HISTORY makers Caernarfon Town have qualified for Europe for the first time and they did it in some style.
Following their rampant 5-0 semi final win against Newtown, visitors Penybont had been labelled favourites ahead of the big clash at the Carling Oval on Saturday but they were blown out of the water in a scintillating first half display by the Cofis.
Cheered on by a 1,960 bumper crowd - the highest of the season by some distance - the Canaries raced to a three-goal lead at the break.
Manager Richard Davies went more defensive in the second half and they kept Penybont at bay until the first minute of stoppage time but by then it was too little too late.
The home fans were subdued for a bit but as the seconds ticked by the volume increased again and the celebrations at the end will live long in the memory.
Rhys Griffiths’ men made the better start but the men in yellow and green grew into it and nearly nudged ahead when Daniel Gosset’s effort was saved by Adam Przybek on 17 minutes.
The Cofi army did not have to wait long to voice their battle cry as Louis Lloyd clipped the ball over Przybek after good work by his skipper Darren Thomas.
Kane Owen cleared the ball but the referee’s assistant was clear that the ball had crossed the line.
Zack Clarke doubled their advantage from the penalty spot on 26 minutes after a foul on Lloyd by Billy Borge and the home faithful were in dreamland when Sion Bradley finished past Przybek after robbing the ball off Mark Little down the left.
Town were rampant and they nearly put the game to bed with a fourth before the break when Lloyd fired wide when the better option could have been to seek out a team-mate.
The visitors offered more of a threat after the turnaround and on another day they could have made a game of it.
Their best chances came from headers with Gabriel Kirkcough nodding wide, Chris Venables denied by a Marc Williams goal-line clearance and Daniel Jefferies heading against the bar.
But Caernarfon, despite playing more on the back foot, still offered a real threat on the break, their best effort to add to their tally a fierce drive by Clarke which was well saved by Przybek.
Credit to Penybont, they kept plugging away and were finally rewarded when Ryan Reynolds netted a left-footed cracker past Josh Tibbetts but there was no denying Caernarfon’s glory.
Caernarfon: Josh Tibbetts, Iwan Cartwright, Gruff John (Phil Mooney 83), Dion Donohue, Sion Bradley, Daniel Gosset, Darren Thomas (Ben Maher 83), Marc Williams, Zack Clarke (Osian Evans 90), Louis Lloyd (Adam Davies 69), Morgan Owen.