In two weeks, the league will be split in two and for the rest of the season the Top Six clubs will compete for a place in Europe, while the Bottom Six teams will fight to avoid relegation.
The New Saints and Connah’s Quay have already secured their place in the top half, and Newtown, Cardiff Met and Bala Town could join them if results go in their favour on the final weekend of the year.
After that, it’s extremely tight with goal difference alone (one goal!) separating Caernarfon Town and Haverfordwest County in 6th and 7th place.
Pen-y-bont are certainly not out of it either as they are just two points behind the Cofis with two games left to play before the split.
Saturday, 30 December
Aberystwyth Town (11th) v Haverfordwest County (7th) | Saturday – 14:30
Haverfordwest County are flying and aiming to secure a place in the Top Six for the first time since the league was reduced to 12 teams.
The Bluebirds have not finished higher than 7th since the 2004/05 season when they managed to reach 4th place with only The New Saints, Rhyl and Bangor City finishing above them that year.
But having lost just one of their last seven league games (0-1 vs TNS) Tony Pennock’s side have a real chance of making it this year with one goal separating them from Caernarfon who are level on 27 points apiece.
No team have won fewer league games than Aberystwyth Town this season (three out of 19) and the Black and Greens are in danger of dropping out of the league for the first time in their history.
Aberystwyth Town have lost six successive games in all competitions for the second time this season, and the Ceredigion club will be keen not to make it seven consecutive defeats for the first time in five years.
Haverfordwest County will therefore be confident as they are on a run of four games without defeat against Aberystwyth Town (won three, drawn one), and Tony Pennock will demand nothing less than three points from his squad to stay in the race for the Top Six.
Fixtures before the split:
Aberystwyth Town: CB (h), Barr (h)
Haverfordwest County: Bala (h)
League form:
Aberystwyth Town: ❌❌❌❌❌
Haverfordwest County: ✅❌✅➖✅
Bala Town (5th) v Newtown (3rd) | Saturday – 14:30
With 33 points and a game in hand, Newtown are fairly safe of their place in the Top Six, but a point on Saturday would confirm their spot.
Newtown have only failed to reach the Top Six once in the last five years, and even then, they managed to finish 7th and win the play-offs for Europe in 2020/21.
Bala Town have hit the target of 31 points, which is the usual amount needed to reach the Top Six, but one more win for them would secure their place among the best for the 10th successive season.
The Lakesiders have only lost one of their last six home games (vs Cardiff Met), while Newtown have only lost one of their last seven away fixtures (also vs Cardiff Met).
Newtown have won their last four contests against Bala Town including their 1-0 victory earlier this season thanks to a goal from the league’s joint top scorer, Aaron Williams (15 goals).
Fixtures before the split:
Bala Town: Hav (a)
Newtown: Barr (a), TNS (a)
League form:
Bala Town: ✅❌✅➖✅
Newtown: ❌✅✅➖✅
Barry Town United (9th) v Cardiff Met (4th) | Saturday – 14:30
Cardiff Met need one more win to claim a place in the Top Six for the second season on the bounce, but after a disappointing defeat against Pen-y-bont on Boxing Day the Archers will need a better performance if they are to cross the line on Saturday.
Barry Town United are out of the race after losing for the third consecutive match and have failed to score in all three of those games.
Five points separate the Dragons and Aberystwyth Town in the relegation zone, which means Steve Jenkins’ side will need to score for the first time in December if they want to open a gap between themselves and the bottom two.
Cardiff Met have won five of their last seven meetings with Barry Town United (drawn one, lost one) including their 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in October.
Fixtures before the split:
Barry Town United: New (h), Aber (a)
Cardiff Met: TNS (a), Cfon (a)
League form:
Barry Town United: ❌❌➖✅❌
Cardiff Met: ❌✅✅➖✅
Sunday, 31 December
Caernarfon Town (6th) v Colwyn Bay (10th) | Sunday – 12:30 (S4C)
It was a memorable afternoon for Caernarfon Town in the corresponding fixture on the opening weekend of the season, smashing Colwyn Bay 4-0 at Llanelian Road in front of an impressive crowd of 1,411.
That win was a big boost for the Cofis who went on to beat Newtown before picking up draws against Haverfordwest County and Bala Town in August.
And despite spending the whole season so far in the Top Six, the Canaries are now in danger of losing their place before the split as Richard Davies’ side have only won one of their last seven games (drawn one, lost five).
Colwyn Bay are in a completely different battle at the bottom of the league with just three points separating them and Aberystwyth Town in the relegation places.
No one has conceded more goals than the Seagulls, while Caernarfon Town are in the top three in terms of goals scored with only The New Saints and Connah’s Quay having netted more than the Cofis.
Fixtures before the split:
Caernarfon Town: Met (a)
Colwyn Bay: Aber (a), Pont (h)
League form:
Caernarfon Town: ❌❌✅➖❌
Colwyn Bay: ❌❌❌✅✅
Connah’s Quay (2nd) v The New Saints (1st) | Sunday – 14:30
The New Saints are soaring with a run of 28 games without defeat in all competitions, and have won 20 in a row, breaking nine points clear of Connah’s Quay at the top of the league with a game in hand.
This is the Oswestry outfit’s best run since August 2016 to February 2017 (31 games without defeat), and during that time they broke the world record with 27 consecutive victories.
Connah’s Quay and the New Saints left it late before beating Newtown and Caernarfon Town on Boxing Day with both clubs needing goals in the final 10 minutes to secure the three points.
Jordan Davies scored yet again for the Nomads to equal Aaron Williams’ record at the top of the league’s scorers’ chart (15 goals).
It was quite the occasion when these two clubs on the opening weekend of the season with Connah’s Quay taking the lead twice before the Saints eventually won 6-2, and Craig Harrison’s clan are unbeaten in six games against the Nomads (won four, drawn two).
A win for Neil Gibson’s gang would give the Nomads a glimmer of hope in the race for the championship, but if the Saints were to win then there could be a significant gap between the two teams before the start of the second phase of the season.
Fixtures before the split:
Connah’s Quay: Pen (a)
The New Saints: Met (h), New (h)
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ✅✅✅✅❌
The New Saints: ✅✅✅✅✅
Pen-y-bont (8th) v Pontypridd United (12th) | Sunday – 14:30
Pen-y-bont have clawed their way back into the race for the Top Six after an unexpected win against Cardiff Met on Boxing Day (Met 0-3 Pen).
Two points now separate Rhys Griffiths’ team and Caernarfon (6th) and therefore three points on Sunday afternoon against the lowest club in the table would take the race to the final weekend.
Pontypridd United will also be feeling confident after securing their first win since October by beating Aberystwyth Town 2-0 on Boxing Day.
And despite receiving a six-point penalty for breaching league rules, Pontypridd United are now only four points behind Colwyn Bay and the safety of 10th place.
It ended goalless in the reverse fixture between the teams in August, but Pontypridd United have never beaten Pen-y-bont in the past (drawn two, lost four).
Fixtures before the split:
Pen-y-bont: CQ (h)
Pontypridd United: CB (a)
League form:
Pen-y-bont: ✅❌❌➖❌
Pontypridd United: ✅❌❌❌❌
Highlights of the matches will be available on Sgorio’s social websites.
