DAN Hawkins marked his 100th appearance for Haverfordwest County in the best possible fashion as the Bluebirds kicked off their Play-Off Conference campaign with a composed and valuable 2–0 win away at Cardiff Metropolitan. On a cold evening at Cyncoed Campus, it was a performance full of discipline, patience and late quality.

For Hawkins, the night carried extra significance. Since joining the club in March 2023, he has become a central figure both on and off the pitch, featuring in the club’s European adventures in 2023 and 2025 while also serving as Academy Technical Director. Reflecting on his milestone, he spoke with genuine pride about the journey so far.

“I think the memories are obviously two times in Europe. I’ve had amazing times,” he said.

“I thoroughly enjoy everything about the club. I think from the time I joined, the journey we’ve been on since then has probably been all in an upwards trajectory, so I couldn’t have really asked for anymore. It’s been everything I’d hoped for and more really.”

His dual role within the club has strengthened his bond with the area: “I’m in the club a lot more than some of the lads, so I’ve got that connection. I’m down in Haverfordwest an awful lot now. I love Pembrokeshire, I love the beaches, and I love the environment around the club.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of Phase Two, Hawkins knows the margins are razor-thin. All we can do is obviously focus on ourselves and it’s a cliché, but I did check the table and it is extremely tight, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re at it every single game.

“Obviously we’ve got Ferry now in two weeks, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re at it in that game because obviously they’re a point ahead of us.

“So that’s going to be a big game, we’ll go obviously to try to win that game and then that’ll put us in a really good place.

“But we obviously want to try and pull away from clubs rather than getting in the mix with everyone, and that’s all we can do is focus on ourselves, take each game as it comes, and then hopefully we get that seventh spot.

Experience, he believes, will be crucial: “When I joined the club we were in the same position as we are now, trying to fight for seventh, we’ve been in two play-off finals, I think we know what it takes.

“There’s a lot of us in there that have been in this position before, we now have to, alongside the new lads coming in – for instance Jacob, he had a really good performance tonight – sort of show the way and try to put our experience on them, and that blend will hopefully get us where we want to be.”

With Welsh Cup fixtures taking centre stage over the weekend, Haverfordwest now turn their attention back to league matters. They travel to Briton Ferry Llansawel on Friday evening for a 7.45pm kick-off—another key step in a phase where every point feels precious.