Featured Image | Sam Eaden/FAW
A season already full of highs and lows for 2024 Genero Adran North champions Llandudno. 4th in the division after four games, which is where they finished last time out. Maximum points in the group stages of the Adran Trophy, including wins against Connah’s Quay Nomads in both the Trophy and the Bute Energy Welsh Cup, before facing Wrexham in next stage of the Trophy. They have also beaten last season’s North runners up Llanfair United this season.
Despite all of that, there’s still a sense of disappointment at Llandudno. For a number of reasons, it hasn’t all clicked on a consistent basis.
Speaking on the Adran Leagues Show, defender Mia Roberts has cited a lack of consistency in the fixture schedule of clubs in the Adran North, and the lack of games some clubs play.
After CPD Y Rhyl 1879 withdrew from the league in the summer, the FAW were unable to draft a team back into the league, in time for the opening day of the season. It means a team misses out each game week, in an already short season of league games for tier two clubs with no Phase Two in place.
Roberts said to Cymru Sport: “Last year was a difficult season. It’s sadly mirrored last season in a sense. We started really well; our aim every year is to win the league and get as far as possible in cup competitions. We’ve just hit a bit of a roadblock really.
“We’ve built a really good side and made some additions over the summer. We’re just trying to wrap our heads around it. It doesn’t help when some games have been a bit stretched out, and we’ve had a few gaps this season already. It’s really difficult to pick up on that consistency of games and performances, and that’s been tough.
“Sometimes when you’re going weeks without a game, I don’t think we were set to have a game in the whole of November until the Llangefni Cup game got put in there. I know we are and a number of other teams in our league are only training once a week. You suddenly find girls are only just getting back into the speed of things, and that slows us down a bit.
“It’s hard when you’re suddenly looking at your diary and you haven’t got a game until the new year, and to keep those levels up and motivation up.
“I don’t like to make excuses because the bottom line is we haven’t been good enough. We’re disappointed and we just want to get to the New Year and start fresh.
“I think it’s a really difficult one. I’ll say these things and it will sound like I’m critiquing the FAW that’s never the case, because i look at that role of trying to improve women’s football across Wales and I think that’s a real tough task.
“At the moment it’s still in the foundation phase really.”
Another potential stumbling block for Llandudno was their Genero Adran Trophy tie with Wrexham AFC.
Always a difficult challenge against the Genero Adran Premier leaders. Whilst the occasion itself was big for North Wales, a heavy 9-0 defeat for Llandudno meant confidence hit a low. It was followed by a 3-0 league defeat to newly promoted Berriew, and a scare against tier three Llangefni Town in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup.
Roberts explained: “We knew it was going to be a really difficult task coming up against that side, particularly at that point in time. They were free scoring.
“There was a lot of frustration after that game. We still have the belief in ourselves that we can make it harder for opposition of that standard, we felt like we’d let ourselves down especially with it being the week following the win away at Llanfair United.
“As that cup game (Llanfair vs TNS) showed, that it’s a really tough place to go. You’ve got to give them credit, they’re a top team and I think sometimes people are quick to discount that in the Adran North.
“Following on from that Wrexham game, I think we were a team a bit low on confidence, and other teams don’t mind taking full advantage of that and rightfully so.
“This league and all league across the Welsh game at the moment need to be competitive and should be at that competitive level, where you want to have that feel where anyone can beat anyone.
“We beat Llangefni but that was far tighter than it should have been. We’re 2-0 up at halftime and didn’t come out at all second half. Again, dropped way below our standards that we set for ourselves.
“I totally respect all levels of opposition we come up against. But I expect us to be better, and I know we can be. That’s where the frustration comes out. There’s a lot of work to do and we know that. We know also that we’ve shown some really good moments this season already, so we’ve shown where we can be and we want to get back there.
“In an ideal world from that Llangefni win, if we had a game following week we could’ve gone straight into things. That’s again where I look at the schedule and it’s so frustrating as a player. You see Adran Premier teams playing pretty much week in week out.
“If you’re wanting North or South teams to be able to compete, and then you’re giving us weeks without games, I just think that puts you at a massive disadvantage.”
A positive for Llandudno has been the number of players stepping up into a senior environment in recent times. Beca Davies, Angharad Jones, Amelia Mercer, Olivia Rigby and Cara Roberts have all featured this season in the Genero Adran North, having only briefly been in a senior football environment.
Another player to have stepped up is midfielder Seren Cashen. A regular feature of Wrexham and The New Saints U19s in recent seasons, she has had a breakout season in senior football with Llandudno under manager Jay Davies.
Mia Roberts’ former teammate Lily Whitefoot has also been back on the scene, with the striker signing for Llandudno ahead of their Welsh Cup game with Llangefni. A brief spell back in Wales as she continues developing in the United States, but a welcome one for Mia and her teammates.
She said: “Lily I’ve known for quite a while. She was at TNS at the same time I was but was a younger age group, but I’d know about her because she was a Wrexham girl. She’s one of those who you know is a talent up front, a finisher, can take her chances, and is just a lovely girl, as is Seren (Cashen).
“When I was told she (Lily) got added to the WhatsApp group for Llandudno a few weeks back, I was super excited because I thought this is probably one of the things we’ve been missing this season in terms of that cutting edge and finishing ability up top, and that’s no disrespect to anyone who has played that position.
“I was probably frustrated for her that she didn’t get a few more opportunities with the (Wrexham) first team.
“Seren Cashen who I knew a bit about. I don’t think I played with her competitively but played with her in Hong Kong of all places over the summer in a tournament with Wrexham.
“She’s a workhorse in the middle of the park, and the sort of player you want in your team because you know they’ll do the hard yards, which sometimes goes unnoticed. A lovely girl and someone who’s still developing.”
Listen to the full interview with Mia Roberts and this week’s full discussion on all things Adran Leagues in the latest Adran Leagues Show podcast, available now!
