PURE SWANSEA: ‘Pressure makes diamonds’ — Midwinter calls for a crowd against Pontypridd

Jack Midwinter is not about to change anything now.

Pure Swansea host Pontypridd United on Friday night with four wins from four and top of the Novira Cymru South, against a side that was playing in the Cymru Premier two years ago.

“We probably don’t change much from how we’ve already approached the other games. We will play the way that we like to play,” the manager told Swansea Bay News.

“We’ll be aware of what Pontypridd are about and where their dangers are. But we’re not going to change what we’re about.

“I think every game becomes a big game when you’re winning. But also, if we weren’t winning, we’d still look at this game as a big game, because Pontypridd are a team that only a couple of years ago were playing in the Welsh Premier League.”

Winning brings its own weight, and he is happy for his players to feel it.

“The boys are excited. There’s probably a little bit more pressure on themselves now because they are winning games of football. But as they say, pressure makes diamonds. So hopefully the lads will get on and show what they’re about on Friday,” Midwinter said.

He also wants a crowd. His call for support before the Llanelli Town derby brought 581 through the gate, the highest attendance in the division that day.

“It’s going to be a big game. We called supporters out for the Llanelli game and we had nearly 600 people there. It would be great to have a similar backing on Friday night,” he said.

“There’s a full round of Cymru fixtures, so there’s a lot of games to choose from, but hopefully people are looking at our game as two informed teams, two good footballing teams, and one where hopefully there’ll be lots of entertainment.”

‘They ran Caerau off the pitch’

Pure arrive on the back of a 5-1 win at Caerau Ely, a game Midwinter had marked out before a ball was kicked.

“It was the game that we probably circled in the opening fixtures as the toughest, and one that we were going to look to challenge ourselves with,” he said.

“They are one of the favourites in the league and, to be fair to the boys, they took that opportunity to challenge themselves and came away with a really impressive result.”

It did not look that way at half-time, with Pure a goal down and having conceded for the first time this season.

“Honestly, I was relatively impressed with the first half from the boys. The goal we conceded was from a mistake of ours and that was probably a turning point in the game for us,” Midwinter said.

“It was the first goal we conceded this season and it just looked like the boys realised it wasn’t going to end our season by conceding.

“It galvanised the players to go that extra mile, extra yard for each other. The boys have built loads of relationships within the team and they trust each other.”

The equaliser came from a corner routine that had just been changed, and had just failed.

“A couple of seconds before that we spoke about changing the corner routine and it didn’t work,” he said.

“Dan picked the ball up from a clearance and put it back in a dangerous area, and Jordan timed it really well with a great header and a great finish to make it 1-1.

“Once we scored that goal I don’t think there was any doubt that there was only going to be one outcome in that match.”

What followed was the most emphatic 45 minutes of Pure’s season.

“They ran Caerau off the pitch in the second half, and we’ve got so much quality in those top areas that you give those boys half a chance at the minute and they’re putting the ball in the back of the net,” Midwinter said.

“When you’ve got Brad Gibbings, who’s as quick and as talented as he is, he causes havoc. Then you’ve got Casey Coughlin and Kyle Copp either side of him, who are just as talented.

“Between the three of those guys, if you’re going to give them half a chance in a football match at this level, they’re more likely to take it.”

Copp off the mark

Friday also brought a first goal for Kyle Copp, the summer signing from Pontardawe Town, after a frustrating opening month.

“It was massive for Kyle. In the four games he’s had some big chances. He had two against Llantwit Major in the first game, he had one off the line at Baglan and he missed a penalty against Llanelli, so he felt like he was never going to score, but he took his chance really well,” Midwinter said.

“But with Kyle, it’s his all-round game that’s keeping him in the team. He came off the pitch on Friday night and said he never realised how much he enjoyed running, because his team-mates around him work so hard.

“If you’ve got players who are willing to run more than anybody else, when the quality comes and he gets his chance to score, I think they’re going to start coming more regularly now.”

The manager traces the run back to last season, and to what the club has built off the pitch.

“The belief has been there for a long time. We had a difficult start to the season last year and once we started winning games, the togetherness with the group of lads we have here is huge,” he said.

“That’s what’s been attractive for players to join us and for staff to join us. When that translates to the performances on the pitch, it becomes more beneficial.

“Momentum is massive at this level. If there’s togetherness and quality, it’s a hard formula to beat.”

Kick-off at Swansea Bay Sports Park is at 7.45pm on Friday.