Halfway to the league split and the race to reach the Top Six begins as all 12 teams look to make the cut and secure their place in the top-flight for next season.
Tuesday, 17 October
Caernarfon Town (4th) v Aberystwyth Town (12th) | Tuesday – 19:45
It’s extremely tight in the middle of the table with just one point separating the four clubs between the 4th and 7th positions.
Caernarfon Town and Pen-y-bont are only one point above Bala Town and Cardiff Met in the race to reach the Top Six before the split.
A lack of consistency may have cost Caernarfon Town recently with the team winning and losing every other game for the last seven league fixtures.
Aberystwyth Town remain bottom of the pile, but impressive and unexpected results against Bala Town and Connah’s Quay may have been the necessary boost for the Black & Greens.
The Seasiders will also be feeling upbeat following their late 2-1 win over Pontardawe in the Welsh Cup on Saturday, while the Cofis fell to a 4-1 defeat against Connah’s Quay.
Caernarfon Town have already beaten Aberystwyth Town once this season (Aber 2-4 Cfon), with both Adam Davies and Zack Clarke grabbing a brace apiece for the Canaries.
League form:
Caernarfon Town: ❌✅❌✅❌
Aberystwyth Town: ➖❌✅❌❌
Haverfordwest County (9th) v Pen-y-bont (5th) | Tuesday – 19:45
After a special summer in Europe, Haverfordwest County have had a bit of hangover, winning only twice in 11 league games.
Aberystwyth Town (25) are the only team to concede more than Haverfordwest County (21) this season with the Bluebirds keeping just the one clean sheet in their last 10 league games.
Pen-y-bont have slipped down to 5th place after back-to-back league defeats against the top two, conceding eight goals in the process (CQ 4-2 Pen, Pen 1-4 TNS).
Haverfordwest County and Pen-y-bont both booked their places in the Welsh Cup third round on Saturday, although the Bluebirds did have to rely on Zac Jones’ penalty saving superpowers once again to overcome Baglan Dragons, while Pen-y-bont won quite comfortably at Cwmbrân Celtic (Cwm 0-3 Pen).
Rhys Griffiths’ side have already defeated Haverfordwest County once this season (Pen 2-0 Hav), but Pen-y-bont haven’t won away at Bridge Meadow in three years, since the player-manager Griffiths netted twice in a 4-0 away victory in October 2020.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ❌✅➖❌❌
Pen-y-bont: ❌❌✅✅✅
Cardiff Met (7th) v Newtown (3rd) | Tuesday – 19:45
Cardiff Met and Newtown are through to the Welsh Cup third round after convincing victories against lower tier teams (Cardiff Met 4-0 Cwmbrân Town, Y Felinheli 0-6 Newtown).
Newtown have now won eight consecutive matches in all competitions, keeping six clean sheets during the successful period.
The Robins have equalled their best run in the league from 19 years ago with seven successive wins, and Chris Hughes will be keen to break the record as he nears the 10-year milestone since taking the helm at Latham Park.
Newtown frontman Aaron Williams has certainly contributed to the recent accomplishments with six goals in three games for the league’s joint top scorer (10 goals).
Cardiff Met have only lost three of their 14 games in all competitions this season, with those defeats coming against the league’s current top three teams, which are TNS, Connah’s Quay and Newtown.
But Newtown have failed to win any of their 11 matches away at Cyncoed Campus since Cardiff Met’s promotion.
League form:
Cardiff Met: ✅➖➖❌❌
Newtown: ✅✅✅✅✅
Barry Town United (11th) v Pontypridd United (8th) | Tuesday – 19:45 (Live online)
After a frustrating start to their campaigns, both Barry Town United and Pontypridd United will have benefitted from a break away from the league with a 6-0 win apiece against Porthcawl and Abertillery in the Welsh Cup second round over the weekend.
But it’s back to the league on Tuesday, and Barry Town United remain in the relegation zone having won only once in 11 league games since their promotion (vs Bala) and have lost six of their last seven league outings.
Pontypridd United are the league’s lowest scorers (4) with half of those goals scored in their last league fixture against Haverfordwest County (Pont 2-0 Hav).
Nevertheless, Ponty have been resilient at the back, conceding only nine goals in 11 games, with five of those scored by league leaders The New Saints.
Andrew Stokes’ side were the winners in the previous meeting, with Ben Ahmun netting the only goal of the game from the penalty spot (Pont 1-0 Barr).
League form:
Barry Town United: ❌❌❌✅❌
Pontypridd United: ✅❌❌❌➖
Wednesday, 18 October
Connah’s Quay (2nd) v Bala Town (6th) | Wednesday – 19:45
Bala Town are the last team to beat Connah’s Quay back in August, and since then the Nomads have gone nine games without a loss, winning eight of those and sharing the spoils with Aberystwyth Town in their most recent league fixture (1-1).
Nomads’ striker Jordan Davies is enjoying a fantastic season with 10 league goals to date, plus a hatrick in the Welsh Cup against Caernarfon Town on Saturday.
Bala Town went through a difficult spell of seven games without a win up to the end of September, but two wins on the trot against Colwyn Bay and Llandudno will have lifted the spirits at Maes Tegid.
It was 1-0 to Bala in the previous meeting, with Nomads keeper Jon Rushton punching the only goal of the game into his own net against his former club, and Neil Gibson’s men will be eager to put things right on Wednesday.
With The New Saints busy with their rescheduled cup tie this week, a win for Connah’s Quay would put the Nomads just a point behind the front runners.
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ➖✅✅✅✅
Bala Town: ✅❌❌❌➖
Highlights will be available via Sgorio’s online accounts.