Connah’s Quay (8th) v Bala Town (7th) | Friday – 19:45
The saga goes on in the race for the Top Six, and almost a week since the league was originally due to split we’re still waiting to see who will make it to the top half for the second phase of the season.
After several postponements at Bala Town’s ground due to windy conditions and a frozen pitch, the first phase of the season was extended to Tuesday night, and on the final night before the split the crucial match between Connah’s Quay and Bala Town had to be abandoned because of the thick fog at the Essity Stadium.
An hour of the game had been played when the final decision was made to abandon the match with Connah’s Quay leading 3-0 after two special goals from Rhys Hughes and an own goal from Nathan Peate.
Following a meeting on Wednesday morning, a statement was released from the National League Board announcing that the game was to be replayed in its entirety this Friday night.
As a result, Connah’s Quay have released a statement stating that a number of their first team squad will be absent this weekend as they have arranged holidays in advance, and the Nomads will therefore have no option but to field a number of their youth team instead.
This is not good news for Barry Town United as they believed they had done enough to reach the Top Six by securing a draw against Haverfordwest County on Tuesday night.
But now a point for Bala Town on Friday night would lift them above Barry Town United and steal the final spot in the Top Six, while it is impossible for Connah’s Quay to make the cut as they are four points adrift of Barry Town United (6th).
Connah’s Quay have finished in the top two in five of the last six seasons (deducted 18pts in the 2021/22 season), but after Tuesday night’s results the Nomads will now prepare for the second phase in the Bottom Six.
Connah’s Quay finished 9th in the 2021/22 season after receiving an 18-point penalty for fielding an ineligible player, but otherwise the Nomads have reached the Top Six on every occasion since finishing 7th in 2014/15.
Bala Town have secured a place in the Top Six for 10 successive seasons, and like Connah’s Quay the club has competed consistently in Europe over the last decade.
Disregarding the abandoned clash on Tuesday night, the recent matches between these two clubs have been extremely tight with a very low number of goals being scored.
The last two matches between the teams have ended goalless and looking back to the start of last season a low average of 0.8 goals have been scored in the previous six meetings (Bala 0- 0 Quay, Quay 0-0 Bala, Quay 1-0 Bala, Bala 1-0 Quay, Quay 1-1 Bala, Bala 1-0 Quay).
The league will be split into two at the end of the night and for the rest of the season the Top Six will compete for the championship and prepare for the European play-offs.
The Bottom Six clubs will fight to stay in the league, and challenge for 7th place in order to grab the last ticket into the end of season play-off games.
The New Saints, Pen-y-bont, Haverfordwest County, Caernarfon Town and Cardiff Met have already secured their place in the Top Six, but will it be Bala Town or Barry Town United who will join them?
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ͏✅➖✅❌❌
Bala Town: ➖✅✅➖❌
Highlights will be available on Sgorio’s online accounts.