Jonah is still ready to grab goals for the Vikings!

When Paul Jones touched home the winning goal for Hakin United against Merlins Bridge in last season’s Senior Cup Final it rounded off a cracking season as captain of the Vikings because they also won the league title to achieve the coveted double – and the player known to us all as ‘Jonah’ was delighted to raise both trophies aloft!
It added to a long list of vital goals he has scored over almost two decades of football and at 35 years of age he is already looking forward to the new campaign with as much enthusiasm as he did when he first set out on the road to a career which saw him previously achieve a record seven league winners’ medals on the trot, four of them accompanied by success in the senior cup, two West Wales Intermediate Cup winners’ trophies and spells with Pembroke Borough (Welsh League) and Haverfordwest County (Welsh Premier League).

Guardian top scorer

One of his other undoubted claims to fame has to be the fact that he won the West Wales Guardian Cup, awarded to the top scorer in the first division, for an amazing nine seasons in a row – and only missed out on a share of the award this season when he missed a penalty in the last match against Narberth and finished on 43 goals to Adam Hawkins (Clarbeston Road) who scored 44.  His top tally in all competitions was an amazing 79 goals!
Football has always been Paul’s first sporting love from the time he set out in the Hakin United Under 12s team run by Daisy Picton, having previously played for the local cub scouts. He scored more than his share of goals alongside current colleagues Kristan Bennett and Nigel Armstrong but the team put up with more than its fair share of hammerings before they started winning a few games.
He moved through the age groups with the Vikings and at 17 found himself playing alongside Jimmy Yeomans in the second team, quickly followed by Chris Tansey, Johnny Kinsella and Steve Youds in the first XI which was managed by Tommy Grey.

Borough bound

At 18 he was persuaded by Des Shanklin to play Welsh League football for Pembroke Borough after being advised to give it a try by Jeff Lloyd, and really enjoyed playing for a good team which included Mike Lewis, Neil Jones, Pat McQuillan and Mark Powell.  Peter Fearn was the manager and Paul readily admits that ‘Fearnie’ was good at the ‘hair-drier’ treatment in the changing room if things weren’t going as they should!  He was mainly on the subs’ bench in the first campaign at London Road but in his second season barged in 15 goals.

Hakin recall - and real success

But then Chris Tansey took over the management of Hakin United and Paul decided to rejoin the Vikings – and it was the start of that quite amazing run after they had finished runners-up twice but then won that seven-timer.  Ask him about the biggest thrill and he would have to think hard before picking the first West Wales cup success where they beat West End on the Vetch Field where Kristan Bennett headed them into an early lead and ‘Jonah’ touched home a late second after they had defended for almost the entire match.

A second West Wales cup success, beating West End again in the W R Nedin Super Cup on the Bridge Meadow, plus the first winning of the League and title and Senior Cup push that initial West Wales Cup victory mighty close.

Other short stints

Paul also had a short spell with Haverfordwest County alongside Adam Collins but readily admits that it didn’t work out for him, principally because they both had to travel to Swansea for twice-weekly training sessions.  It was the same years before when he used to travel to Carmarthen Town with Mark Delaney, who went on to great things with Aston Villa and Wales, but only stayed for ten matches before returning to play at The Obs.

Goal-grabbing exploits

His goal scoring exploits in local football has always been legendary and he once scored nine goals against Fishguard Sports on St Mary’s Field but was denied double figures when Tansey took him off for what the boss said was a deserved rest!

‘Jonah’ decided it was time to retire a few seasons ago but when Gary Dawes took over the reins at Hakin he was straight on the phone to his former team-mate and dragged him out of retirement.  Hakin came second to Merlins Bridge after losing a vital home match against the Wizards and Paul grabbed 26 goals to show he hadn’t lost his goal-scoring touch.

Proud captain

He was very proud to be asked to captain the team for the most recent campaign and laughingly admits that he leaves all the pre-match talking to Mr Dawes, preferring to lead by example on the pitch.  Paul is full of praise for the Hakin boss because he is very analytical and fairly calm, not like he was in his playing days.

“We all looked up to Gary as a player because he provided the steel in the team” says Paul, “if we were struggling he would put in a huge tackle or stir us up with a few choice words.  He was undoubtedly the best captain I ever played with.”

Top side to play in . . .

Paul is equally full of praise for the sides he has played in at Hakin and says, 

“People have always talked about the goals I scored but I only finished off the job started by the rest, from ‘Bomber’ Morgan in goal through Nigel Armstrong, Karl Rhead, Kristan Bennett and Adam Collins in defence.  We had superb midfield players like Steve Mathias, Shaun Mills, Paul Chapman and others – and I really enjoyed playing up front with Michael McCarthy.  Then we had Tansey on the touchline to urge us on – we couldn’t go wrong. Colin Fawcett was another good manager – and a useful player, too.”

. . . Top opponents

Ask Paul about opponents he respects and he can reel off a long list but says that Jamie Callan (Monkton) is a tough opponent at present, whilst Tony Jones (Merlins Bridge) and Nigel Davies (Narberth) were old fashioned centre halves that always made their physical presence felt whenever he played against them.

Final thoughts

So what of the future for someone beginning to carry the ‘veteran’ logo?

“That last cup final was amazing” admits ‘Jonah’ , “I scored early on but we trailed 3-2 with just five minutes left – but James Stanmore grabbed a cracking second goal to level matters and I managed to finish things off.  I felt a bit sorry for the Bridge Boys but we were thrilled by our win and we celebrated all night back at the clubhouse, and down town for a lot of the Sunday.”

“I’m really looking forward to next season and with so many talented young players around me I don’t have to do quite so much running as I used to do. I’d love to achieve a few more trophies before I finally step down – and I’d like to win the Guardian Cup back from Adam Hawkins for one more time.”

You wouldn’t really want to bet against Paul Jones achieving either because he is still fully focused on what he does best in sport – and that is scoring goals for Hakin United!