There are only a handful of games left to play until the league split and as it stands there are only two points separating the four clubs between 5th and 8th place in the race for the Top Six.
Pen-y-bont and New Saints have already sealed their places in the top half, and both Haverfordwest County and Cardiff Met are not too far behind.
It will be a crucial battle at Maes Tegid on Saturday night between Bala Town and Barry Town United, two clubs who are level on points in the middle of the table.
Friday, 6 December
Haverfordwest County (3rd) v Briton Ferry Llansawel (11th) | Friday – 19:45
It was a frustrating affair for Haverfordwest County on Tuesday night, losing 1-0 against Pen-y-bont for the fourth time in 2024, and Tony Pennock was extremely critical of the refereeing team who had denied a goal for the Bluebirds and sent defender Luke Tabone off the field.
However, Haverfordwest County remain in a strong position to secure a place in the Top Six for the first time since the league was reduced to 12 teams as the Bluebirds have not finished higher than 7th position since the 2004/05 season when they managed to reach 4th place.
31 points is the usual amount needed to reach the Top Six, and a point for Haverfordwest County on Friday would be enough to reach that target.
Haverfordwest County have the best defensive record in the league (conceding 9 goals in 18 games), but only the league’s lowest placed team, Aberystwyth Town, have scored fewer than the Bluebirds (20 goals).
Briton Ferry Llansawel managed to take the three points late on against Newtown on Tuesday night to secure their second successive win at the Old Road.
But the Reds have only won one of their seven away league matches, losing the other six, with the solitary victory coming at Pen-y-bont in September.
Haverfordwest County were victorious in the reverse fixture in October, winning 2-1 at the Old Road thanks to goals from Owain Jones and Lee Jenkins.
League form:
Haverfordwest County: ➖✅❌➖❌
Briton Ferry Llansawel: ✅❌✅❌✅
Saturday, 7 December
Aberystwyth Town (12th) v Caernarfon Town (6th) | Saturday – 14:30
It has been a mixed week for Aberystwyth Town who managed to reach the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup for the first time in their history on Saturday afternoon, before losing 3-0 against Flint Town United on Wednesday night, which means that the Black & Greens are now seven points off the safety of 10th place.
Aberystwyth Town have lost 78% of their league games this season and are in real danger of falling out of the JD Cymru Premier for the first time ever.
With 25 points on the board, Caernarfon Town need six more points before reaching the elusive target of 31, which is usually enough to reach the Top Six, and the Cofis will be determined to gain three of those six points at Park Avenue on Saturday afternoon.
But confidence is certainly not soaring in the Caernarfon Town camp as the Canaries have only won one of their last seven games in all competitions (D2, L4).
It was a remarkable 4-1 away win for Aberystwyth Town against Caernarfon Town in October with Niall Flint scoring from the centre circle for the Ceredigion crew.
League form:
Aberystwyth Town: ͏❌❌✅❌❌
Caernarfon Town: ❌➖❌✅➖
Cardiff Met (4th) v Flint Town United (10th) | Saturday – 14:30
Cardiff Met are aiming to secure a place in the top half for the third season on the trot, and three points for the students on Saturday afternoon would lift them to 31 points, which is the usual amount needed to reach the Top Six.
Ryan Jenkins’ side have played 10 home matches in all competitions this season and lost just twice (W4, D4).
But Flint Town United will be confident of their ability to get a result at Cyncoed Campus, as the Silkmen have won their last two fixtures, beating the other two teams in the relegation battle (Briton Ferry Llansawel and Aberystwyth Town).
Lee Fowler will be hoping that his squad can make it three wins in a row in the top-flight for the first time since August 2021 and climb out of the bottom three for the first time this season.
Cardiff Met won 2-1 on their visit to Flint on the opening weekend of the season with Dixon Kabongo and Sam Jones on target for the Archers.
League form:
Cardiff Met: ͏➖✅❌➖✅
Flint Town United: ͏❌❌❌✅✅
Pen-y-bont (1st) v Connah’s Quay (8th) | Saturday – 14:30
Pen-y-bont continue to set the standard at the top of the table after beating Haverfordwest County 1-0 in midweek.
Another victory for Rhys Griffiths’ team this Saturday would leave them on 43 points after 19 games, which was their total after 32 games at the end of last season.
Pen-y-bont have only lost three of their 15 home league fixtures in 2024, and the first of those came in January against Connah’s Quay (Pen 0-1 Connah’s Quay, Pen 0-1 Pontypridd, Pen 0-1 Briton Ferry).
Connah’s Quay dropped into the bottom half at the start of September, but with four games to go until the split the Nomads are aiming to return to the Top Six.
Two of the league’s top scorers will meet at the SDM Glass Stadium with James Crole (7 goals) and Rhys Hughes (8 goals) having shone for their clubs since joining over the summer.
Gabriel Kircough scored the only goal of the game for Pen-y-bont in the corresponding match at Cae-y-Castell in September, but before that Pen-y-bont had not won in their previous seven meetings with Connah’s Quay.
League form:
Pen-y-bont: ͏➖✅✅❌✅
Connah’s Quay: ͏❌✅❌✅➖
The New Saints (2nd) v Newtown (9th) | Saturday – 14:30
After losing 1-0 at Bala Town on Wednesday night the Saints have now lost five league games for the first time since the 2019/20 season when they finished 2nd behind Connah’s Quay.
Bangor City were the last team to lose 5+ games in the league and go on to win the championship (2010/11), so Craig Harrison’s team have a lot of work to do if they want to climb above Pen-y-bont.
Newtown have reached the Top Six in five of the last six seasons, and although they finished 7th in the 2020/21 season, they went on to win the play-offs and progress to Europe at the end of that campaign.
But the situation does not look so promising this year as the Robins are on a run of seven games without a win in all competitions, including a disappointing loss in the last minute against Briton Ferry Llansawel on Tuesday night, which means that Callum McKenzie is still waiting for his first point after three consecutive defeats since his appointment as Newtown’s new manager.
Six points now separate Newtown from the Top Six teams, and with only four games remaining until the split, and three of those against the top three, it seems that the Robins are destined for the Bottom Six this season.
The New Saints have won their last nine games against Newtown, including an emphatic 6-1 away win at Latham Park in September.
League form:
The New Saints: ✅✅❌✅❌
Newtown: ͏❌➖❌❌❌
Bala Town (5th) v Barry Town United (7th) | Saturday – 17:15 (Live online)
Bala Town have become the first club ever to do the double over The New Saints in the first phase of the JD Cymru Premier season.
After beating the Saints away from home for the first time in September, Bala Town went on a run of eight league games without a victory before beating the champions yet again on Wednesday night.
Bala Town have secured a place in the Top Six in each of the last 10 seasons, and after Wednesday night’s surprise success, Colin Caton’s crew have risen to the Top Six level on points with Caernarfon Town and Barry Town United, who both have games in hand.
Barry Town United are enjoying a good spell having won five of their last seven league games, and only the top two (Pen-y-bont and TNS) have managed to beat Steve Jenkins’ side in the league since August.
It ended in a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture between these two teams at Jenner Park on the opening weekend of the season, and the Dragons have not won at Maes Tegid since April 2019 (Bala 2-5 Barry).
League form:
Bala Town: ➖➖➖➖✅
Barry 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.
