It’s a big weekend in the JD Cymru Premier as the top two meet at Park Hall following The New Saints’ shock defeat Briton Ferry Llansawel on Wednesday night.
The Saints had the chance to get within a point of the front runner, Pen-y-bont in midweek, but the champions lost for the fourth time in the league this season.
There are six rounds of matches left until the league split, and as it stands there are several big names sitting in the bottom half who are hoping to steal a place in the Top Six for the second phase of the season.
Bala Town, Newtown and Connah’s Quay are three clubs that have consistently competed in the top half over the last decade, and it is surprising to see those teams lurking in the bottom half.
Historically, 31 points is the amount needed to claim a place in the Top Six, and the top two, Pen-y-bont and The New Saints have already passed that target, and Haverfordwest County are not too far behind.
There’s just six points separating six clubs in the middle of the table, which means that this weekend’s matches between Newtown and Connah’s Quay, and the contest between Caernarfon Town and Barry Town United are crucial fixtures in the race to reach the Top Six.
And two of the bottom three will meet at the Essity Stadium as Flint Town United take on Briton Ferry Llansawel in a battle to avoid the drop.
Friday, 22 November
Newtown (9th) v Connah’s Quay (8th) | Friday – 19:45 (Live online)
Newtown have reached the Top Six in five of the last six seasons, and although they finished 7th in the 2020/21 season, they went on to win the play-offs and progress to Europe at the end of that campaign.
But the situation doesn’t look as promising this year as the Robins have only won one of their last nine league fixtures and fallen from third to ninth place.
Callum McKenzie has taken temporary charge since Scott Ruscoe was sacked, and in his only game in charge so far, Newtown lost 3-1 against Aberystwyth Town.
Connah’s Quay are level on points with Newtown, but while the mood is low at Latham Park, results have recently improved for the Nomads.
Connah’s Quay won 2-1 at Trefelin last Saturday to seal their place in the fourth round of the Welsh Cup, which was their first win away from home since August.
The last two matches between these teams have ended in a draw, but Newtown have not won at home against Connah’s Quay for eight years, losing six times and drawing four at Latham Park since then.
League form:
Newtown: ͏✅❌❌➖❌
Connah’s Quay: ͏➖✅❌✅❌
Saturday, 23 November
Caernarfon Town (6th) v Barry Town United (5th) | Saturday – 14:30
Only one point separates these two clubs, and a win for either team would be a huge step towards securing a spot in the Top Six.
Caernarfon Town won 1-0 away at Briton Ferry Llansawel two weeks ago, ending a run of five games without a win.
But the Cofis have not been firing at the Oval this season with Richard Davies’ squad winning only two of their eight home matches.
Barry Town United are enjoying a good spell after winning five of their last seven league fixtures, and only the top two (Pen-y-bont and TNS) have managed to beat Steve Jenkins’ side since August.
It was a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at Jenner Park in September after Louis Lloyd and Sam Snaith both scored in the opening 10 minutes.
League form:
Caernarfon Town: ❌❌➖❌✅
Barry Town United: ✅✅✅❌✅
Haverfordwest County (3rd) v Bala Town (7th) | Saturday – 14:30
Haverfordwest County have the best defensive record in the league (conceding 8 goals in 16 games), but only the bottom three have scored fewer than the Bluebirds (20 goals).
Only 28 goals have been scored in the Haverfordwest County’s 16 league games this season (an average of 1.75 goals per game) which proves how tight the Bluebirds’ games have been this year.
Tony Pennock’s side are aiming to secure a place in the Top Six for the first time since the league was reduced to 12 teams, as the Bluebirds have not finished higher than 7th since the 2004/05 season when they managed to reach 4th place.
31 points is the usual amount needed to reach the Top Six, and three points for Haverfordwest County on Saturday afternoon would lift them over that threshold.
Bala Town have secured a place in the Top Six in each of the last 10 seasons, but the Lakesiders are in danger of missing the mark this year after a run of seven league games without a win since their surprise victory against The New Saints in September.
Both teams won on penalties in the third round of the Welsh Cup last weekend, and nobody has had more draws in the league than Bala Town (9) and Haverfordwest County (5) this season, so its likely to be a close encounter between the two sides.
Haverfordwest County won 2-0 away at Maes Tegid earlier in the season, but the Bluebirds have never won a home tie against Bala Town.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ✅➖✅➖✅❌
Bala Town: ➖➖➖➖➖
Cardiff Met (4th) v Aberystwyth Town (12th) | Saturday – 14:30
Aberystwyth Town have finally appointed a new manager following the departure of Anthony Williams at the beginning of October.
Antonio Corbisiero is returning to take the reins at Park Avenue, two years since leaving the role as manager after one season at the helm in 2021/22 when the club finished 8th, which is their best position in the last five seasons.
Half way through the campaign and Aberystwyth Town are one point below the safety of 10th place, and there is plenty of time for Corbisiero to lead the Black & Greens from the depths.
After a run of tough games, Cardiff Met will be hoping to turn the corner on Saturday after winning just one of their last five matches in all competitions.
But Cardiff Met are on a run of eight games without defeat against Aberystwyth Town, including their 2-1 win at Park Avenue this September (W7, D1).
League form:
Cardiff Met: ͏❌➖✅❌➖
Aberystwyth Town: ͏❌✅❌❌✅
Flint Town United (11th) v Briton Ferry Llansawel (10th) | Saturday – 14:30
It will be a key fixture in the battle to avoid relegation between Flint Town United and Briton Ferry Llansawel, which are the two clubs who were promoted to the JD Cymru Premier this year, and who are desperate not to drop straight back into the second tier.
Briton Ferry Llansawel will be full of confidence after beating The New Saints on Wednesday night, rising above Flint Town United to the safety of 10th place.
Briton Ferry are the fourth team to beat the Saints in the league this season, but the three previous clubs to do so have failed to win their following fixture (Pen-y-bont – beat TNS then lost vs Llansawel, Bala Town – beat TNS then drew vs Llansawel, Caernarfon Town – beat TNS then lost vs Newtown).
Flint Town United have lost their last four league matches, and have only secured four points from a possible 24 in their eight home games in the league this season.
Briton Ferry Llansawel have lost five of their six away games in the league, but Andy Dyer’s men have a game in hand (vs TNS).
It finished 1-1 in the first ever meeting between the clubs in September with Elliott Reeves and Kian Jenkins scoring the goals in the second half at the Old Road.
League form:
Flint Town United: ͏➖❌❌❌❌
Briton Ferry Llansawel: ❌❌✅❌✅
The New Saints (2nd) v Pen-y-bont (1st) | Saturday – 14:30
The Saints will be hoping to hit back against Pen-y-bont after they lost 3-1 in midweek against Llansawel, who are bottom of the league – the first time since 2011 that the Saints have lost against a team from the bottom of the table (Afan Lido).
This is the first time the Saints have lost four league games in a season since 2019/20 when they finished runners-up behind Connah’s Quay.
2018/19 was the last time that a club managed to win the championship having lost four league games in a season, and that was TNS.
Pen-y-bont failed to reach the Top Six last season, but after an excellent start to this campaign Rhys Griffiths’ team are competing for the title after losing just one of their last 22 league games (0-1 vs Briton Ferry Llansawel).
Pen-y-bont are unbeaten in their last 14 away league games (W11, D3), since their last visit to Park Hall in December 2023 (TNS 3-0 Pen).
Pen-y-bont were celebrating after the reverse fixture in September after securing their first ever victory against The New Saints thanks to an early header from Clayton Green and a late header from Chris Venables at the SDM Glass Stadium (Pen 2-1 YSN)
League form:
The New Saints: ✅✅✅✅❌
Pen-y-bont: ͏✅➖➖✅✅
The highlights of the games will be available on Sgorio’s social websites and the best of the weekend’s action on S4C on Monday night.
