After five league games Pen-y-bont, Cardiff Met and Haverfordwest County remain level on points at the top of the table and have not lost a game this season.
But with three games in hand the champions, The New Saints will aim to close the gap on the southern trio over the weekend.
Towards the bottom it promises to be a competitive encounter at Park Avenue between Aberystwyth Town and Flint Town United.
Saturday, 7 September
Connah’s Quay (5th) v Barry Town United (8th) | Saturday – 14:30
After a slow start with just one point from their opening two games Connah’s Quay have come alive since Billy Paynter took over, winning both of their league matches since.
Barry Town United have also climbed the table after fighting back to beat Flint Town United on Saturday afternoon to secure their first three points this season, and only their second win in the league since January.
The Linnets have only won one of their last 11 away games in all competitions (Aber 2-4 Barry), and they lost 7-0 on their last visit to Cae y Castell against Connah’s Quay in December 2023.
League form:
Connah’s Quay: ͏❌➖✅✅
Barry Town United: ➖➖❌❌✅
Haverfordwest County (3rd) v The New Saints (7th) | Saturday – 14:30
The New Saints have made history this year by reaching one of Europe’s main competitions for the first time ever.
The Oswestry outfit will face Fiorentina, Djurgarden, Astana, Shamrock Rovers, Panathinaikos and Celje in the UEFA Conference League this season.
But while the Saints have been busy with their qualifying games in Europe, their league matches have been postponed, and so the champions are in an unfamiliar position down in 7th place with three games in hand.
Haverfordwest County have the best defensive record in the league so far having kept four clean sheets in five matches and conceded just once.
But the Saints have won their last six contests against Haverfordwest County and aim to close the gap on the Bluebirds.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ✅✅➖͏➖✅
The New Saints: ✅✅
Pen-y-bont (1st) v Caernarfon Town (8th) | Saturday – 14:30
Pen-y-bont are leading the pack in the JD Cymru Premier, sitting at the summit on goal difference.
Pen-y-bont have only lost one of their last 14 competitive games, and that loss came against Caernarfon in the final of the European play-offs back in May.
Rhys Griffiths’ team will be determined to get payback on Saturday afternoon after the Cofis won 3-1 at the Oval at the end of last season in order to reach Europe for the first time in their history.
Caernarfon Town have had a rather slow start to the season after their European adventure, winning just one of their four league games to date.
League form:
Pen-y-bont: ͏✅➖͏➖✅✅
Caernarfon: ❌✅➖❌
Bala Town (4th) v Cardiff Met (2nd) | Saturday – 14:30
Cardiff Met are one of the three teams who are joint-top, and its the Archers who have scored the most goals in the league this season (10 goals).
Newly-signed midfielder, Ryan Reynolds has scored three of those, and having also created two, he has the most goal contributions in the league this season (5).
Bala Town were 1-0 up against Pen-y-bont last weekend before George Newell was sent off, and Colin Caton’s side ended up losing 2-1, which was Bala’s first defeat at Maes Tegid since February (Bala 0-1 TNS).
It was impossible to separate the two teams last season with the clubs meeting four times and none of the sides being able to score more than one goal in each of those games (Met 0-0 Bala, Bala 0-1 Met, Bala 1-1 Met, Met 0-1 Bala).
League form:
Bala Town: ➖✅✅➖❌
Cardiff Met: ͏✅➖✅➖✅
Newtown (6th) v Briton Ferry Llansawel (12th) | Saturday – 14:30
It has been a mixed start to the season for Newtown who have enjoyed victories against Aberystwyth Town and Barry Town United, but have lost heavily against Caernarfon Town and Haverfordwest County.
But he Robins have certainly had a better start than Briton Ferry Llansawel, who have lost their four league fixtures since their promotion over the summer.
The current Briton Ferry Llansawel club was formed in 2009, and this will be their first ever meeting with Newtown.
League form:
Newtown: ͏✅➖❌✅❌
Briton Ferry Llansawel: ❌❌❌❌
Aberystwyth Town (10fed) v Flint Town United (11th) | Saturday – 17:15 (Live online)
“This game’s personal, their manager tweeted after we got relegated last season so this is a game that my players will be 100% up for.”
Those were the words of Flint manager, Lee Fowler when referring to the message shared by the manager of Aberystwyth, Anthony Williams in April 2023, which was:
“ONE WORD! KARMA.”
It will surely be a fiesty affair at Park Avenue on Saturday evening as Flint Town United aim to secure their first point since their promotion back to the top-flight.
Four points separate thw two teams, and the Black & Greens will be keen to open a gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
League form:
Aberystwyth Town: ͏❌➖✅❌❌
Flint Town United: ͏❌❌❌❌❌
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.
