The New Saints, Connah’s Quay and Bala Town have all secured their place in Europe after confirming their positions in the top three of the table.
Everything is still in the balance down in the Bottom Six with only two points separating the three clubs who are fighting to avoid the drop.
The club that finishes highest in the Bottom Six (7th place) will compete with the remaining Top Six clubs in the end of season play-offs for the final route to Europe, while the bottom two teams will be relegated into the second tier.
It was a special night for Briton Ferry Llansawel on Tuesday night as they secured the JD Cymru South championship and confirmed their promotion to the JD Cymru Premier.
Things are less clear in the north as the front runners, Holywell Town have not secured a license to gain promotion to the top-flight, which means that the club that finishes second could rise in their place.
Flint Town United (3rd) will be hoping to climb above Airbus UK into second place on Saturday when the Silkmen travel to Llanidloes, the club at the bottom of the table.
TOP SIX
Connah’s Quay (2nd) v Bala Town (3rd) | Friday – 19:45
Following Bala Town’s loss against The New Saints in midweek it is now certain that Connah’s Quay will finish second in the table, and Bala Town will finish third.
Connah’s Quay will therefore use the last two league games to prepare and plan for the JD Welsh Cup final, which will be played against The New Saints at the end of the month.
Bala Town will start planning for Europe with just two months until the clubs discover their opponents in the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.
This will be the 11th meeting the two clubs since the start of last season, and the matches have generally been tight with a low average of 1.6 goals scored per game (Connah’s Quay winning three, Bala Town winning four, and three draws).
Connah’s Quay were victorious in the latest battle between the teams with Aaron Williams scoring a late goal in the semi-final of the JD Welsh Cup at Maesdu Park, Llandudno to secure the Nomads’ place in the final (Quay 1-0 Bala).
Jordan Davies will be keen to add to his 19 league goals to try and close the gap on the JD Cymru Premier’s top scorer, Brad Young (22), and the two forwards are equal on 24 each at the top of the goal contribution list (Davies scored 19 and made five assists).
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ✅➖❌❌❌
Bala Town: ❌➖✅➖✅
Cardiff Met (5th) v The New Saints (1st) | Saturday – 14:30
The New Saints are closing in on the domestic treble for the third time in their history and for the first time since 2015/16.
With only two league games left to play the Oswestry outfit will aim to become the first team to go the whole season without losing a league game since Barry Town United in 1997/98.
Barry Town United and Bala Town are the only clubs to trip up the Saints in the league this season with draws in August and September, but since then Craig Harrison’s side have won 24 successive league games, lifted the Nathaniel MG Cup, and reached the final of the JD Welsh Cup.
In terms of Welsh clubs, no one has been able to beat The New Saints since Cardiff Met did so in a league fixture in February last year (Met 3-2 TNS).
Since that game, the clubs have met on five occasions and the Saints have crushed the Archers in each of those matches (TNS 7-1 Met, Met 1-5 TNS, TNS 8-0 Met, TNS 4-0 Met, TNS 6-2 Met).
The Saints have scored at least four goals in seven of their previous eight games against Cardiff Met, and the league’s top scorer Brad Young has netted 10 goals in four matches against the Archers this season.
It is therefore quite likely that The New Saints will break the record for the most goals in a season since the formation of the 12-team format, as three more goals would be enough to beat their current record of 112 goals.
The Saints have already broken the record for the number of points in a season (86pts) and that with two games left to play.
The TNS squad will start thinking about their individual statistics as the league’s top scorer, Brad Young aims to secure the Golden Boot (22 goals).
Goalkeeper Connor Roberts has already grabbed the Golden Glove for the second consecutive season with 15 clean sheets in 30 league games to date.
And it’s an exciting battle to be the league’s top creator with three of the Saints’ stars sitting at the top of the assists chart – Daniel Redmond (14), Josh Daniels (14), Ben Clark (10).
League form:
Cardiff Met: ͏❌✅❌❌❌
The New Saints: ✅✅✅✅✅
Newtown (6th) v Caernarfon Town (4th) | Saturday – 14:30
Caernarfon Town, Cardiff Met and Newtown are separated by just two points, and their final positions will be key ahead of the play-offs.
The club that finishes 4th will have the advantage of playing at home against the 7th placed team in the play-off semi-finals, with the 5th placed team also securing a home tie against the club that finishing in 6th.
In the final, the top club in the table will be allowed to play at home, and therefore finishing 4th would ensure home games in both the semi-final and final.
That is the goal for Caernarfon Town, and a win for them on Saturday afternoon would likely be enough to claim 4th place, unless Cardiff Met beat The New Saints.
Scott Ruscoe hasn’t had the best start to his tenure as Newtown manager winning just one game in eight so far, but if the new Robins boss can guide his side to a play-off win then Ruscoe will be a hero in Powys.
The teams have met three times this season with the Cofis winning both of their home games at the Oval, and Newtown winning 4-0 at Latham Park in October as Aaron Williams hit a hat-trick for the Robins.
Caernarfon Town have not won at Latham Park since September 2020, losing on their last five visits to Newtown.
League form:
Newtown: ➖➖❌✅❌
Caernarfon Town: ❌❌✅➖✅
Remaining fixtures:
4th – Caernarfon Town (40pts): 13/04 New (a), 21/04 Bala (h)
5th – Cardiff Met (39pts): 13/04 TNS (h), 21/04 New (h)
6th – Newtown (38pts): 13/04 Cfon (h), 21/04 Met (a)
BOTTOM SIX
Haverfordwest County (7th) v Colwyn Bay (12th) | Saturday – 12:45 (Live online)
In the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon Haverfordwest County will be hoping to take a step closer to reaching the play-offs, while Colwyn Bay will be aiming to climb out of the relegation zone.
Haverfordwest County remain three points clear in the race for 7th place after winning three consecutive league games for the first time since November 2022.
Haverfordwest County finished 7th last season before going on to win the play-offs and beating Shkendija in Europe, and the Bluebirds are desperate for another chance to compete on the continent.
Haverfordwest County, Pen-y-bont and Barry Town United are now safe from the drop, so it is certain that only one of the bottom three: Aberystwyth Town, Pontypridd United and Colwyn Bay, will remain in the JD Cymru Premier this year.
Remaining fixtures:
10th – Aberystwyth Town (24pts): 13/04 Barr (a), 21/04 Pont (h)
11th – Pontypridd United (22pts): 13/04 Pen (h), 21/04 Aber (a)
12th – Colwyn Bay (22pts): 13/04 Hav (a), 21/04 Barr (h)
With two games remaining, Colwyn Bay are two points behind Aberystwyth Town, and the Seagulls need to win their last two games if they are to have any real hope of avoiding the drop.
If Colwyn Bay were to lose against Haverfordwest County, then the Seagulls could be relegated by the end of the afternoon if Aberystwyth Town beat Barry Town United.
It was goalless after the last match between these teams in March, but Haverfordwest County were victorious in both games during the first phase, including their biggest win of the season at Bridge Meadow, where Martell Taylor-Crossdale contributed a hat-trick for the Bluebirds in a 5-0 victory in November.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ͏✅✅✅❌➖
Colwyn Bay: ✅❌❌➖➖
Pontypridd United (11th) v Pen-y-bont (8th) | Saturday – 14:30
After an excellent start to his tenure as Pontypridd United’s new manager, the luck has turned against Gavin Allen with the club now on a run of four games without a win, and three matches without a goal.
Pontypridd United went on a five-game unbeaten run after Allen took over in February (won three, drawn two), but following the news that the club had failed to secure a domestic license, results have since declined.
Pontypridd United have failed to secure a license to stay in the top-flight, and if their appeal is unsuccessful, then Ponty will be relegated regardless of their league position.
In a season that has been a challenging one, praise must be given to the Pontypridd United goalkeeper, George Ratcliffe who has managed to keep 12 clean sheets in 27 appearances, which is the second-best record in the league behind The New Saints goalkeeper, Connor Roberts (15).
Pen-y-bont want to stay tight on the heels of Haverfordwest County in the race for 7th place, and with the clubs meeting on the last weekend of the season, that game could decide who will compete for a place in the play-offs.
Pen-y-bont have only lost once since the split, and that defeat came at home against Pontypridd United in March (Pen 0-1 Pont).
Pontypridd United and Pen-y-bont have gone head-to-head five times since Ponty’s promotion in 2022, and the games have been extremely competitive, and none of the teams have scored more than once in a match against each other (Pen 1-1 Pont, Pont 0-1 Pen, Pont 0-0 Pen, Pen 1-0 Pont, Pen 0-1 Pont).
League form:
Pontypridd United: ➖❌❌➖✅
Pen-y-bont: ͏✅➖✅✅❌
Barry Town United (9th) v Aberystwyth Town (10th) | Saturday – 14:30
Barry Town United are safe from the drop, but cannot catch 7th place, so the planning will have already begun for next season in the JD Cymru Premier.
Nobody has won fewer games than Barry Town United this season (6 – equal with Colwyn Bay and Aberystwyth Town), and the Dragons are currently on a disappointing run of eight games without a win (lost two, drawn six).
Aberystwyth Town were the last team to lose against Barry Town United back in January (Aber 2-4 Barr), and another loss for Aber could be extremely costly.
Aberystwyth Town are one of the two clubs that have been ever-present in the Welsh Premier League since its formation in 1992 (along with Newtown), and after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final weekend of last season, the Seasiders are playing with fire yet again this year.
Nobody has scored less goals than Aberystwyth and Pontypridd this season (23 goals each, 0.77 goals per game) so it was no surprise that the match between the two teams ended goalless on Tuesday night.
But there was an unfortunate red card for Jack Thorn which means that Aber will have to try to win their last two fixtures without the services of their influential captain.
Aberystwyth Town have won their last three games away from home against Barry Town United, and the Black and Greens have not lost at Jenner Park since March 2021.
Depending on other results, Aberystwyth Town could secure their place in the JD Cymru Premier if they were to beat Barry Town United, and both Pontypridd United and Colwyn Bay fail to win their matches.
League form:
Barry Town United: ❌➖➖➖➖
Aberystwyth Town: ͏➖❌✅❌➖
The highlights of the games will be available on Sgorio’s social websites, and the best of the weekend’s action can be seen on S4C on Monday evening.
