The 2025/26 season will come to an end on Saturday night when either Pen-y-bont or Haverfordwest County secure their place in Europe for next season.
Pen-y-bont (6th) v Haverfordwest County (7th) | Saturday – 17:25 (S4C)
Against expectations, the lowest-seeded teams in the play-offs, Pen-y-bont and Haverfordwest County, have progressed to the final after away victories on penalties in the semi-finals.
Pen-y-bont had been on an 11-match winless run before travelling to Colwyn Bay last weekend, and although they failed to score for the fourth consecutive game, the match finished goalless.
Rhys Griffiths’ side came out on top in the penalty shootout, with young goalkeeper Luke Armstrong saving a spot-kick from the Seagulls’ top scorer Jordan Davies to send Pen-y-bont into the final.
After the dramatic victory, this is what Griffiths had to say: “It’s draining, it’s been a tough few months, I thought the better team on the day won… I just think as a team, although our performances don’t deserve to win the play-offs, we have resilience and togetherness, and we’ve just kept going through it all, so maybe we deserve something to celebrate.”
Haverfordwest County made a shaky start to their semi-final away to Barry Town United, as a defensive mistake led to an early goal for the Dragons after just three minutes.
But the Bluebirds held their ground and equalised after 70 minutes, with Greg Walters finishing a slick move for the visitors.
Therefore, penalties were needed to separate these sides as well, and there was a clear winner as Barry missed three of their four attempts, sending Haverfordwest County into the final.
The result means Haverfordwest County maintain a 100% record in the play-offs, having won all four of their matches in the competition since 2023, three of them via penalty shootouts.
Tony Pennock was full of praise and pride for his squad following the victory at Jenner Park: “I’m just really proud of our lads… they dug in and I though we were excellent… So many of those boys, seven or six that started today have been with us through all the play-offs and through all the European campaigns, so that experience does help, 100%.”
“It’ll be another tough game (vs Pen-y-bont), they’ve beaten us twice this season. We’ll go there away from home, underdogs… we have nothing to lose… Bottom of the league first week of October, to now being in the play-off final, credit to everybody at the club… and now we’re one game away from Europe again.”
Looking at the head-to-head record, the psychological advantage is with Pen-y-bont, as they are on a run of nine games unbeaten against Haverfordwest County (7 wins, 2 draws), and the Bluebirds have scored just twice during that run.
However, more than six months have passed since the teams last met, when Pen-y-bont won 2-1 at home, with James Crole and Gabe Kircough scoring for the Bont before leaving the club in January.
Despite the favourable head-to-head record, momentum is not with Pen-y-bont, as they have won just one of their last 17 matches in 90 minutes (vs Llanelli).
Rhys Griffiths’ side have not scored more than once in a game since November, netting just seven goals in their last 16 matches in all competitions.
Pen-y-bont have never won the play-offs, although the club has represented Wales in Europe twice in the last three years.
Momentum is certainly with Haverfordwest County, who have won nine of their last 11 matches, keeping eight clean sheets.
There is no denying that Haverfordwest County’s fixtures have been easier in the lower half, with the Bluebirds winning 6-0 against Llanelli on the final weekend of the regular season, but confidence within the squad will be high.
Former Pen-y-bont striker Ben Ahmun is the main threat for Haverfordwest County, as the towering striker has scored 13 goals and provided nine assists in the league this season.
The Bluebirds have won the play-offs twice in the last three years, and Tony Pennock will be hoping that experience can guide Haverfordwest County to become the first club ever to win the play-offs three times.
This will be the fourth time since 2019 that the final will be contested between the clubs who finished 6th and 7th in the table – and the team that finished 7th has won the final on the previous three occasions (2019 – Bala Town v Cardiff Met (pens), 2021 – Caernarfon v Newtown, 2023 – Newtown v Haverfordwest County (pens)).
The winners of the final will claim a place in the first qualifying round of the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League, as well as earning prize money of around £280,000.
All the excitement of the final match of the season will be live on S4C on Saturday afternoon, with coverage starting at 5:00 from Dragonbet Stadium.
