PRESTATYN Town may have decided to move on from prolific striker Jordan Davies, but they replaced him with another mercurial talent with incredible potential.

The Seasiders’ conquered all on their way to the JD Cymru North championship last season, and although they were unable to secure the necessary licence for promotion to the top-flight, manager Neil Gibson has laid the foundations for another bold bid next time around.

Most of his title-winning squad have opted to resist overtures from elsewhere and remain at the Motion Finance Stadium, and Gibson has made a couple of notable additions during a quiet summer of transfer movement compared to last year.

Town will not have Davies to call upon next term. The forward played a leading role in their success once again, but both parties agreed to move on from each other for a second time.

The manager didn’t wait long to bring in a potential replacement, with Gibson securing the services of forward Shaun Cavanagh after a standout spell at relegated Porthmadog during the second half of the campaign.

Cavanagh has always been regarded as one of the brightest prospects anywhere in the region. He has the ability to win a game on his own when in the mood, and being around such a professional group of players is going to do his chances of hitting the ground running the world of good.

He has all the tools one looks for in a top player domestically, but getting consistency out of Cavanagh has proved to be a problem on occasions. His spells with Caernarfon Town were full pf promise before eventually resulting in a parting of the ways. But his time at Port last time out saw the player find an added maturity to his game that perhaps wasn’t there before.

Craig Papirnyk’s side weren’t exactly in the best position when Cavanagh arrived, but his exceptional standard of performances got them back into contention to avoid the drop before the Football Association of Wales curtailed the remaing fixtures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cavanagh was rewarded for his efforts with a JD Cymru North Player of the Month Award, and there is real hope that the player can take his game to new heights with the champions.

Gibson has a great track record with players like Cavanagh before, so this is something that should stand the club and player in good stead going forward. While the player does not have the out-and-out scoring ability of Davies in and around the box, he has the potential to make more of an impact in terms of creativity.

How Cavanagh gels with his new teammates is going to go a long way to determining just how well he can hit the ground running next season. There is an opportunity available for him in the wake of Davies’ departure, and playing with such high quality is bound to come with plenty of goalscoring opportunities.

Everything is in place for Cavanagh to make a real go of this opportunity, and it would be a huge shock if Gibson didn’t maximise his potential.