CAERNARFON Town boss Steve O’Shaughnessy is targeting a top-six finish next season after his side dramatically secured their Welsh Premier status last weekend.
The Canaries host relegation battlers Airbus UK tomorrow knowing their place in the top flight of Welsh football is assured following last Saturday’s shock 3-1 win at league leaders The New Saints.
After being rooted to the league’s relegation spot for most of the season, Caernarfon are now seven points clear of bottom club Cwmbran Town with just two games to play, after a turnaround that has included crucial victories over Welshpool, Newtown and Cwmbran and an impressive draw at Rhyl’s Belle Vue.
And O’Shaughnessy believes his side are finally starting to show their true colours after a difficult campaign since he took over from previous manager Wayne Phillips in September.
“For the last four or five seasons Caernarfon have under-achieved,” said O’Shaughnessy, a former Canaries player who can also count Bangor City, Rhyl, TNS and Cefn Druids among his former clubs.
“But we’re going to start afresh next year and hopefully we can be in the top six.
“I think we’re in a false position in the league – our form has come at a bad time for us because if it had come a few months ago we’d have finished a lot higher. Potentially we could be a big club with a crowd – we’ve got a big potential fan base here and that’s what we want to attract, but we’ve got to get the results to get them to come.”
Results have been a problem for most of the season, but have improved dramatically recently, with the Canaries having taken seven points from the league’s top three sides in recent weeks.
Also crucial was a 3-0 victory away to key relegation rivals Cwmban, but O’Shaughnessy points to a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw at Rhyl as the turning point for Caernarfon.
“Suddenly we got a result and it was just a confidence thing,” he said. “The first one was the Rhyl away game when we drew 0-0. They were going well. Rhyl are a big club, a very good side, and we played really well. It gave us confidence and we’ve grown from there.”
He says his players were inspired to put on a good show for the cameras in the televised game at Treflan, when most expected the champions to turn over Caernarfon and secure their third successive Welsh Premier crown.
“The last few months we’ve been getting better and better,” he added. “The cameras were there to see TNS win the league on Saturday so it was nice to get the win.
“It was a great result – to be honest I’d have been happy with a draw, but to get a win was magnificent.”
There is still a remote possibility the Canaries could get sucked back into the relegation battle as the FAW are still investigating a complaint of racial abuse against the club made by Newtown.
If they were found guilty, the precedent set by Porthmadog’s case earlier this season would point to a three-point deduction.
