THE DRUID

IN THIS ISSUE

 HISTORY OF THE CYMRU ALLIANCE PART 17 2006-2007

 LEAGUE TABLES

 NEXT WEEK’S FIXTURES

 FUTSAL RESULTS

 6 MATCH PREDICTION RESULTS WEEKEND WASHOUT

PORTHMADOG FC

Football was virtually wiped out in North this weekend with all Huws Gray Alliance matches falling to the weather. The Welsh National League fared just a little better with only 5 matches in all their leagues and the North East Wales Cup going ahead. The tie between Goytre of the Welsh League and Caernarfon of the Huws Gray Alliance did go ahead in though with the home side winning 4-2.

MANAGER OF THE MONTH

Druids manager, Huw Griffiths, has won the Huws Gray manager of the month award for November. Druids won all their games in November scoring 13 goals and conceding only 2. Congratulations to Huw and all his staff. Is the Huws Gray Alliance getting better or the Welsh Premier getting worse?

Is the HGA getting a whole lot better, or do their teams' victories over higher level opposi- tion just reflect how poor the Welsh Premier has become? It has often been said this season that the Welsh Premier - with the exception of title certs The New Saints - has never been as tight. It is true that just a couple of wins can quickly turn a team in the relegation zone into genu- ine top-six candidates. So does that mean teams are improving, the competition is fiercer, or are they all so ordi- nary that no-one can put together a genuine winning run to challenge TNS?

HGA GIANT-KILLINGS (9) Cefn Druids 1 0 (Welsh Cup) Caernarfon Town 1 Bangor City 0 (Word Cup) Caernarfon Town 2 Bala Town 1 (Word Cup) Denbigh Town 4 Rhyl 2 (Word Cup) Denbigh Town 2 Airbus 1 (Word Cup) Denbigh Town 1 gap Connah's Quay 0 (Word Cup) Hotspur 2 MBi Llandudno 0 (Word Cup) Holyhead Hotspur 2 Bangor City 1 (Welsh Cup) MBi Llandudno 0 Buckley Town 0 (Buckley won 4-3 on pens - Welsh Cup) And you could add to that list Penrhyncoch from the third-tier Mid-Wales League sending Newtown tumbling out of the Word Cup on penalties.

Home Team vREVISED WELSH CUP ROUND 4 Afan Lido v Cardiff Metropolitan Barry Town United v The New Saints Cwmbran Celtic v Goytre (Gwent) Gap Connahs Quay v Buckley Town Guilsfield or Cwmamman v Airbus Holyhead Hotspur v Bala Town Newtown v Cefn Druids Port Talbot Town v Caerau Ely LEAGUE TABLES

HUWS GRAY ALLIANCE HOME AWAY OVERALL Pd W D L W D L W D L F A GD Pts Cefn Druids 15 5 0 4 6 0 0 11 0 4 30 14 16 33 Town 14 4 1 2 6 0 1 10 1 3 37 20 17 31 Caernarfon Town 14 3 1 2 6 2 0 9 3 2 31 11 20 30 Holywell Town 14 5 1 1 4 1 2 9 2 3 33 14 19 29 Flint Town United 15 5 1 3 3 1 2 8 2 5 32 21 11 26 Denbigh Town 15 3 1 4 5 1 1 8 2 5 32 27 5 26 Guilsfield 14 3 0 3 5 2 1 8 2 4 29 24 5 26 Holyhead Hotspur 14 3 3 2 3 1 2 6 4 4 24 18 6 22 Gresford Athletic 14 3 0 3 3 3 2 6 3 5 25 23 2 21 15 3 0 4 3 1 4 6 1 8 24 32 -8 19 Buckley Town 15 1 1 6 3 1 3 4 2 9 23 37 -14 14 Conwy Borough 13 3 1 4 1 0 4 4 1 8 15 20 -5 13 Llanfair United 13 1 0 5 3 0 4 4 0 9 21 33 -12 12 Mold Alex 14 0 2 3 3 0 6 3 2 9 22 32 -10 11 Town 13 1 1 5 1 0 5 2 1 10 14 47 -33 7 Caersws 14 0 0 6 2 0 6 2 0 12 12 31 -19 6

WNL Premier Division P W D L F A Pts WNL Reserves Division P W D L F A Pts

FC Nomads of CQ 15 10 3 2 42 27 33 Mold Alex 14 11 1 2 46 16 34 Chirk AAA 11 8 2 1 47 10 26 Chirk AAA 13 10 1 2 55 20 31 Queens Park 11 7 2 2 39 20 23 FC Nomads of CQ 10 8 0 2 33 18 24

Ruthin Town 10 7 1 2 31 16 22 Town 12 7 2 3 24 18 23 Hawarden Rangers 12 7 1 4 30 19 22 Gresford Athletic 11 7 1 3 30 16 22 Saltney Town 11 6 2 3 40 24 20 Holywell Town 11 7 0 4 43 16 21 Brickfield Rangers 11 6 2 3 27 22 20 Cefn Druids 12 6 1 5 24 20 19 Brymbo 9 5 2 2 20 9 17 Llangollen 12 3 2 7 23 30 11 Penycae 12 5 1 6 34 35 16 Corwen 11 3 2 6 13 24 11 Corwen 10 4 1 5 28 21 13 Castell AC 10 3 2 5 19 40 11

Penyffordd 10 3 2 5 18 39 11 Queens Park 9 3 1 5 19 19 10 Overton 13 3 1 9 26 35 10 Hawarden Rangers 10 3 1 6 19 30 10 Llay Welfare 13 2 3 8 19 42 9 Llay Welfare 9 2 0 7 13 33 6

Borras Park Albion 12 1 1 10 13 48 4 Coedpoeth Utd 11 2 0 9 16 51 6 Coedpoeth Utd 12 0 0 12 10 57 0 Penycae 9 0 0 9 10 36 0 ACADEMY FUTSAL Druids travelled to to participate in the second round of the Futsal tournament and Druids U16’s came close to a win in their first game against Porthmadog losing 3-2 to a late goal by the opponents. After settling into the pace of the Futsal games Druids had an excellent convincing win in the second game beating Caernarfon 3-0. The third game saw the Druids narrowly miss out on a win, against Conwy, with the final score at 5-4. Following a team talk, the team re-grouped and played some excellent football and then beat Bala by 6-3 in the final game. *************************************** Druids U12s began there second futsal weekend with five fixtures against CPD Porthmadog, Caer- narfon Town, Conwy Borough, Newtown and Bala Town. After having an impressive first week the boys carried on their fine form by picking up 12 points with four wins and one defeat.

Game 1 Druids 4-1 CPD Porthmadog - Goal Scorers Ben Williams , Dale Hughes (2) & Callum Forster (2). An impressive display from the boys who dominated possession and had a great num- ber of chances with Porthmadog rarely threatening and only scoring a consolation goal in the last minute. Very quick pass and move football played and very impressive to watch.

Game 2 Druids 5-2 Caernarfon Town. Goal Scorers Kian Evans (2) Callum Forster (2) & Dale Hughes. A shaky start saw Druids go down 2-0 in the first half. Caernarfon looked really threat- ening in the first ten minutes with Druids second to the ball and not moving the ball with much quality and looking really flat. Second half was a complete turn around with Druids really stepping the tempo and moving the ball faster and working triangles to turn the game around to win 5-2.

Game 3 Druids 11-1 Conwy Borough. Goal scorers Kian Evans (3) Morgan Bagnell (3) Dale Hughes (2) Alfie Owens (2) Charles Minshall. Druids stamped their authority from the whistle by dominating the game from start to finish. Conwy didn't put Druids under any pressure and had to thank their goalkeeper who kept the scoreline from potentially doubling. Fine individual perfor- mances from each player.

Game 4 Cefn Druids 4-2 Newtown. Goal scorers Kian Evans, Callum Forster, Charles Minshall & Ben Williams. Another game where Druids started second best with Newtown having the better chances in the first half and went 1-0 up through some brilliant football. Druids responded be- fore half time to level the game at 1-1. Second half Druids stepped up once again and were the bet- ter team looking more threatening and made the game 2-1. Newton equalized on a breakaway goal before two quick goals sealed the victory.

Game 5 Cefn Druids 2-5 Bala Town. Tiredness played a huge factor in the result and the perfor- mance and with a few players having to leave for other commitments it didn't help. Bala scored in the first few seconds straight from the kick off. The players confidence dropped and the football become sloppy with no quality on the final ball. Druids equalized before Bala went 2-1 up half time. Second half Druids tiredness showed and Bala scored some great goals. Disappointing result but with playing a lot of football in the day and tiredness playing a big role and on another day the result could have been different.

Fantastic overall with 12/15 points gained putting us 19/26 point in the standings, some tough games in Week 3 v TNS, Bangor City and Airbus await Druids but I have full confidence In the players getting the results. With some good results in week 3 we could see our- selves in the Top 4 which would be a great achievement considering the team has been together for 6 months.

LICENSING REPORT

As 2016 nears it can only mean one thing for a number of clubs in Wales. Domestic License time. Clubs who want to play in next season’s Welsh Premier League will be frantically ensuring everything is in place and all boxes are correctly ticked and double, if not even triple, checked. For us the work towards the licensing started in earnest last week. Steven Jones from the FAW’s Licensing Department came to The Rock to ensure the stadium was up to scratch and had all the necessary facilities required of a Welsh Premier League ground. This was his first ever visit to The Rock and he left suitably impressed which, to me at least, is a good sign to say we’re on our way to attaining the license once again. That, though, is just the first part of several sections that need to be complied with if we are to reach the standards set by the FAW for the fourth year in a row. Whilst attaining those off the pitch standards to play in the Welsh Premier League is one thing, it’s a harder battle to secure it on the pitch. We have seen this season that there are several clubs who are capable of winning this season’s Huws Gray Alliance title and, thankfully, we are one of those. This season has been unpredictable so far with some sides tripping up at various times. Prestatyn took a while to properly find their feet, we had a run of home games without a win and Denbigh currently appear to be distracted by the Word Cup run. At present we sit top of the pile, but have played a game more than some of our rivals. But, as Huw has says, it’s better having the points on the board than to be playing catch up. All it takes is an off day and/or inspired or dogged opposition to frustrate you and a minimum of two points could easily be dropped. There is still a long way to go, both on and off the pitch, before we find out where we will be plying our trade next season. But Cefn Druids guarantees it will be doing its best to get a return to the Welsh Premier League.

Mark McKean Secretary/Media & Licensing Officer WORST EVER FOOTBALL KITS? Around this time of year clubs start looking at their kits for the following season. If you think some of this season’s kits are bad, below are some of the disasters some clubs have gone with in the past, mostly from the 90’s. Would you support a club who wore these?

In season 1993-94 this was the 1st In the same year the team kit at Bury Arsenal goalkeeper had to wear this.

Spanish 2nd Division side La Hoya Lorca wore this kit last season! Even worse in 1994-95 Sunderland made their goal- keeper wear this!

Dundee United 1993-94

In 1996-97 this was Scunthorpe’s kit

Athletic Bilbao 2004-05 CELEBRATIONS! BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT FOR FURTHER DETAILS OF SIZES ETC DRUIDS CLUB SHOP CONTACT TOM IN THE CLUB SHOP [email protected] or call on 07935285447

DRUIDS REPLICA HOME SHIRT FROM DRUIDS REPLICA DRUIDS ZIPPED £29.95 AWAY SHIRT FROM HOODIE £24.95 FROM £17.00

DRUIDS SUPERFIT DRUIDS ULTRA RUGBY SHIRT DRUIDS POLO SHIRT PADDED GILET DIFFERENT COLOURS DIFFERENT COLOURS £36.00 AVAILABLE £27.00 AVAILABLE £14.00

DRUIDS DRUIDS “JOMA” DRUIDS FLEECE “DERWYDDON” TEE DRUIDS COMBI SHIRT LINED JACKET SHIRT FROM £9.00 SOFT SHELL FROM £12.00 £36.00 DIFFERENT COL- JACKET £32 OURS AVAILABLE HUWS GRAY ALLIANCE HISTORY Part 17 2006-07 (Continued from previous issues) With no team promoted and two teams promoted from the feeder leagues, Prestatyn Town (Welsh Alliance)and Mynydd Isa (Welsh National) promoted and Holywell Town relegat- ed the league returned to eighteen teams. Llangefni Town, Bala Town and Flint Town United were the front runners. Llangefni changed manager in October with former Caernarfon Town and Colwyn bay manager Ady Jones taking control. The appointment spurred Llangefni on and they finally won the league by two points from Bala Town with Flint fourth and promoted Prestatyn Town fin- ishing their first season in the Cymru Alliance in fourth place. Llangefni passed gained the domestic license and gained promotion to the Welsh Premier League The league cup was won by Bala Town who beat Holyhead Hotspur in the final at Llan- dudno.

NEXT WEEK’S FIXTURES

HUWS GRAY ALLIANCE WNL RESERVES DIVISION Caersws v Buckley Castell AC v Chirk Gresford v Holyhead Cefn Druids v Llangollen Holywell v Conwy Coedpoeth v Penycae

Llanfair United v Prestatyn FC Nomads v Corwen Mold v Porthmadog Hawarden v Gresford Rhayader v Druids Llay Welfare v Ruthin Queens Park v Holywell

6 MATCH PREDICTION RESULTS

Home,Draw, Draw, Away, Away, Draw, (1,3,3,2,2,3,) There were NO winners this week so the prize money will increase to £120 for next week.

Teams for Saturday 19th December are:

Everton vs Leicester City West Brom vs AFC Bournemouth Burnley vs Charlton Athletic Chesterfield vs Bradford Exeter City vs Luton Town Forest Green vs Borehamwood

EVERY MONDAY NIGHT IS BINGO NIGHT IN THE SOCIAL CLUB. THERE ARE 12 HOUSES INCLUDING FLIERS, all with cash prizes . ADMISSION IS FREE AND PRIZES RANGE FROM £3 TO £85+. THERE IS ALSO “OPEN THE BOX” WITH A GUARANTEED CASH PRIZE WHICH COULD BE WORTH IN EXCESS OF £100. FULL BAR FACILITIES. TEA AND COFFEE ALSO AVAILABLE

IMPORTANT NOTICE

THE ENTRY PRICES WILL REMAIN AT £5 FOR ADULTS, £3 FOR CONCESSIONS AND £1 FOR CHILDREN U16. ACADEMY PARENTS ACCOMPANYING ACADEMY PLAYERS IN THEIR TRACK SUITS WILL PAY THE CONCESSIONARY PRICE AND ACADEMY PLAYERS IN THEIR TRACK SUITS WILL BE FREE.

Contact Us Postal Address:- Cefn Druids FC, The Rock Stadium, Rock Road, Rhosymedre, Wrexham. LL14 3YF 01978 810287 Email:- [email protected] Website:- www.cefndruidsafc.co.uk August 14 Fri Gresford Athletic A 6.45 W 2-1 22 Sat Holywell Town H 2.30 W 2-1 28 Fri Rhayader Town H 8.00 W 4-1 September 2 Wed Prestatyn A 7.30 W 2-0 5 Sat Porthmadog H 2.00 L 3-2 8 Tue Airbus (Word Cup) H 7.30 L 2-0 12 Sat Conwy Borough (LC) H 2.30 L 2-1 19 Sat Caernarfon Town A 2.30 W 1-0 25 Fri Denbigh Town H 7.30 L 2-0 October 3 Sat Gresford Welsh Cup (Rnd 1) H 2.00 W 4-0 7 Wed Buckley H 7.30 L 2-1 10 Sat Caersws H 2.30 W 1-0 17 Sat Holyhead Hotspur A 2.30 W 1-0 23 Fri Guilsfield H 7.45 L 2-1 31 Sat Porthmadog Welsh Cup (Rnd 2) H 2.00 W 2-0 November 6 Fri Conwy H 7.45 W 3-1 14 Sat Mold Alexandra A 2.00 W 4-0 21 Sat Llanfair United H 2.30 W 4-0 28 Sat Flint Town Utd A 2.30 W 2-1 December 5 Sat Rhyl (Welsh Cup 3) H 2.30 * W 1-0 19 Sat Rhayader Town A 2.30 28 Mon Prestatyn H 2.30 January 9 Sat Porthmadog A 2.30 16 Sat Caernarfon Town H 2.30 22 Fri Denbigh Town A 7.45 30 Sat Buckley A 2.30 February 6 Sat Newtown (Welsh Cup Rnd 4) A 2.30 13 Sat Holyhead Hotspur H 2.30 20 Sat Guilsfield A 2.30 March 5 Sat Mold Alexandra H 2.30 12 Sat Llanfair United A 2.30 19 Sat Flint Town United H 2.30 Gresford Athletic H Holywell Town A To be arranged Caersws A Conwy Borough A ALL FIXTURES SUBJECT TO CHANGE * After extra time