tranmere Rovers FC keeper Owain Fon Williams to get perfect showcase for his talent

Nov 1 2012 DPW West

THE rest of the country should get the chance to discover this weekend why Tranmere believe they boast one of the best goalkeepers in the lower divisions in Owain Fon Williams.

Rovers’ FA Cup first round tie with Braintree Town will be shown live on ITV1 on Sunday lunchtime and Fon Williams’ task will be to ensure the Conference club from Essex don’t achieve the giantkilling upset the national broadcaster is looking for.

The 25-year-old Welshman has a more than tidy track record of keeping out the opposition. He kept 16 clean sheets during 2011/12, an impressive figure when you consider Tranmere spent most of the League One campaign fighting off the threat of relegation.

This term Fon Williams hopes to do even better. Only three League One teams have conceded fewer than the 14 goals to go past him in 15 games and he has six clean sheets already under his belt.

“Every season I set a little target for myself – how many clean sheets can I keep,” Fon Williams said. “I won’t say how many I want for this season but 16 wasn’t bad for last season and hopefully I will get a few more than that.

As a goalkeeper you are a hero or you are a villain. You make the save that earns the team a result or make the error that costs it.”

Fon Williams revels in what he sees as a personal battle between himself and the opposing player who wants to put the ball past him.

He said: “A lot of goalkeeping is about what goes on in your head. It is about how you approach dealing with situations. How strong willed you have to be in keeping the ball out of the net. You have to figure out how the attacking player thinks he is going to get the ball into the goal behind you. I do everything I can to stop him.

“I thrive on that process. It is like a buzz, trying to out-think the guy who is running towards you with the ball, making sure you stop that ball going into the net.

“I just love the thought of stopping the opposing player from doing his job. It is what I’ve liked to do since I was a little boy, growing up with two older brothers who bullied me into going in goal.”