line with expectations, people were talking about us as surprise title challengers.

As if to heap the pressure on ourselves, we recovered from the Newtown setback by knocking Bangor out of the League Cup, much to the delight of our hardcore supporters, and following it up with another win, this time over Port Talbot at home. By this time TNS had started to get their act together, and the following week just our second defeat of the season – a 2-0 reverse to an Afan Lido side punching above its weight – saw the reigning champions pull to within striking distance. Cullen Kinsella rescued a point from our second game against Aberystwyth the following weekend, and all of a sudden our grip on top spot looked a little less firm than in previous weeks.

Nevertheless, the Aberystwyth game marked 11 rounds of league action – midway through the pre-split stage - and we had come out victorious in seven of them. Not only were we far clear of the relegation battle we were apparently destined for, we up there with TNS and Bala as one of the three teams most likely to win the title. We had faced most sides in the Premier League – only our regional nemesis Rhyl remained unplayed – and while Lido had caused us problems with their unorthodox formation and Bala took the spoils from the opening day, we had proved we could battle the best of them. Most importantly, we had beaten TNS.

To open up the next stage of our campaign, two quick-fire goals from Frater claimed the scalp of Newtown as we marched into the semi-finals of the League Cup, and as the league resumed there was no doubt that we were stronger than anyone had predicted. Whether we could hold on and claim a maiden league title remained to be seen, but the message sent to the rest of the Welsh Premier was clear – Prestatyn Town were no pushovers.

EvilDave · March 19, 2015

“Can we really do it Owain?”

The constant questioning from chairman Chris Tipping was beginning to grate on me a little, but there was no denying that he had good reason to keep asking me. Despite having the smallest wage budget in the entire Welsh Premier League, we would enter the decisive phase of the league season in pole position to claim top spot. It was the stuff of dreams.

When Afan Lido had handed us our second defeat of the season at the end of October, there were very few who believed Prestatyn Town would do anything other than crumble and return to the foot of the table, as had been expected of us from the outset. We’d picked up a couple of wins to finish the first round of fixtures at the top of table, but questions were being asked of us everywhere we went.

Fresh from securing our berth in the last four of the League Cup, we made back page headlines in North Wales by travelling to Broughton and thumping an Airbus side expected to be occupying our position as primary challengers to the TNS crown by three goals to nil. The naysayers returned when Lido came to Bastion Gardens the following week and narrowly missed out on the double over us, only a late strike from substitute Gareth Partridge earning us a point in an exciting 2-2 draw, but the cups provided respite – lower league side AFC Porth left with only a consolation in a 3-1 Welsh Cup defeat, while we repeated our trick in the League Cup, a goal in the first minute for Josh Knight at Airbus putting us through to the final – and an unlikely domestic treble remained in our grasp.

If we were going to win the league, we were going to need to do it the hard way. The fixture computer had not been kind to us, throwing up a home game against Bala – the same who beat us on the opening day of the season – ahead of two tough trips, one to Port Talbot and the second to England and TNS, who had moved two points clear after our stuttering draw with Lido. We needed wins, and we needed them fast.

Up against Bala, we needed goals and we needed confidence, and after half an hour we had both. After 20 minutes, Jamie Price arrived to nod in a cross at the back post, and seven minutes later we were in cruise control when Knight rounded off a lovely passing move to tuck the ball home. We looked to be in complete control, but a lapse of concentration allowed the visitors to pull one back on the stroke of half time, and our confidence took a massive knock at a crucial stage.

In the second half we looked to be moving fairly comfortably towards three vital points when the chaos began.

It started well enough, substitute Cullen Kinsella restoring our two-goal cushion with just nine minutes left on the clock. Still, we needed to be professional to see the game out, and our part-time status was present for all to see as Chris Mason burst through our defence from the restart to make it 3-2. Three minutes later, the same man struck the post, and when the rebound fell back to him he left Wilson with no chance. Twice in the same game we had blown a two-goal lead, and two valuable points had been lost.

The good news was that we hadn’t lost, and TNS had dropped points themselves, maintaining a two-point gap at the top of the table. In our next match we went to Port Talbot and took an early lead, but a second half fightback from the hosts left us hanging on until the 88^th minute, when teenage centre back Tom Kemp’s header doubled the lead and sealed the points. Port Talbot still had time to set up a nervy ending with a 93^rd minute goal of their own, but this time we held out.

It had been nervy, we had not been at our fluent best, but we had got the job done. Better yet, when news of the scores from around the grounds trickled in, we were back on top – TNS had repeated our trick of going to Lido and getting beaten, so we led the Welsh Premier League by a single point from the Oswestry traitors. And we knew where we going next…

EvilDave · March 23, 2015

Park Hall Stadium. Even the name sounds quintessentially English, quaint and middle-class as if it might host open-air theatre in the summer. It may well do, but the main concern for me was that it is also the home of TNS, Neil Ardley’s Oswestry lair and the base from which they have propelled themselves to the top of the modern Welsh trophy table. A fortress we needed to besiege.

By this stage in the season, the title was a three-horse race, with Bala Town’s horse beginning to flag as the league approached the midway point. Everyone expected the hosts to be up there, and nobody had given little Prestatyn Town a hope at the start of the season. But here we were, crossing the border and reminding our opponents that, for the next 90 minutes at least, we were top of the league.

I didn’t want to say anything too explicit to Ardley before kick-off, lest my words come back to bite me at the end of the campaign – there was, after all, a long way to go. Taking the high ground, I offered my hand and, to his credit, he took it, only to undue any respect earned by telling me to watch ‘how the professionals do things.’ Cursing his name under my breath, I took my seat in the cool November sun and waited.

Sixty minutes later, I sent my charges back onto the Park Hall turf with a two-goal lead to defend. Despite TNS having the lion’s share of possession, we had created the better chances, and as the clock ticked past the half mark it was Sam Hart who opened the scoring, making the most of the TNS defence’s inability to track his runs down the left flank. Five minutes later the same man was tripped in the penalty area, and left back Jack Lewis stepped up to ram home the spot kick. Perfect.

Just a minute into the second period, we were in trouble. Martin Edwards had picked up an injury in the win at Port Talbot, and his replacement, Adam France, was making a rare start. It was his inexperience that cost us the goal for 2-1, the defender making a clumsy challenge 20 yards from goal and then watching helplessly as the free kick flew past a diving Wilson. Game on.

The goal got the hosts’ backs up, and I could only watch and encourage our defence as wave after wave of green hooped shirts advanced into our territory. They were the champions, we had made them angry, and they wanted to make us pay. Kyle Graves, who had been given the job of marking Greg Draper and coaxing France through the game, was a rock at the heart of our defence, and mercifully many of the waves crashed on his sturdy challenge.

It was when TNS chose an alternative route that they eventually found success. With 20 minutes to go, their usual possession game was switched for a hit-and-hope style of football not dissimilar to some of the lower league English clubs they count among their neighbours, and the change paid off. A 60-yard ball from the TNS back line caught France out of position, and in his haste to make amends he wrestled right winger Kevin Thornton to the ground inside the area. Thornton handed the ball to Draper, and the league’s top scorer made no mistake from 12 yards.

We were reeling, and as much as our defence was doing a reasonable job, we had offered nothing going forward since Lewis’ penalty hit the back of the TNS net. On went Partridge for the ineffectual Frater, and Kinsella for Scotcher, but we could barely keep the ball, let alone fashion a chance. The one half-chance that did come our way came from a fairly aimless punt forward, but Partridge was unable to bring the ball under control, his snap-shot barely troubling the goalkeeper.

And so with 84 minutes on the clock, the inevitable happened. Wilson’s goal kick was immediately collected by one of the TNS midfielders, and fed to Draper lurking with his back to goal, he laid the ball wide and darted away from Graves, turning and meeting the incoming low cross to turn it in at the near post. As the New Zealander wheeled off to celebrate, I slumped down in my seat, loathe to concede defeat to the detestable Ardley.

As fate would have it, when we begrudgingly shook hands at full time, we were still top of the table. The linesman’s flag had, correctly on review, denied Draper the winner, and it would be little Prestatyn who left Oswestry in pole position. Ardley muttered more obscenities under his breath as we went through the post-match courtesies, but this time he did extend the offer of a post-game drink – only to produce a bottle of mineral water. Rather than throw the offending bottle at his smug face, I chose to take the high ground – he had, after all, probably planned the move as part of his gloating ritual. Thanks to my weary warriors, he had not been granted the opportunity.

chesterfan2 · March 23, 2015

Ha ! That'll teach him, the pompous professional tw*t !

EvilDave · March 24, 2015

Thanks cf2 - rarely have I celebrated an offside decision as much as that one! Glad to have you along for the ride!

--

If our match against TNS to end November was the biggest game of the season for the management of the club, December would be a month to remember for the hardcore supporters. While I dreamed of establishing a fierce, ultimately one-sided professional rivalry with the reigning champions, our small bunch of loyal fans cared far more passionately about results against Bangor and Rhyl, who remained the only side we were yet to face. The reason for this was a stroke of marketing genius from the Welsh FA, who had booked a double-header against our biggest rivals for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. With so much at stake, both clubs could hope for bumper crowds.

First of all we welcomed Bangor to Bastion Gardens, and having clung onto a point at TNS despite being played off the park in our second half, it seemed our strikers were out to prove a point. It took just 10 minutes for Frater to get us on the board with a fine header, and by half-time we were three goals to the good and cruising, Knight and the veteran Parkinson firing past the helpless Bangor keeper.

There would be just the single goal in the second half, Frater making the most of a penalty area scramble to turn in the fourth, and our visitors made the short journey home with their tails between their legs and a big dent in their goal difference. By the time a late strike from Gareth Partridge secured a hard-fought 2-1 win away at Connah’s Quay the following Friday, we found ourselves six points clear at the top of the league – since our draw, TNS had been held at home by Aberystwyth and then given a lesson away at Bala, a result which actually saw the Lakesiders jump into second place. Still, if it could happen to TNS it could happen to us, and the law of averages told us we were due a slump at some point.

As Rhyl arrived in Prestatyn for our first clash of the season, the difference between the two teams could not have been more marked. While we had both been expected to struggle, we found ourselves with a genuine chance of claiming the title while Rhyl were rock bottom of the Premier League with just three wins to their name. Nevertheless, the Rhyl Journal were in no mood to show us any Christmas spirit ahead of the Boxing Day clash, leading with an interview with newly-installed Rhyl boss Kevin Richards who had decided that both sides held a false position and therefore, that his men could get one over us.

Given that we were in the middle of an 11-game unbeaten run across all competitions, Richards’ fighting talk was ill-advised when stepping onto enemy territory and we wanted to make sure. In the dressing room, Knight told his team-mates we could bag a hatful, and when he rippled the net after 25 minutes we believed him.

But, credit to Richards, Rhyl had not come to roll over, and the gap was just the one goal at the break. On the other hand, we hadn’t been threatened – Wilson hadn’t had a save to make in the opening 45 minutes – and there was every chance that we could open up in the second period. While Rhyl would have tried to exploit our lack of defensive action as complacency, we weren’t about to gift them an equaliser, and with 20 minutes to go Kyle Graves rose highest from a corner to secure the points and local bragging rights.

The following week – on the back of a slightly more cautious but nevertheless bullish piece from Richards in the Journal, we made the short trip to Belle Vue looking to bring in the New Year with three more points. Partridge got us up and running midway through the first period, and again we waltzed in at the break with a slim but comfortable lead. Rhyl must have been feeling a sense of deja vu when Hart knocked in the second to all but seal the day, but we still had something left up our sleeves – substitute Price winning and converting an injury time penalty to rub salt into our rivals’ gaping wounds.

With Rhyl’s position on the bottom now firmly established, and our own spot on top of the pile assured, we were looking good. Twenty games into the season we held our advantage over TNS, and with just two more games (and a Welsh Cup tie) to go before the league split, we were well-placed going into the business end of the season. Then, we would face our toughest test.

EvilDave · March 30, 2015

One of those three pre-split games would be a trip to Richmond Park and Camarthen, who were another side surprising the bookies - both with their form and by hanging on to a top six place. They were never going to challenge for the title, but with the chance of Europa League qualification afforded by finishing in the top half, they still had plenty to play for.

We arrived in a confident mood after knocking in 11 goals in our last four games and racking up three clean sheets, but we were given an early warning when a free kick flashed past Wilson’s far post with our goalkeeper stranded between the sticks. Carmarthen were not looking to limit the damage but inflict it, and for the opening half hour they had us pinned in our own half, struggling to create anything for Knight and Frater to feed on at the other end. We were struggling, and ultimately we were lucky to get in level at the break.

Confidence is a fragile thing, and it was all I could do at the interval to let the lads know they had it in them to win. Five minutes into the second period we had the ball in the net, but there was little cause for celebration as the unfortunate Graves stumbled into a cross and sent it past Wilson. Mercifully, the hosts’ jubilation was cut short when the referee ruled our centre back had been pushed, and we stayed on level terms.

We would stay there for the remainder of the 90 minutes, leaving Carmarthen with a goalless draw, but there was no avoiding just how poor we’d been. We’d registered just a single shot on target – a free kick from Scotcher – compared to seven from our opponents, had conceded the majority of possession and territory, and were under sufficient pressure for Wilson to be handed man-of-the-match honours. On another day, our unbeaten run would have ended in some style.

Next up were Newtown, who were scrapping around the bottom half desperate to survive. This time we were quicker out of the blocks, forcing an own goal after a quarter of an hour through Parkinson’s drilled ball in, and our early performance had every sign of one of our 3-0 or 4-0 wins from earlier in the season. As it was, on the back of our poor performance at Carmarthen, we had to make do with just the one goal going in at the break.

Whether we were becoming complacent, or whether the other sides had finally figured out our style of play I wasn’t sure, but 10 minutes into the second half Newtown were level. A sloppy ball from Lee Owens at right back was picked off with glee by the visiting midfield, and an early, skidding drive from outside the area beat a diving Wilson who was still out position after passing the ball out from the back. Five minutes later things got worse, a free kick coming back off the bar to the feet of their top scorer, and we were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat.

As it was, we got back on level terms fairly sharply with Knight’s guided header, but the visitors still looked the more likely to score and when the final whistle blew we were relieved to have another point on the board. After taking the lead against an inferior team, it had been a shocking performance and a real cause for concern.

Our final game before the Championship round of games began – a home and away series against every other side in the top six, while the bottom half did the same to settle relegation – came in the Cup, where top flight teams had been dropping like flies. While we were overcoming Porth in the last round, half the Premier League teams were beaten by less illustrious opponents, blowing the competition wide open. The draw for the Fourth Round had been kind to us, handing us a home tie to Lido’s conquerors Ton Pentre, and surely this time our superior ability would shine through.

Well, it didn’t. After taking the lead early in the second half, the minnows pegged us back almost immediately, and had a couple of their own chances to spring a second cup shock in succession. Ninety minutes failed to produce a winner, and even when the visitors had a man sent off in extra time, we couldn’t break them down. For the first time in my Prestatyn career, I ventured onto the pitch to determine which of my men I can trust from 12 yards – we were going to penalties.

Ton Pentre would go first, and their first three takers all sent Wilson the wrong way. I could barely watch as Price, second choice left back Josh Evans and Knight matched their efforts. The fourth man for the visitors could count himself lucky as Wilson got a finger on his low shot only to see it sneak inside the post, and Elliot Scotcher’s reply was a lot more composed, driving a shot down the middle with the goalkeeper grounded.

With both sides boasting a perfect record after four rounds, Matt Hearne showed no nerves for Ton Pentre by finding the very top corner, and it was down to right back Chris Davies to keep us in the tie. He went for power over precision and put his laces through the ball, caring little for the final destination. Standing firm, the visiting goalkeeper got both hands behind the ball, but just as his team-mates began to think about celebrating, the sheer power on the ball saw it knock the keeper’s wrists away and fall just over the goal-line. We were alive.

Christian Bonnell was the man who had to step forward to take our opponent’s sixth effort after seeing victory ripped away from his side, and perhaps predictably Wilson guessed correctly, pushing it away and pumping his fists wildly. Andy Parkinson had been due to take our first attempt of sudden death, but the pumped-up Wilson discarded his gloves, strode out to the penalty spot and lashed home the winning kick. Finally, we were through.

We were through, but at what cost? We’d been taken the distance by a Ton Pentre side few people had given any hope, and had seen our star players go through 120 minutes ahead of a crucial league game against Bala Town. We’d drawn our third game in a row against opposition we’d been expected to beat, and while we were still top of the table, our performances hadn’t backed up our lofty position. We needed something better, and we needed it quickly.

EvilDave · March 31, 2015

We definitely needed it against Bala, who had endured a few slip-ups of their own but were still right up there with ourselves and TNS as one of the three teams who could realistically claim to be title contenders. We’d only taken a point off the Lakesiders in our first two league meetings, and given our poor recent form, they were probably favourites as they arrived at Bastion Gardens.

Accordingly, they took the lead midway through the first half with a goal we could do absolutely nothing about. A series of quick passes drew our defence out to the left of the field before Kenny Lunt switched the ball across the park into space for his right winger. He took the ball into space, shrugged off the desperate challenge of Jack Lewis struggling to cover, and lashed the ball across Wilson and into the back of the net.

Our heads could have dropped, we could have folded and given up the ghost there and then, but we didn’t. From the kick-off we fashioned a chance for Hart to get us level, but he opted to go for the near post rather than pick out a team-mate, and the opportunity went begging. Five minutes later we went one better, and again Hart was involved, his early cross catching the Bala defence on the back foot and Knight stooping to head in the leveller.

With the match back on an even keel, we were in position to really kick on and make a statement, but for whatever reason we simply weren’t playing as well as we had done earlier in the season. Graves hadn’t looked the same since his defensive partner Edwards had been injured, Scotcher’s through balls were either too heavy or off target, and Frater in particular was snatching at his chances. When Bala inched themselves in front for the second time just before the break, there were few at Bastion Gardens who were particularly surprised.

Unable to raise their heads for the second period, it was more of a shock that the visitors didn’t add to their tally in the opening moments of the second half. With an hour on the clock, we fashioned something from nothing as Knight latched onto a long goal kick to fire home, but he had been stood at least two yards offside before Wilson launched the ball, and our joy was short-lived. Try as we might, our midfield simply couldn’t overcome their Bala counterparts, and our opponents simply shut us down to claim three big points.

Worse news was to come – TNS had won their Championship group opener, meaning they were a mere one point behind us with 27 still to play for. It made our trip to Airbus crucial – if we failed to win, we would more than likely find ourselves welcoming the traitors from Oswestry back to Wales in second place. With so much at stake, it was a risk we couldn’t afford to take.

Our trip to Broughton was a defensive shambles. For 44 minutes both sides looked thoroughly uninspired before the hosts broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time, but this time we were able to respond. Early on in the second period Parkinson was dragged to the ground in the box, allowing Knight to step up and level from the spot, and ten minutes later our English winger got himself on the scoresheet, sending us ahead with a guided shot from the edge of the area. In the meantime, there were chances galore at both ends, and both I and my opposite number Andy Preece were powerless to affect the state of play as both sides poured forward at will.

Thankfully, it was ourselves who got the next goal, Knight’s second of the match effectively sealing things with 15 minutes still to go. There was still time for Airbus to claw one back at the death, but 3-2 was good enough to seal our first victory in five matches and keep us that all-important point ahead of TNS going into our crunch match with the defending champions. There were still three months of the season to play, but for now it would be the biggest game of our season.

EvilDave · April 1, 2015

We were awful.

There are no other words to describe what I saw on the pitch that Wednesday night, no excuses or rationale, just plain, awful football. To say it put us in our place would be wrong – we were rightly challenging for the title, irrespective of one result – but with TNS now top and Bala breathing down our necks, we faced the real possibility of leading the race only to finish 3^rd.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t want to revisit it. I’ve had nightmares about their shirts, watched in my office as Jack Lewis’ late red card added insult to injury, despaired at the chants from the crowd. As a manager, albeit it an inexperienced one, it was a low point.

I can’t talk about it anymore. I’ll be over it eventually, but not now. The radio broadcast is online, you can listen to that if you must. I’ll warn you though, it isn’t pretty.

“With just seven minutes on the clock it’s Craig Frater for Prestatyn, what a start for the title challengers! He’s given the goalkeeper no chance there, and the favourites have the lead!”

…

“It’s two! The defence at sixes and sevens and who arrives but Elliot Scotcher to collect the ball and drive it past Rogers. Prestatyn are off to an absolute flyer here and the crowd look stunned!”

…

“They’ve got a goal back, and how crucial could that be for them? First Frater is forced off the field with injury, and now Matty Rees has given his side a lifeline will a well-taken goal. The whistle goes for half time and it seems we have a game on our hands here.”

…

“Lido are level! Just three minutes into the second half and it’s Rees again with the goal, what a comeback this is! From two goals down they’re back on level terms and Prestatyn look shellshocked! At 2-0 they’d have felt comfortable and now…Wait, Thomas is through… it’s three! Lido have turned this around and the home side have the lead, what a game we have here!”

…

“This is excellent play from the hosts here, they aren’t letting Prestatyn anywhere near the ball. Jandir Zola has been a force of nature in the centre of the park, and here he is again. Llewellyn, Rees, Thomas! There’s the fourth, it’s his second of the game and Prestatyn Town have fallen to pieces, what can Owain Williams do about this?”

…

“Penalty! Jack Lewis knows what’s coming and he trudges off the field, he can have no complaints about the decision and Lido can really make this hurt now. Thomas steps up to seal his hat-trick…scores! From two goals down, Lido are 5-2 up and there could be more humiliation for Prestatyn yet.”

…

“That’s it, it’s Afan Lido 5-2 Prestatyn Town, and what a game we’ve witnessed here at the Marston’s. After 20 minutes it was all the visitors, but something went horribly wrong and they have crashed to their biggest defeat of the season. Owain Williams has done well to bring his team this far, but after losing to Bala, defeat by TNS at home last week and now this, you have to wonder whether their chance at the title has gone. As for Lido, what a result! They’ve scored five for the first time this season, and they’ll surely have the confidence they need to seal fourth behind the three sides challenging at the top of the table now.”

I told you it was bad. Being played off our own pitch by TNS was bad enough, but to concede five against Lido? Not only did it send the traitors from Oswestry five points clear, it handed our opponents a massive psychological advantage ahead of the League Cup final later in the season. We’d play them before then in the league, and we needed to improve. We could hardly be any worse.

chesterfan2 · April 1, 2015

Top writing here, EvilDave.

You predicted a slump, no joy to be proved right is it !

tenthreeleader · April 1, 2015

This is a super example of a different way to do match-writing. And it's superb. Excellent post.

EvilDave · April 2, 2015

Thank you for the kind words 10-3 - it's not something I intend to use too regularly, but I do like the radio/TV format at times and I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you too cf2 - and you're right that I took no joy in our failings!

--

In many ways, we were indebted to the schedulers for giving us a chance to bounce back after our battering at the hands of Lido. We had travelled to the Marston’s Community Stadium on Wednesday night, and on Saturday would find ourselves in Welsh Cup action against lower league opposition yet again. After battling past Ton Pentre in the last round, the draw handed us a trip to Porthmadog Town in the quarter finals, and an excellent chance to move into the last four. We would need to improve.

It would have taken something to be worse, and I told the players as much before they walked out onto the Porthmadog pitch. With a couple of enforced changes due to suspension (Lewis) and fatigue (Parkinson, Frater), it was mainly the same squad who had been taken apart in the previous game. I wanted a response, I wanted a win, and I wanted the team I had managed for the first 20 games of the season back.

While we didn’t secure the crushing victory I may have hoped for, our passage to the semi-finals was as serene as it could have been. Inside the opening 10 minutes, Partridge staked his claim for a permanent first team berth with a well-taken goal, and with the clock barely ticking past the quarter hour, the same man had doubled our advantage. Wilson had nothing to do between the sticks, and while I was disappointed not to score more, we were one step closer to cup glory, still in with a slim chance of landing the domestic treble, and more importantly were winning again.

We needed to keep it up if we were to have any chance of catching TNS at the top of the table, and with a five-point deficit to make up, we would need to start with a tough trip away to Bala, who still harboured hopes of landing the biggest prize in Welsh football for themselves. They’d already beaten us twice in our three meetings, and with so much at stake, we couldn’t afford to let it become three from four.

With so much riding on the game – second place, a title challenge, the form of both sides – it was perhaps little surprise that the match itself was underwhelming. From a Prestatyn perspective, we considered ourselves unlucky not to have won – Knight and Scotcher both hitting the woodwork – and pleased not to have been beaten by our hosts. For Colin Caton’s men, the draw kept us firmly in their sights but represented a missed opportunity, and one which would be highlighted the following day when TNS dropped unlikely points at sixth-placed Carmarthen. Five points remained the gap, but time was running out.

Yet the title race would take another twist the following week when, playing the early game on the Friday, TNS travelled to Airbus and walked away with nothing, a 92^nd minute goal blowing the championship wide open once more. Buoyed by the news and the chance to reduce the gap to within a single game, we hosted the side they had failed to beat the previous week and only allowed them a single shot on target – an 88^th minute strike which left Wilson with no chance.

Thankfully, we were already two goals to the good through Knight and Hart, and claimed the points which moved us to within two of the table-toppers. Next time out, we shrugged off an early Airbus equaliser to take a 3-1 half time lead, and while the Wingmakers grabbed a second, so we struck a fourth when Scotcher completed his brace, and we held up our end of the bargain. Once again, things were heating up in the Welsh Premier League.

tenthreeleader · April 2, 2015

Back on song. Great stuff -- so if I read this right you're top by one point with one more match played?

EvilDave · April 14, 2015

I'm a little ahead of the story in-game, so all I can remember is it was nailbitingly close! Things will be a little slower from now on as I've started a new job, but I'm hoping to keep this going in the meantime...

--

Looking at the fixture list, we were in make-or-break territory for the season. We had just three league games remaining, which would see us try and avenge our humiliation against Afan Lido, travel to TNS in a match which could well decide the title, and a final day trip to a Carmarthen side with little to play for.

After the first Lido clash we also had the small matter of a Welsh Cup semi-final against the minnows of Llanidloes Town, the amateur outfit who had somehow made their way to the last four without facing a WPL side but had nevertheless beaten several sides of greater stature than themselves, and the League Cup final to complete our best-of-five series with Lido for the season. By the end of May, we could either be kings of the country, or perennial bridesmaids cursing the fates. In a maximum of six games, we would write our own chapter in history.

The league game with Lido was first up, and in a quite rare turn of events, we would be playing at the same time as TNS travelled to Bala. I made sure my assistant Gary was fully tuned into what was going on at Maes Tegid, but to keep it strictly between the two of us – I didn’t want the players to change their play depending on what was going on in the other match.

Ahead of kick-off we were given the boost that Martin Edwards was fit to start, his first game for several weeks after a calf injury. It was timely too – Kyle Graves would miss the match through suspension after picking up one yellow card too many, so we had at least one of our first choice defensive pair starting. It was Edwards who started the move that led to our opener – nodding a long ball to Scotcher and watching in admiration as the young midfielder’s pass dissected the defence for Partridge to latch onto and finish.

But as in the last encounter Lido hit back on the stroke of half time, and when they took the lead with just 20 minutes left on the clock, I feared the worst. We knew the other game was goalless at the break, but with no radio station covering the game, we were relying on a wireless connection which was sporadic at the best of time. If TNS were winning, the title race was all but over. I told the lads to throw caution to the wind, but Lido were ready, repelling everything we could throw at them.

In the 89^th minute, with my nails now non-existent and the majority of the Bastion Gardens crowd resigned to another defeat to our apparent bogey side, Darius Waters picked up the ball in midfield. Our teenage midfielder hadn’t found the net since his winner against TNS in the second game of the season, and he wasn’t about to be the hero here. He sprayed a ball left for Price to chase, and he reached it ahead of his man to roll back towards Lewis supporting from full back.

His first touch made him space, and his second was awful. Beautifully awful. His attempt at a cross was horribly scuffed, travelling at some speed across the edge of the penalty area. With the Lido defence rightly expecting the deeper ball, there was no-one ready to cut out the sideways ball, and right back Chris Davies chose the perfect moment to find his shooting boots, meeting the cross on the half-volley and sending a laser of a shot in at the near post from 20 yards for his first goal of the season. We had rescued a point, and Bala had held TNS goalless. Two games to go, two points in the race. We had a chance.

chesterfan2 · April 15, 2015

Top excitement here, Dave, good writing, and I do hope your new job doesn't prevent regular updates here !

EvilDave · April 21, 2015

Thanks cf2 - hopefully I'll still get a fair amount of playing/writing done, I'll certainly try!

--

Before we could take on our title rivals however, we had the small matter of a Welsh Cup semi-final. In a thoroughly unpredictable competition, we had reached the last four without facing a single WPL side, and our opposition – Llanidloes Town – had managed the exact same thing. In the other semi, TNS lined up having only faced sides from the lower leagues against a Welshpool team responsible for the defeats of both Bangor and Carmarthen. Of course we went into the tie as favourites, but this year’s competition had ripped up the form book at every step of the way.

Our opponents were humble amateurs, but while my players laughed and joked about their lowly status, I had to remind them that Prestatyn were only part-timers and could hardly claim a superiority complex. Despite my warnings against complacency, I still made a handful of changes to the starting line-up, as I didn’t want to see any needless injuries or tiredness in the championship decider against TNS. It was a difficult balance to find.

After nine minutes, Gareth Partridge sent us ahead, and everything was going to plan – Llanidloes had barely had a kick. They didn’t really get one until 20 minutes in, when a decent spell of possession ended with a speculative shot sailing over Wilson’s crossbar.

But half an hour in, things went awry. Making a rare start, teenage centre back Tom Kemp had got his blood pumping in the changing room, and his excitement got the better of him with a horrendous tackle. Thirty yards from goal with minimal danger, he raced from his position and jumped in two-footed and late, and the red card was inevitable. There was no malice, no evil intent, just youthful inexperience and a rush of blood, but we were down to 10. Off came the unfortunate Partridge as I left Knight to plough a lone furrow up front, but the reorganisation caught us off-guard, and the free kick found a yellow-shirted head to level the tie. We were on the ropes, and were at risk of becoming another victim of a cup shock.

At half time, it took everything in my power to remain calm with my players. I told them they were better than Llanidloes, but they needed to let their professionalism come through – nothing silly, keep hold of the ball, allow superior fitness to do its work. To their credit, they listened, and my decision to leave Knight on the pitch was vindicated when he headed in our second just shy of the hour.

Ten minutes later we looked to have booked a spot in the final when the amateur side’s tactical naivety allowed Price the freedom of the left wing to cut inside and fire home. But they weren’t done, the Llanidloes captain leading by example with a long-range missile that beat Wilson and set up a nervy last quarter of an hour.

Nervy it may have been, but that was all. Eventually the minnows ran out of time, and while they were given a deserved standing ovation by the crowd at our neutral venue in Llandudno, they would take home nothing but memories of a spectacular cup run which they would likely never repeat.

As we celebrated our spot in the final, we turned on the radio to hear who our opponents would be. As it turned out, we listened to the 30 minutes of extra time being played in their tie. With the whole dressing room cheering on Welshpool’s every pass after they had grabbed a late equaliser in normal time, we were left disappointed as a rampant TNS ran in three unanswered goals in the added period.

Still, to be the best we were going to have to beat the best, and we would go head to head with the Oswestry traitors for two of the three main prizes in the Welsh game – starting with our crucial trip across the border in a week’s time.

tenthreeleader · April 21, 2015

Winning with ten is always such a great accomplishment. Great job!

EvilDave · May 1, 2015

Thanks 10-3, it was a good win but these little Welsh sides don't half make things stressful!

---

“That sails wide, and it’ll be a goal kick to Prestatyn, a speculative effort at best from Howard and a decent spell of possession wasted.

“Wilson launches that down the field and it should be comfortably de… Zola has missed it! It’s a huge error from the midfielder, and Frater is in on goal…scores! Craig Frater gives Thomas no chance with a vicious strike and Prestatyn have one hand on the trophy!

“They do indeed – it looked innocuous enough when the goalkeeper hit it forward, but Zola seemed to get caught under the ball and made a real mess of his header. Credit to Frater though, he gambled on the error and buried it when it came to him. It’s difficult to see how Lido can come back from that, there isn’t long to go and they haven’t created much themselves.”

…

“That’s it, it’s all over. Prestatyn Town are the League Cup champions, and while it won’t quite make up for the disappointment of last week, it will certainly give them the confidence to know they can win plenty more in the future.”

“That’s right, Owain Williams has transformed this team and they deserve this trophy. As you say, last week was a step too far but they’ll be back, and of course they’re still in with a chance of a double. Josh Knight lifts the trophy high above his head and he’ll be hoping it’s the first of many as Prestatyn captain.”

The League Cup wasn’t the trophy we wanted given the choice, but it was a trophy nevertheless. As the cup was passed to me following our 1-0 win over Afan Lido, I did forget briefly the game from the previous week – when TNS sealed the title with a single goal win over us in Oswestry – and enjoyed the moment. This was what football management is all about, and while it may not be the Champions League, trophies are what every manager strives to achieves.

We couldn't forget about the league though – with a single game to go, our second defeat of the campaign to TNS ended the title race – and there was a lot of work to do in preparation for the next year. There would be new faces arriving, old faces departing, and another chance to prove ourselves on the European stage thanks to our guaranteed runners-up spot.

Before all that, however, we had one more league match to deal with – away at Carmarthen – and then the small matter of the Welsh Cup final against TNS. They seemed to have the upper hand over us at the moment, with their two victories after the split effectively the difference between the two sides in the title race, but in a one-off match there was every chance we could upset them once again. I had tasted success once already, and was hungry for more.

EvilDave · May 8, 2015

For a dead rubber at the end of a long season, our trip to Richmond Park was a thriller. Just 25 minutes in we were given in a reprieve when Graves made a rash challenge in the area and then watched Wilson parry away the penalty, and in two minutes before the end of the first half we netted a goal apiece, Carmarthen getting things underway only to see Knight head in almost immediately to send us in at 1-1.

If the first half was exciting, the second was more so. Andy Parkinson danced his way into the area before drilling in a low shot, but 15 minutes later Jack Lewis picked up his second yellow card of day – frustratingly ruling him out of the Cup final – to keep things interesting. Our hosts came piling forward, Waters managed to intercept a forward pass and released Parkinson who did exceptionally well to round the goalkeeper and net our third. There was still time for Carmarthen to make it 3-2 in injury time, but we finished the league season with a win, and with TNS losing their final, meaningless game, we finished just two points behind the champions.

With Wrexham occupied with the end-of-season play-offs in the Conference, the FA were unable to come to an agreement to host our cup final at the Racecourse Ground – its traditional home of recent years. Denied a chance to lead a team out at the home of my beloved Dragons, we would instead travel to Nantporth Stadium – home of our fierce rivals Bangor – to take on TNS with both sides looking to claim a double.

With Neil Ardley’s men having secured the league title and beaten us on our last two meetings, their English manager was in smug mood. Not only did he give me a horrendously smug smile at the opening handshake, but made a point of staring silently at me throughout the national anthem. Captain Josh Knight got things underway by knocking the ball sideways to his strike partner Frater, and we had one final chance to get the better of the newly-crowned champions.

If our previous game at Carmarthen was one for the fans, the first half of the showpiece of Welsh football was anything but. We settled into a relatively comfortable pattern – TNS controlling possession harmlessly, while we dropped off and looked to hit them on the break should they slip up. Five minutes before the interval, one such break saw Hart’s shot tipped round the post, and when Scotcher lofted the ball into the box, Kyle Graves was on hand to flick it in at the near post. Just what we needed before half time, and a certain Mr Ardley looked a little less smug at the interval.

As expected, TNS ramped up the pressure in the second period, but for the most part we held out well, offering an occasional token attack in response but largely content to sit and absorb the pressure. Only twice did our opponents breach our 18-yard line on the ground, and on both occasions we repelled them comfortably.

But the equaliser did not come from inside the area. Greg Draper bought a free kick from Scotcher around 25 yards from goal, and right back Simon Spender showed the crowd why he has a reputation as a dead ball specialist with a fierce strike beyond Wilson into the top corner. Back level, TNS were less urgent to rush forward, and as the remaining 20 minutes ticked by, we were set for extra time.

That is, until the referee decided to settle matters himself. In the third minute of injury time, Graves slid in perfectly to dispossess Draper a yard or so outside the box, and was understandably horrified when the man in black showed him a yellow card. Not only that, but despite the ‘offence’ clearly taking place outside the box, he pointed to the penalty spot. As Ardley chuckled to himself in the neighbouring dugout, my players protested for a full two minutes before the referee managed to shoo them away. Graves looked to be on the brink of tears as Spender fired the penalty into the back of the net, and we had seen the Welsh Cup ripped cruelly from our hands.

This time it was my turn to refuse Ardley’s handshake. I can deal with being beaten, but not being cheated. A spectacular season – in which we had gone the distance in all domestic competitions despite being written off several times – had come to an end, and yet we had been left feeling bitter, angry and victimised. We would be back, but the wounds would take some healing.

chesterfan2 · May 12, 2015

A crushing defeat perhaps, or the start of a burning desire to redress the balance ? What will shape Prestatyn's next season ? More please Dave, let us find out !

tenthreeleader · May 12, 2015

Beautifully done, Dave. And you've got TNS right where you want them.

EvilDave · July 29, 2015

Thank you 10-3, although TNS are making sure it isn't all perfect on the field...

We had just four games to go before the split, and only three in the league as the Welsh Cup had handed me a nostalgic return to Holyhead for our Fourth Round clash. We’d won seven on the spin, had cruised through the majority of those matches, and were comfortably top of the table. Surely that meant we had nothing to worry about?

When Richardson nodded us in front just two minutes into our trip to Connah’s Quay, it certainly seemed that way. Our hosts fielded a side with an average age of just 20 – testament to their prolific youth system but perhaps indicative of a failure to keep more experienced players – and when Frater rattled in our second we were home and hosed.

But after the break the home side came out fighting, and pulled one back with a lightning break from our corner. I was livid at the lack of protection we’d offered Wilson on the move, but my anger was short-lived as we stroked the ball around confidently, opening up the Connah’s Quay defence to such an extent that when Price sent a low ball across the face of goal, it was all James Bloom could do to turn beyond his own keeper for 3-1. We got another shortly afterwards, they grabbed a late consolation, and we moved to eight wins in a row.

Then Bangor City came to town. Comfortably in the top half and some way short of both ourselves and TNS in the hunt for the title, our local rivals would likely finish in one of the European play-off spots. They didn’t have much to play for, but had been in decent form themselves and had found in young Matthew Jones a teenager with a keen eye for goal. They were a threat.

They proved it too. Within 10 minute we were behind to Jones’ 17^th league goal of the season as he cut in from the left, left Graves on his backside and fired into the far corner. The Bastion Gardens crowd hadn’t expected us to go behind early on, and there was a stunned silence as we struggled to pick ourselves off the canvas. Jones repeated the trick in the second half, we offered nothing, and in a flash our long winning streak was gone. TNS won to keep the pressure on, and we needed a result to bounce back quickly.

It didn’t help, therefore, that our next game was a trip across the border to Oswestry and the pseudo-English traitors. A win would bring Neil Ardley and his hateful bunch to within a point of us at the summit ahead of the split, so we needed something – preferably a win. As the home fans rubbed their hands at the chance to get one over on their closest rivals, Knight silenced them with a rocket of a shot in the eighth minute, and an unlikely win looked increasingly possible.

But TNS are not the most successful team in Welsh history for nothing – their money can unfortunately buy the occasional flash of talent. One some flash came from Greg Draper after around half an hour, and with 20 minutes left to play we were staring down the barrel of a second successive defeat when Irishman Kevin Thornton beat Wilson to a corner kick and headed in.

But there was fight in the underdog yet, and with less than 10 minutes remaining I rolled the dice, pushing forward in the desperate hope of an equaliser. Our games with TNS tend to provide unlikely heroes, and this time it was the turn of Jack Lewis. It was Zola who was fouled 25 yards from goal, but our left back who stepped up to bend a perfect free kick up and over the wall to beat Paul Harrison and claim a share of the points. Somehow, we had escaped.

The cup then took us from Oswestry to Anglesey for our game at Holyhead, and while it was nice to see a few old faces, it was nicer still to book our place in the last eight. A much-changed squad stuttered and stumbled their way through the 90 minutes, and there was an early scare where Martin Edwards deflected one speculative effort past Wilson and into the opposite corner. Luckily, our superior fitness showed in the end, and Owen McCreesh was the man to make the difference with a quick-fire double to send us through.

We had been far from convincing, and from the Bangor game onwards we had looked a shadow of the side which had gone so many games unbeaten. It was a worry, and with Airbus providing our final opposition before the league split, we were in desperate need of three points. Within 15 minutes we sealed them, Scotcher and McCreesh bagging one each to put us on easy street and give us confidence a much-needed boost.

Which we would have received, had Airbus not come roaring back at us, pulling one back before the break and then netting the equaliser from the penalty spot in the second half. It was all we could do to cling to a point, and even then we needed some trademark Wilson heroics to do so. Twice in a row we had been overrun at home, and although Bala had done us a massive favour by holding TNS to a draw, our lead at the top was looking precarious at best.

Not the best position to be in when the post-split fixtures drew us away in Oswestry first up.

jdoyle9293 · July 30, 2015

The difference between last season and this, and winning the title, will be that away game against TNS after the split, if you win there I dare say you've got the title in the bag. Great work as usual, mate, shame about the dip in form but it'll return before the season's end.

EvilDave · July 30, 2015

I hope that isn't the case! Let's just say things didn't quite go to plan in Oswestry...

--

The Rhyl Journal had an absolute field day with us. Two and a half weeks ago we had been to TNS’ own back yard, been outplayed and yet somehow came away with a point. This time, we had been to the same stadium, matched them blow for blow on the Park Hall turf, and come away with only Gareth Partridge’s late consolation in a 4-1 defeat. Football is unfair.

For all our effort, for our all exertions, for the 14 men who put their bodies on the line in the biggest game of the season so far, we had received nothing but mockery. I had endured questions about our season ‘falling apart,’ whether we would ‘forever be a bridesmaid club.’ Meanwhile, Ardley and his minions were lauded as tactical geniuses, fawned over by the press as they took our spot atop the league standings. Even chairman Chris Tipping had been unimpressed, our traditional post-match phone call decidedly more curt than usual. If it had been up to the media, we’d have been relegated on the spot.

But we weren’t, and we still had a title to fight for. A title some thought we had won on the back of our record winning streak, a title that looked destined for Bastion Gardens back in November. A title that had been loosened from our grip by Bangor – the side who we would welcome with hostility in our very next encounter.

This time, things were different. Our players fed off the vitriol in the press, fed off the triumphalism of the opposition, fed off the weakness in the Bangor defence. With 37 minutes on the clock, the scoreboard read 3-0, with Partridge’s double adding to Scotcher’s header, and this time there would be no let-up. Much like the Connah’s Quay game a few weeks earlier, we did allow the visitors a consolation or two, but made sure of the points with a thunderbolt from McCreesh in the dying moments, and it was never in doubt. We weren’t back on top, but we were winning again.

The good form didn’t carry on for very long – Bala edged us out 1-0 at Maes Tegid in our very next game, but the bigger news came from Oswestry. The league leaders and defending champions had welcomed Carmarthen, mired in sixth place, and had been well and truly blown away. The visitors had left with four goals under their belts to just one from the hosts, and Ardley’s men were now the ones pilloried in the papers.

We would face the same opposition in our next league encounter, but before then we faced a cup quarter final with Newtown, relegated the previous year but looking strong in their bid to return to the Premier League. With just three days between games we were leggy, and a rotated side again struggled to get going. When the half time whistle blew we were a goal down, and unlike the match in Anglesey, defeat here seemed a real possibility.

But once again we showed that our emphasis on fitness and pressure on the ball pays off. With 20 minutes to go, a ferocious challenge in the Newtown half from Cullen Kinsella saw the ball break to Scotcher, and the substitute made no mistake from the edge of the box. Ten minute later, we won the ball on the edge of our own box and broke at pace, right back Chris Davies eventually supplying the ball for McCreesh to tuck home.

In injury time, McCreesh put the icing on the cake with a crisp finish, and we went into the final four with our heads held high. It hadn’t been our best performance, but it hadn’t needed to be, and perhaps more importantly it put us back into the winning mentality. Carmarthen would be in high spirits after their exploits in England, and if we were to harbour any hopes of winning the title we would need to learn from the mistakes of Ardley’s men. Our season could depend on it.

EvilDave · July 31, 2015

Whatever Carmarthen had thrown at TNS to win 4-1, we had to hope they didn’t have any left. We knew we would be in for a tough game – when you’re facing the rest of the top six, there are no gimmes – but we also knew that with our title rivals getting all three points in the early kick-off against Bangor, we could accept nothing less than victory.

In the end, victory was something we happened upon with consummate ease. Carmarthen were in an unusual position following their famous win – buoyed by unrealistic expectations, yet physically drained from their efforts. In the opening quarter of an hour we opened them up twice, McCreesh and Parkinson the beneficiaries to get their names on the scoresheet, and we were set.

This time, there would be no Airbus-style slip-ups, and as the game progressed our dominance was forcefully asserted. Just after the break we got a deserved third through Scotcher, and although the hosts did manage to deny Wilson a clean sheet he would barely have earned, we got another at the death to make it nine times this season we had scored four goals or more. If we were to miss out on the title, it would not be for lack of goals.

Next up for us would be Airbus, and a chance for three points against one of the top six’s less prestigious clubs – the Wingmakers ticking away nicely in fifth place and expecting little more. Still, they had been strong at home throughout the campaign, and we would have to be on good form to exploit the Broughton club’s weaknesses.

In truth we found little to help us, but we were instead able to rely on a weariness brought about by several games in quick succession at the end of a long, hard season. After 82 minutes failed to yield a goal, three quick passes found McCreesh in space, and after his first shot was parried by the Airbus goalkeeper, he made no mistake with the rebound to claim his fifth goal in as many games. The youngster had found form just at the right time, and we were all thankful.

Yet our win barely registered with the sports media covering the title chase, as news of an incredible result broke from Oswestry. Stunned by three goals in the opening half hour, TNS had fought back to level their game against Bala at 3-3 with 20 minutes remaining. Draper then struck to give the defending champions the lead, but incredibly they fell apart, two even later goals producing a final result of TNS 4-5 Bala Town. With four games to go, we were top of the league by a single point.

Our first match as new leaders of the Welsh Premier League? The New Saints, at home. Three points from that match, and we would have one hand firmly on the trophy.

EvilDave · August 1, 2015

If ever the phrase ‘crunch time’ could be accurately employed within the microcosm of Welsh football, this was it. Just 90 minutes and our hated rivals sat between Prestatyn Town and Premier League glory. Beat TNS today, and we would be four points clear with just three games remaining. We would not relax until the mathematicians told us it was safe to do so, but we would so very close.

For our rivals, it was the chance they needed to wrestle back the initiative after two unexpected defeats against Carmarthen and Bala. In the first, they had been crushed on the field, going down 4-1 on their own soil in a display of complete ineptitude. In the second, their spirit had taken a bruising, having come from three goals down to lead 4-3, only to throw it all away in the final 10 minutes. Their usual solidity gone, their professional arrogance dented, could we manage what so many others had failed to do?

Kick-off, and a record crowd was packed into Bastion Gardens hoping to see us take a step closer to the history books. It was the first time we had broken 500 for a home game in the league – our average hovered around the 330 mark – and the expectation was clear. Win, and a new generation of fans could be born.

Quarter of an hour in, things were tense. Neither Wilson nor Harrison had much to do in their respective goals, the match descending into a midfield battle for the ages. We had Zola and Scotcher in the middle against three from TNS, but one of their trio would always be either ahead of or behind the play to provide an out-ball. Our pair, out of necessity, were left to fend for themselves.

Half an hour in, little change. Draper, so often our nemesis, had a goalbound shot deflected wide by Chris Davies, and our right back was also called into action to rob Kevin Thornton of a clear opportunity. At the other end, we were yet to produce a shot on target but had shown our passing ability clearly – Knight, Frater and Parkinson linked well for one move which saw the latter’s final ball knocked out for a corner. Nothing came of it.

Half time, goalless. I faced a dilemma and a decision. For the former, did I stick to the tactics that were currently keeping us top of the table, and twist and go for the jugular in a bid for instant success? The decision was who to replace the injured Frater with, the more experienced Partridge or the in-form teenager McCreesh both having their merits. In the end, I settled on youth and stability, bringing on McCreesh and sending the lads out as they had come in.

Seven minutes later, there was uproar in the stands. Breaths were held as Scotcher attempted to lay a first-time ball into the area for Knight, only for an outstretched leg of a TNS defender to divert it away from our captain. As Bastion Gardens collectively exhaled, in came the fresh-faced teenager brought on at the break to drive the spinning ball beyond the reach of Harrison. He had barely touched the ball, but McCreesh had come up trumps for us again.

Another 10 minutes, and Neil Ardley was ripping his hair out. This time his team were the architects of their own downfall, playing one pass too many on the edge of our penalty area and gifting possession to Graves. He quickly fed Zola, and in four passes we were bearing down on goal. Hart entered the area, squared the ball behind two defenders chasing back, and leapt for joy as McCreesh finished past the scrambling goalkeeper. The title was surely ours.

Half an hour later, we were even more certain. TNS failed to breach our defence, Wilson made just two saves, and at the final whistle we were deserved winners. Ardley had the good grace to at least shake my hand, but disappeared quickly to make his excuses to the media. In the changing rooms, Chris Tipping made a personal appearance to congratulate us on the win, and told us he looked forward to the party when we finally clinched the title. We were so very close.

neilhoskins77 · August 2, 2015

Excellent stuff. So close now EvilDave....

mark wilson27 · August 2, 2015

Within your grasp Dave, just get through the next three matches without any slip ups and its yours

jdoyle9293 · August 5, 2015

Great work as always, even better when it's met with a beating of TNS. I can already hear "THE CHAMPIOOOONS" theme song playing at Bastion Gardens next season!

EvilDave · August 5, 2015

It sure is good to beat TNS! Thanks for the kind words all, just need to get over the line now...

--

As we took TNS’ place as darlings of the media for the next week at least, a glance down the fixture list made for interesting reading. An ill-timed international break meant we would be more than a week without a game, but while we took on Carmarthen on 8th April, our title rivals would not be I action until three days later – the time we would be contesting our Welsh Cup semi-final with Aberystwyth. Both clubs’ final two games of the season would be played on the same day as the other, and with Bala and Bangor still to play, we knew we could not afford any slip-ups in the race for the title.

So when we walked out onto the field against Carmarthen for our penultimate home game of the season, we were in no mood for complacency. We were playing well, zipping the ball around on the Bastion Gardens turf like a Welsh Barcelona, but the goal would not come. When it did – via the ever-reliable boot of McCreesh – we were already a surprise goal down, and my words at the break were stern. Lose this, and everything could be wasted.

While the boys listened, the visitors were in no mood to lie down, and endured attack after attack as we sought the winning goal. On 65 minutes I rolled the dice, bringing on Partridge and Price for the tiring McCreesh and Hart, and could only wait for the result. In the end, it would come down to fortune.

Fortunately, fortune favoured Prestatyn, as a spot of pinball in the Carmarthen area was ended with a shrill blast of the referee’s whistle. He had seen a foul on Scotcher by the visiting full back, and I had absolutely no complaints as Partridge blasted the penalty into the top corner. Ten minutes later, the same man found himself all alone on the edge of the box, and his low drive was too precise for the goalkeeper’s despairing dive. The score stayed at 3-1, and surely the title was ours now?

As much as I hated to do so, the Welsh Cup was all but sacrificed for the sake of the Premier League. On the one hand, Aberystwyth were beatable opponents and a spot in the final would have rounded off a superb season. On the other, I could not afford to risk any injuries ahead of what were potentially the biggest games in Prestatyn’s long history. Out went the second string, and for the majority of the game I thought more about the events unfolding in Oswestry than our own performance.

Ultimately, Aberystwyth proved too good for our back-up players, booking a place in the final against unfancied non-leaguers Goytre United with a 2-1 win sealed in the dying moments after Rob Harris missed a crucial tackle. Our fans sportingly applauded the victorious team off the field, but remained in Ebbw Vale’s Eugene Cross Park to listen to the final half hour of Airbus’ trip to TNS. They had kicked off 30 minutes after we had, and were locked at 0-0 heading into the crucial final third.

tenthreeleader · August 6, 2015

I like a story that makes me smile. Good work, ED.

EvilDave · August 6, 2015

Many thanks 10-3, I hope the smiles keep coming!

--

I could barely bring myself to be angry at the second string after their 3-1 defeat in Bangor the following week. They had played well, given a good side a run for their money, and after Rhys Weston’s unfortunate own goal had gifted Airbus a 1-0 win the previous weekend, TNS could no longer catch us. That Neil Ardley’s men went down 2-1 to Carmarthen, leaving the gap at six points, served only to bolster my good mood.

We would collect the Premier League trophy after our final game of the season against Bala, and it was fitting that we would lift the silverware in front of our home fans – who again broke our attendance record to see the historic moment. After an entertaining 1-1 draw which saw both sides waste countless chances to claim the win, Josh Knight lifted the trophy high into the air, and with the red ribbons falling from the sky we had officially dethroned TNS. They would be back, of that I was sure, but for now the moment of glory was all ours.

When the moment came for the elaborately-designed trophy to pass into my hands, I took a second to savour the emotion. The joy of comeback victories, the thrill of watching McCreesh develop into a first-rate goalscorer, the simple pleasures in watching Wilson claim yet another high ball. I remembered the run of eight straight wins, our free-scoring attack, the drama of late goals and penalty saves. After all the midweek trips to Carmarthen, cup drama on Anglesey and media mind games with Neil Ardley, we had come out on top.

It was a glorious sensation to be champions. A sensation that surpassed any I had previously come across in football, even our League Cup triumph over newly-relegated Afan Lido last season. It was a sensation that spoke of excellence, dominance and superiority. It spoke of a never-say-die, all-or-nothing attitude that had been instilled in the team. It spoke of dedication to a cause few believed would come to fruition. It spoke of ambition realised, goals reached, expectations exceeded. It spoke of victory.

And I wanted more.

neilhoskins77 · August 6, 2015

Congratulations EvilDave, a great a achievement to dethrone TNS. Hopefully this could be the start of a new dynasty in Welsh football, and some success in the early European rounds too.

jdoyle9293 · August 7, 2015

The Champions League awaits! Great work in dethroning TNS, brilliant writing as ever.

mark wilson27 · August 7, 2015

Well done sir, hopefully the start of something great for the club

EvilDave · August 8, 2015

Thank you all - it was nice to get one over the English lot! Time for Owain to see if he can consolidate the spot at the top...

--

Of course, before we would have to chance to add to our burgeoning trophy cabinet, or even venture into the Champions League for the first time, we had a few weeks off over the summer in which to relax, recuperate, and get ready for the madness of the transfer window. I for one was keen to do our business early this time round, as Rachel’s due date was 26th July – less than a month before the start of the new season.

Before our family expanded, there was still time for us to head away from Prestatyn for a couple of weeks, although there would be no cross-continental flight for my heavily-pregnant wife this year. Instead we took the ferry across the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle, basing ourselves in the picturesque village of Carrigaholt over on the Western coast. The weather may not have been perfect, but with dolphins in the bay, exquisite seafood and the famous Irish hospitality, we had no complaints.

Upon my return, Mr Tipping wanted to meet and discuss the coming year. While he had been eminently reasonable until now, I wondered whether my own success would be my downfall – would anything less than a trophy a year see me given the boot? Would failure to keep TNS off the top spot earn me the axe? It was with some trepidation that I entered the Bastion Gardens boardroom.

“Owain, good to see you! Did you and Rachel enjoy your time in Ireland? Beautiful country, I’d love to move there one day you know.”

“We had a brilliant time, thank you. Although I hope you’re not thinking of upping sticks any time soon Chris, the Seasiders wouldn’t know what to do without you!”

“Less of the flattery, please – you’re the most important man at this club now, and the board keeping letting me know it! Even if I wanted to get rid of you – and I most certainly don’t – they’d ship me off to Anglesey before I got the chance. No, no danger of me going anywhere for now, don’t you worry.”

“Glad to hear it Chris, it would be a shame to see you go. So then, you wanted to meet me about the expectations, I assume?”

“Down to business, quite right. Well Owain, winning the Premier League was incredible. We’d never expected you to win the league, let alone in your second year. As far as I’m concerned, for that alone you have a job for life at Prestatyn.

“But equally we know we can’t expect you to do it every year – TNS can still outspend us comfortably. All we want is your best shot, top three really, to make sure we end up back in Europe. After all, the Champions League hasn’t been kind to us this year.”

“No, Levadia will be tough indeed. I’m getting sick of these draws – first it was Dinamo, then Red Star, now they pull out Levadia. When do we get the amateurs from San Marino? We must be due at least a trip to Gibraltar by now?”

“Such is life in the Welsh league, Owain – you’ll learn one day. Who knows anyway, one of these days you might be leading us in further through the qualifiers, wouldn’t that be the dream?

“Anyway, I digress – there’s a bit of spare cash if you want a transfer fund, probably about £30,000, but if I know you at all you’ll want that straight back in the wage pot. In which case, we can stretch to another two grand on top of what you’re already spending. I know it’s not great, but it’s a start."

“That should do us just fine Chris – I’m only looking at bringing in two or three this time round, quality rather than quantity. You’ll like one of them for sure."

“Why, what have you got up your sleeve? Persuaded Gareth Bale to come home have we?”

“Not quite. Just check your email in a few days, that’s all I’ll say."

“Very good Owain, very good. Anyway, off you go – I’m sure Rachel won’t want you spending all day with me in the holidays. When’s Baby Williams due again? August, is it?”

“July, the 26th to be precise. I can’t wait.”

“I bet. All the best to you both Owain, I’ll see you after the Levadia games.”

EvilDave · August 10, 2015

Before I go on, thank you to everyone who has read or commented on the story so far, and to those who voted this Best Rest of the World Story at this year's awards. It's a real honour to win, and your encouragements have gone a long way to keeping the story going so far. Thank you!

--

I had just two weeks back with the players before the Estonian champions came to Bastion Gardens for our Champions League debut and, similarly to last year, there would a few changes to the squad. Perhaps the most disappointing of the bunch departing was Martyn Harris, the teenage defender who we’d only picked up from Newtown a year ago. Unfortunately he decided he was too good for our second string, and came to me demanding I either give him games or let him go. As he was on non-contract terms, the choice was an easy one.

Also leaving was backup goalkeeper Tom Bainbridge at the end of two years without a single minute, and Lee Owens, a capable deputy at right back who had been pushed out of the first team picture by the arrival of Michael Pearson and the consistency of Chris Davies. He was soon to find employment at Aberystwyth, and I had little doubt he would prove an excellent capture for them.

Arriving were just the three names this year, two of which were not designed to make a great deal of impact. Tom Bradley was an upgrade on Bainbridge as backup to Wilson, but I expected him to play in the League Cup and possibly the early rounds of the Welsh Cup as an absolute maximum. He had potential, and had performed well for non-league Aberdare, but he was still some way off the standard of our undisputed number one.

Also adding depth to the squad would be former Aberystwyth man Mark Jones. A decent striker with a good record for his old club, his was a deal agreed before the emergence of McCreesh, and so would likely be relegated to fifth choice behind Knight, Frater, Partridge and our teenage sensation. His was a one-year deal, and while he would get games, I did not expect him to be happy with his squad role for too long.

The one man I did expect to make an impact however, was none other than Kye Edwards. I had not even considered signing the TNS centre back until I was alerted to his expiring contract, and as we were in the middle of our eight game winning streak, we were an attractive proposition. Edwards had played all but four of our rivals’ matches last year, and had excelled in the centre of defence against us and the rest of the league. He would become our highest paid player at £250 per week, but I was sure he’d be worth it. He would go straight into the starting line-up as our own Edwards – Martin – had begun to show his age, and would likely stay there for many years.

There was a further addition to the senior group, another youth graduate showing sufficient promise to join McCreesh and Ian Sullivan from last year. The new man was Richard Nicholls, a left back who I hoped would be able to replace Josh Evans as Jack Lewis’ deputy over the course of the season. He had the drive to succeed, and his enthusiasm to learn was tempered with a steely determination that I liked a lot. With a wise head on young shoulders, I provisionally earmarked him as future captain material.

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Pontin's, Kwik Save... and Bastion Gardens

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