CONWY SUFFER NARROW DEFEAT TO GUILSFIELD

CONWY BOROUGH 1 V GUILSFIELD 2
HUWS GRAY CYMRU ALLIANCE @ Y MORFA
19 NOVEMBER 2016 --- 2.30PM

Y MORFA HOME OF CONWY BOROUGH FC

A double from Guilsfield's Jake Cooke was enough to see off the challenge of a hardworking Conwy under new manager Brian Pritchard who had Chris Quinn to thank for their first half goal.
The shortage of journeys to Wales last season was reversed here with the second trip in 3 weeks following the delightful trip to Bala a few weeks ago.  Having made the arduous journey to Maes Tegid 2 weeks back today gave the opportunity to visit Y Morfa home of Conwy Borough and one that had been on the 'to do list' for too long.  Having been to Conwy on a few previous occasions a chance to take a look at the town was also an additional highlight.

EARLY START ALL MADE WORTH IT WITH THIS VIEW OF CONWY

Here we go with the early repetitive stuff an early start saw us depart on the 8.20 from base station to Liverpool with our first change at Manchester.  The first 1 hours 20 minutes was spent stood with no space at all on a train that was only 2 carriages and packed the full length with standing customers [?].  As ever Mick and myself got in conversation with a variety of people who were around us as we all laughed and joked away the situation!  There was a Mansfield Town supporter off to Haydock races alongside a Liverpool fan off to the city to watch the reds away game in Southampton with his mates in a local public house, cheers guys you helped the journey move along.  We finally departed to a packed platform at Manchester Piccadilly for a comfort stop before this all started again for the Arriva Train service to Llandudno.  Thankfully although the train was busy there were enough seats to secure us a fairly comfortable ride and start to enjoy the North Wales coastline after we departed Chester.

DEGANWY AND THE GREAT ORME IN THE BACKGROUND

Our departure was on time and we opted for the 1 mile walk into Conwy to enjoy the beauty of the estuary, Conwy Castle, Deganwy and as we turned around the Great Orme at Llandudno was in full view.

WALLED TOWN ALLOWS IN HUNGRY BLOGGERS

The lunch time weather was beautiful and this expanded us a superb view of this beautifully scenic town as we entered the harbour area Mick had popped off to visit the RNLI shop and the lady serving enquired "Are you here to run the half marathon tomorrow"?  My reply involved  my expanding waistline and that I was just here for Mars never mind a marathon.  Anyway after a look around the glorious harbour area and a quick visit to the smallest house in Wales, closed for winter, of which I well remember the lady in full Welsh costume who is normally on guard we took a look at a section of wall that encases this town before going of in search of lunch.

FISHERMANS FOR THE HUNGRY FISH AND CHIP SHOP SEEKERS

Fish and chips something you often here in this blog was sampled at 'Fishermans' and off we went searching out the tourist information centre eating.  A quick look at the train station which is a short platform affair with the towns wall having an archway over the entrance to the hub.  We arrived back in town to the superb bakery shop that is directly opposite the fish and chip shop now here were the largest of cakes on display but thankfully I opted for a couple of Welsh bakestones of which I kindly donated one to my fellow traveller.

Y MORFA VENUE AND THE BUSINESS END

With the clock passing 1pm we opted to take a walk out to Y Morfa along the Bangor Road its always a good way of getting a further feel for the area we are visiting and as we approached the tidy little housing estate just before the railway line dissected the road upon its bridge we saw a yellow traffic sign advertising the next home game except there were no opponents listed.  After a short amble along Penmaen Rd we came to Y Morfa and Conwy Borough FC the far side of the stadium was the main entrance that allowed us access to this little beauty.

STAND AT THE TOWN END WITH CONWY MURAL

We duly paid our admission monies, purchased programmes and a raffle ticket before setting off on a photographic mission while Mick enjoyed his usual chatting to visitors and locals alike.  Firstly the ground has a good PA system although probably a limited amount of music never the less its great to be able to hear it and a club use it.

TALL DUGOUTS IN CORPORATE COLOURS

 At out entrance is the clubs main business area but we will set off to the left toilet block all very smart and along the near touchline a small covered flat terrace before high roofed dugouts and beyond continuation of hard standing terracing to the town end goal which had a large stand with mural to Conwy painted on its wall.  This stand is currently closed with roof work needed although it looked smart enough, the club aim to remove the seats after the repairs and it will make another extra covered terrace area.  Back along the far touchline with has steep stepped terracing to either side of a centrally positioned stand, this area offers an excellent view.

TERRACING WITH MAIN STAND AND RAILWAY LINE BEHIND

Behind this is a small amount of ground before the embankment for the railway line to Bangor and Holyhead to the west and of course Conwy to the east sadly I missed all cues to get a photo as various trains passed by although in my defence the trees have grown a little over the years since I saw some of the pictures previously taken.  Once again behind this further is the most fantastic back drop I've seen for a while at a ground the Conwy Mountains, so I'm told they are locally known as.

STAND TO STAND

Back to the business end and a hospitality cabin on stilts, breezes blocks to me and you, offers an excellent view and is a great addition.  The main expanse then has the newly installed/refurbished clubhouse forming Y Morfa Venue, secretary's office, snack bar with external hatch and then in a separate building the changing rooms and we are back at the turnstile entrance area.  My impressions well I had seen quite a few pictures on research and although the club have some new projects to see through this is an excellent ground to view from and one of which I very much enjoyed in my short stay.  Its really a question of where to view from the road side gives a superb view of the game with the mountains as a back drop but the opposite side offers a superb view with steep terrace to welcome you, I guess I need to visit a few more times and watch from different parts of the ground!

NEW MANAGER BRIAN PRITCHARD POINTS THE WAY FORWARD WOOLLY HAT AND ALL

Having picked up a couple of warm drinks from the snack bar we got into conversation with a chap from Hednesford who was running the half marathon tomorrow hope that went well, a guy visiting his son at Bangor University and taking in the game plus during the game a former player and in one of my wanders a friendly supporter who had brought along his dig for the half an hour he could get along to watch the game and once again a was friendly to the visiting blog, thanks guys you make the day!  I had managed to find the secretaries office and Paul supplied me with a team sheet and a little bit of information on the clubs plans including adding 2 further stands to either side of the one already in situ now on the terraced side.

MATCH ACTION FEATURING THE MOUNTAINS

Todays game would be Brian Pritchard's first game in charge at Conwy, formerly of Witton Albion as a player and manager and the latter at Barnton, Brian played and talked his way through every ball this afternoon and if his enthusiasm rubs off on the players it wont be long before Conwy lift themselves from second bottom position.

CONWY KEEPER WILLIAMS IN EARLY ACTION

Guilsfield from Powys were comfortably sat in mid table and I expected the home side to start strongly and indeed they did but the game soon settled down into a fairly even affair but it was the visitors who took a lead after 34 minutes when Cooke turned home a lovely cross goal shot into the far corner of the Conwy net from wide right of the penalty box.

COOKE [FAR RIGHT] GIVES GUILSFIELD THE LEAD

Ten minutes later Conwy deservedly levelled when captain Quinn headed home despite the efforts of the Guilsfield defence to clear the ball before it crossed the line.

FURTHER ACTION AT Y MORFA

It was all square at half time and the second half continued to be a similar close affair it was agricultural at times but never lacking effort from both sides indeed new manager Pritchard must have been very happy with his sides commitment even though ultimately they lost to a penalty in the second half what looked a clear push saw referee Hughes award the spot kick for Cooke to get his and Guilsfield's second.

A GOOD PERFORMANCE FROM REFEREE MIKEY GRAY

It proved enough to gain the 3 points but Conwy worked hard in the final minutes without creating to many clear cut chances although on 89 minutes Joe Choplin fired in a sharp shot that Dave Littleford did well to hold onto in the visitors goal.

DETERMINATION FROM CONWY WAS WELL ON SHOW

Not to be for the Tangerines of Conwy today but I reckon their new manager will get things on the upward curve soon.  As ever it was time to depart and when you have enjoyed a visit its always with a tinge of sadness.

JUST BEFORE OUR DEPARTURE AN EMPTY FLOODLIT GROUND

We opted not to rush back for the 4.50 train and walk back into Conwy which thankfully allowed for some lovely evening views of the castle and town.  Arriving back at Llandudno Junction station at about 5.15 with just over half an hour to wait for our train to Manchester.

CONWY IN THE EARLY EVENING

  The journey back to Manchester was comfortable, at last, we assisted a visually impaired lady onto and off the train at Warrington after a kind request from the local British Transport Policeman at the station and she was a lovely lady making a long journey back to Blackpool.  A 50 minute wait at Oxford Rd saw us amazed at how busy this station was tonight but thankfully our train was soon taking us back over the Peak District even though we got a seat on it the tired travellers were unfortunately disturbed by some football league fans who had probably sampled a few drinks, ha,ha.
Base station was a welcoming site just shy of 1000pm and once again a trip to Wales had resulted in a steady little game but a wonderful visit to a lovely town and a very enjoyable football club, if you haven't visited either its definitely one I recommend.  I cant wait to visit again soon.

AN ARRIVA TRAINS 175 DROPS US AT LLANDUDNO JUNCTION