The race to reach the Top Six is heating up as we head into the last seven rounds of matches in the first phase of the JD Cymru Premier season.
The league will be split into two after 22 games, where the Top Six teams will secure their place in the league for next season and claim a spot in the European play-offs, while the Bottom Six will all be battling to avoid relegation.
On average, 31 points has been the magic number of points needed to secure a Top Six spot, and both The New Saints and Connah’s Quay have already surpassed that all-important mark.
Chasing the top two are six clubs who have a genuine realistic chance of making the cut, with just seven points separating the teams in the 3rd and 8th positions.
Saturday, 10 December
Connah’s Quay (2nd) v Aberystwyth Town (9thd) | Saturday – 13:00
Following a fantastic run of 14 games without defeat in all competitions (won 13, drawn one) Connah’s Quay have in all likelihood, done enough to secure a place in the Top Six, and now Neil Gibson’s men will be eager to reduce the seven-point gap between themselves and the league leaders, The New Saints.
Aberystwyth Town will need to recuperate rapidly after they suffered their heaviest defeat in their 1,000+ appearances in the JD Cymru Premier last Friday with an embarrassing 11-0 annihilation at the hands of The New Saints.
The Black & Greens haven’t won away from home in the league since beating Airbus on the opening weekend (Air 1-2 Aber), losing all six league games on the road since then.
But Aberystwyth Town were the last team to beat Connah’s Quay (Aber 2-1 CQ), and Anthony Williams will be looking to cause another shock on Saturday.
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ✅➖✅✅✅
Aberystwyth Town: ❌✅❌✅ ❌
Flint Town United (10th) v Cardiff Met (5th) | Saturday – 13:00
After securing the maximum six points from their opening two games of the season, Flint Town United have crumbled, winning just two of their last 13 league matches, with both victories coming against Airbus UK.
Flint Town United have lost their last five matches in all competitions, including their 1-0 loss at Bala Town last Friday, despite playing over an hour of the game with an extra man on the field after Nathan Peate’s early dismissal.
There was also a first-half red card shown in the reverse fixture between Flint and Met back in September when the Silkmen’s centre half, Anthony Stephens was sent off for a dangerous challenge, before the Archers went on to win 1-0 at Cyncoed Campus through a Lewis Rees strike.
Despite their victory at Pontypridd last weekend, Cardiff Met do not have a great record away from home, losing five of their last seven away in the league, and the students haven’t won a game in north Wales in over a year (Cefn 1-3 Met).
Cardiff Met won at Cae-y-Castell back in November 2020 (Flint 0-1 Met), but since then the capital’s contingent have only won two of their 18 league games in north Wales, with both wins secured against Cefn Druids.
League form:
Flint Town United: ❌❌❌❌✅
Cardiff Met: ✅✅❌❌✅
Sunday, 11 December
Caernarfon Town (6th) v The New Saints (1st) | Sunday – 14:30
A difficult run of games has left Caernarfon Town with one win in six matches, and the Cofis are now in real danger of dropping into the bottom half of the table for the first time since August.
The New Saints will be oozing with confidence on the back of their historic 11-0 hammering of Aberystwyth Town, and after just 15 games the Oswestry outfit have already passed the 50-goal mark, scoring twice as many goals as 2nd placed Connah’s Quay.
Craig Harrison’s heavyweights start the weekend seven points clear at the top of the table, and the champions have now gone 21 league games without defeat (won 18, drawn three).
The New Saints have already beaten Caernarfon Town twice this season, and the Canaries are without a win in 10 meetings with TNS (lost nine, drawn one), but Huw Griffiths will be eager to get his first managerial victory against the Saints.
League form:
Caernarfon Town: ❌➖❌✅❌
The New Saints: ✅➖✅✅✅
Pen-y-bont (4th) v Airbus UK (12th) | Sunday – 14:30
The New Saints and Connah’s Quay have broken clear at the summit, but since finishing in 3rd place has been enough to seal a European spot in each of the last eight seasons, there’s another exciting race developing in the top half of the table.
There’s only three points separating Bala Town, Pen-y-bont and Cardiff Met, which highlights how costly Pen-y-bont’s defeat at Haverfordwest County last weekend could be come the end of the season (Hav 2-1 Pen).
Airbus are still searching for their first league victory this season, and the Wingmakers go into the weekend 17 points below safety.
But Jamie Reed’s infantry did have a rare reason to celebrate during their most recent defeat to Connah’s Quay on Friday as Airbus’ 16-year-old substitute, Kaiden Cooke became the youngest player to score in the JD Cymru Premier since the 12-team league format was introduced in 2010.
Pen-y-bont have won just one of their last five league matches, but Rhys Griffiths will be optimistic ahead of Sunday’s clash as his side have won their previous four meetings with Airbus UK.
League form:
Pen-y-bont: ❌➖✅➖❌
Airbus UK: ❌❌❌❌❌
Pontypridd United (11th) v Bala Town (3rd) | Sunday – 14:30
Pontypridd United have dropped into the relegation zone after losing five of their last six league games with the only success coming against bottom of the league side, Airbus UK.
It was a vital victory for Bala Town against Flint Town United on Friday as the 10-man-team climbed back up to 3rd position with their fourth consecutive home win, and their fourth consecutive clean sheet at Maes Tegid.
It’s a little over 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, and the clubs will clash again in the Welsh Cup this season and will go head-to-head in the fourth-round in January.
League form:
Pontypridd United: ❌❌❌✅❌
Bala Town: ✅❌✅➖✅
Newtown (8th) v Haverfordwest County (7th) | Sunday – 14:30 (S4C online)
It promises to be an exciting encounter at Latham Park in the race for the Top Six as both clubs are level on points with almost an identical record and are just two points behind Caernarfon Town (6th) who face a trying task against The New Saints.
Both these teams seem to have turned the corner lately following a sluggish spell, and Newtown have now won four consecutive games, whilst Haverfordwest County have won three on the bounce respectively.
Since their goalless draw against The New Saints on the opening weekend, Newtown have been banished to the bottom half of the table where they have gone 16 games without a clean sheet in all competitions.
But it was the mid-Wales Robins who came out on top in the reverse fixture with Aaron Williams netting twice in the second half to secure a dramatic 2-3 away win for Chris Hughes’ clan at Bridge Meadow.
League form:
Newtown: ✅✅✅❌❌
Haverfordwest County: ✅✅✅❌❌
All goals can be viewed on Sgorio’s online accounts, and the weekend’s highlights will be on Sgorio on Monday night at 10:05 on S4C.
