The New Saints and Cardiff Met are leading the way as we head into a weekend full of JD Cymru Premier fixtures.
Friday, 9 September
Flint Town United (4th) v Aberystwyth Town (11th) | Friday – 19:45
After five consecutive away games, Flint Town United will play their first match on their new 4G surface at Cae-y-Castell this Friday.
Nine of the current 12 JD Cymru Premier clubs now have artificial pitches, and the Silkmen will have to settle in quickly to their new surroundings as four of their next five league fixtures are at home.
Aberystwyth Town have had a sluggish start to their season, losing four games on the bounce, and the defeat to Bala Town on Friday was especially disappointing considering that the opposition’s captain Chris Venables was sent off just 90 seconds after kick-off.
It could be another challenging night for Aberystwyth Town as the Seasiders are on a run of five games without a win against Flint Town United (drawn one, lost four), scoring only one goal in five meetings.
Saturday, 10 September
Airbus UK (12th) v Cardiff Met (2nd) | Saturday – 14:30
Airbus’ slow start continues as Steve O’Shaughnessy’s boys have lost all five matches since returning to the top-flight.
Cardiff Met on the other hand have come flying off the blocks, winning four out of five, keeping four clean sheets in the process.
In August 2016, the Archers lost 1-0 away at Airbus in their first ever JD Cymru Premier fixture, but since that defeat, Cardiff Met are unbeaten in four meetings with the Wingmakers (won two, drawn two).
Bala Town (7th) v Pontypridd United (10th) | Saturday – 14:30
Bala Town displayed their fighting spirit last Friday as they beat Aberystwyth Town comfortably despite going down to 10-men in the second minute of the match.
Pontypridd United have the lowest attacking return in the league as the newcomers have netted only twice in five games, with both goals coming in their solitary win against Aberystwyth Town.
It’s almost a year since these two teams met for the first time in their history where Bala came away with a convincing 5-0 victory in the JD Welsh Cup third round.
Newtown (9th) v Connah’s Quay (6th) | Saturday – 14:30
After failing to score in their opening three matches, Newtown’s season has finally come alive following two wins in a week against Caernarfon Town and Haverfordwest County.
Connah’s Quay have won all three of their home matches without conceding a single goal, but the Nomads are still searching for their first point on the road after losing away to the two front-runners Cardiff Met and The New Saints in August.
These two teams will expect to be competing in the top half come the end of the season, but Newtown will need to improve their record against the Nomads as the Robins have only won once in their last 12 meetings (drawn two, lost nine).
The New Saints (1st) v Haverfordwest County (8th) | Saturday – 17:15 (online)
Current champions, TNS are the only unbeaten side in the league, and Craig Harrison’s men have showed their grit, conceding just once in five games this season.
Haverfordwest County were top of the league after three games, but a couple of 3-2 defeats in the space of a week (vs Pen-y-bont and Newtown) has seen the Bluebirds plummet down to 8th spot.
The New Saints have won 10 of their last 11 meetings with Haverfordwest County which includes the 6-0 hammering in their last encounter where the prolific Scotsman, Declan McManus grabbed his first JD Cymru Premier hat-trick.
Sunday, 11 September
Pen-y-bont (5th) v Caernarfon Town (3rd) | Sunday – 14:30
Pen-y-bont and Caernarfon Town are level on points with three wins and two defeats in the new campaign.
The good news for Pen-y-bont is that they’ve won all three of their home fixtures, and the bad news for Caernarfon is that they’ve lost both of their away games to date.
But the Cofis have won their last two matches against Pen-y-bont without conceding a goal, therefore Huw Griffiths’ gang will be full of confidence ahead of their trip to the SDM Glass Stadium on Sunday.
All goals can be viewed on Sgorio’s online accounts, and the weekend’s highlights will be on Sgorio on Monday night at 9:30 on S4C.
