CHRIS DAVIES: WE’RE HITTING FORM AT THE RIGHT TIME

After going three goals down in 18 minutes to Rhayader Town, Chris Davies would be forgiven for thinking the game was already wrapped up but remarkably they overturned the deficit and ran out 5-4 winners. 

With Rhayader only behind Berriew on goal difference, they were in dream land when Richard Powell grabbed a brace as well as an Ashley Jones strike.

“When you’re three down after eighteen minutes in a big game like this, damage limitation and embarrassment are always in the back of your mind.”

In a game with so many goals, it is usually a clear indication of how teams can be clinical but Davies felt that when the deficit was overturned that it was a deserved comeback.

“You shouldn’t be let back into a game when you’re 3-0 down, I imagine Rhayader will be kicking themselves for not killing the game off. We had chances throughout the game and on the balance of it I think we merited scoring three to get level.”

In high scoring games, questions have to be asked of the defending, going into the match, Carno had 5 clean sheets on the bounce, so it came as a shock to themselves and their manager.

“It’s never good when you have to score five to win a game. Our defence has been solid over the last 6 weeks, they’ve been key to us winning games, so we’ll call it a one off and make sure we tighten up next week.”

Even despite the major setback of the three goal deficit, Carno offered plenty of problems in attack.

“Our attack caused Rhayader problems from the kick-off. The amount of chances we created throughout the game could have seen us score more than five.

On another note to see 5 different goal scorers as well show we’re not reliant on just one or two players to score the goals, which is a positive.”

The 250th goal under Chris Davies’ reign was scored by Gregg Brown but the manager isn’t really focused on landmark goals, but instead the result at the end of the day.

“I’m not really one for landmarks. The focus was on getting the three points, I’m sure Gregg will be delighted though as there was a bit of a debate in the changing room on who would score it.”

The win against Rhayader brings them closer to the pack, with Berriew and Rhayader both level on 42 points and only goal difference separating the two, it means that Carno only sit four points behind the top two.

“I wouldn’t write Llanrhaeadr out of it, even though they’re a few points behind, they have games in hand.

No one can win the league in December so it’s too early to tell but after last nights result, we are in a far better position. We’re really hitting form at the moment, the next month will be crucial.”

On what inspired such a comeback, it was more down to the players before Davies could add any more words of encouragement, with the half-time score being 3-2 to the home side.

“To be fair to the lads, they got themselves back to 3-2 before half time, so I can’t take much credit for the comeback.

We obviously talked about how to be defensively better in the second half and we knew if we did that, we would always create chances to score.”

With the Christmas period approaching, it was time for celebration after the game but Davies himself isn’t a fan of football during the festive period.

“Pitches are heavy at this time of the year, so the players will need more time to recover, but we return to training on Tuesday due to our next game being till Boxing Day.

I’m not really a big fan of Boxing Day football at this level, I myself would rather the week off over Christmas.

With Llanrhaedr being such a big game, it affects how players can enjoy Christmas Day. At this level they don’t get paid to play, so it’s a big sacrifice for them to be disciplined over Christmas. It shows the level of commitment we have in the team.”