There are only five rounds of games to go until the league split and the race to reach the Top Six is heating up.
The New Saints are nine points clear at the summit and have already secured their place in the top half, while Connah’s Quay and Newtown are also in a comfortable position.
After that, just five points separate the five clubs between 4th and 8th positions with Cardiff Met, Bala Town, Caernarfon Town, Pen-y-bont and Haverfordwest County all fighting to reach the Top Six.
Saturday, 2 December
Cardiff Met (4th) v Aberystwyth Town (12th) | Saturday – 14:30
With a game in hand, Cardiff Met are in a promising position to claim a place in the Top Six for the second season in a row.
On average, 31 points has been enough to secure a place in the top half, and with six games to go until the split, another five points would mean that Ryan Jenkins’ team reaches that target.
Cardiff Met have only lost one of their last 10 games in all competitions (won six, drawn three), while Aberystwyth Town have lost four on the bounce.
The students are on a six-game unbeaten run against Aber (five wins, one draw), including their 1-0 victory at Park Avenue at the start of the season where Eliot Evans scored the only goal of the game in the half first, before receiving a red card in the second half.
This will only be the second game between the teams in 2023, which is unusually low considering that the clubs faced each other five times in 2022 and in 2021, and six times in 2019!
League form:
Cardiff Met: ➖✅✅❌✅
Aberystwyth Town: ❌➖❌✅✅
Pontypridd United (11th) v Caernarfon Town (6th) | Saturday – 14:30
There is a worrying situation developing in Pontypridd with the club accused of breaching league rules regarding contracts, payments and playing ineligible players.
Pontypridd United have already been banned from the JD Welsh Cup, and there is a chance that further punishments will follow.
Things aren’t going much better on the pitch for Pontypridd either with the team securing just one point from their last six games.
Over halfway through the season and Pontypridd United have only scored six goals in 17 league games (0.35 goals per game), which leaves a big challenge ahead of manager Andrew Stokes if he wants to try to steer the club from relegation.
Caernarfon Town are among the clubs competing to claim a place in the Top Six and as three of their remaining five games are against teams from the lower half, the Cofis have a real chance of making the cut.
Phil Mooney’s goal was the difference between the teams at the Oval in September (Cfon 1-0 Pont), but the Canaries have never won away from home at Pontypridd.
League form:
Pontypridd United: ❌❌➖❌❌
Caernarfon Town: ➖❌❌❌✅
Connah’s Quay (2nd) v Barry Town United (9th) | Saturday – 14:30
Connah’s Quay have pretty much sealed their place in the Top Six, but second place is the Nomads’ realistic target again this year, in order to secure an automatic spot in Europe.
Barry Town United are eight points below 6th place, so it’s fair to say that avoiding the drop is the main goal for the Dragons as they are only three points above Pontypridd United (11th).
Connah’s Quay won 3-2 away at Colwyn Bay on Wednesday night with Declan Poole making a hat trick of assists for the Nomads, and it was 1-1 between Barry Town United and Pen-y-bont on Tuesday night as Kayne McLaggon netted for Steve Jenkins’ team.
Connah’s Quay were victorious in the corresponding match between these teams in September, winning 4-1 at Jenner Park with their top scorer Jordan Davies grabbing a brace for the Nomads.
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ✅❌❌✅✅
Barry Town United: ➖✅❌✅❌
Newtown (3rd) v Colwyn Bay (10th) | Saturday – 14:30
A point for Newtown on Saturday afternoon would put them on 31 points, which is the average total that has been needed to reach the Top Six in the past.
But the Robins will be eyeing second place and an automatic ticket to Europe, as they are only five points behind Connah’s Quay (2nd).
Colwyn Bay are only one point above the bottom two, and no one has conceded more goals than the Seagulls this season.
The league’s top scorer, Aaron Williams will therefore be licking his chops as he hopes to add to his 13 goals for Newtown this season.
The clubs have already met twice this season with Newtown winning 4-2 at Llanelian Road in a league fixture, before Colwyn Bay hit back at Latham Park beating the Robins on penalties last month.
League form:
Newtown: ✅➖✅❌➖
Colwyn Bay: ❌✅✅❌❌
Haverfordwest County (8th) v The New Saints (1st) | Saturday – 14:30 – POSTPONED
The New Saints are enjoying a run of 24 games without a defeat in all competitions, have won 16 matches in a row, and are nine points clear at the top of the league with a game in hand.
This is The New Saints’ longest unbeaten run since December 2018 to July 2019 when they went 25 games unbeaten in all competitions, with FC Copenhagen eventually ending the streak in Europe.
And this is the first time the Oswestry outfit have won 16 consecutive games since they broke the world record in 2016 with 27 successive wins.
It will be quite the challenge for Haverfordwest County who still have their sights set on reaching the Top Six, but it’s going to be a tough task for the Bluebirds as three of their remaining five games are against clubs who are above them in the table.
But Haverfordwest County have only lost one of their last eight games in all competitions (won five, drawn two), and Tony Pennock’s side have not lost any of their last six home fixtures.
However, the Saints have won their previous five meetings with Haverfordwest County, including a 5-1 triumph at Park Hall in September where Ryan Brobbel scored a hat-trick after coming on as a second-half substitute.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ➖✅✅➖❌
The New Saints: ✅✅✅✅✅
Pen-y-bont (7th) v Bala Town (5th) | Saturday – 17:15 (Live online)
Five games to go until the split and possibly the biggest shock this year is that Pen-y-bont are sitting in the bottom half, and that after reaching Europe for the first time ever last season.
Pen-y-bont have only won one of their last eight league games, losing five of those, and Rhys Griffiths’ team are two points below Caernarfon who start the weekend in the all-important 6th position.
The bad news for Pen-y-bont is that they face a difficult run of games before the split as they need to play The New Saints, Connah’s Quay and Cardiff Met as well as Bala Town and Pontypridd United.
Bala Town’s games aren’t easy either with Cardiff Met, Newtown and Haverfordwest County to come, as well as Pen-y-bont and Colwyn Bay.
The New Saints are the only team to beat Bala Town in their last nine matches in all competitions, and the Saints are also the only team with a better defensive record than the Lakesiders.
Bala Town won 2-1 at home against Pen-y-bont earlier this season, and Colin Caton’s squad are unbeaten in four games against the Bryntirion boys.
League form:
Pen-y-bont: ➖❌➖✅❌
Bala Town: ➖✅➖❌✅
The highlights of the games will be available on Sgorio’s social websites, and the best of the weekend’s excitement can be seen on S4C on Monday evening at 9:30.
