Over the weekend four clubs will compete for a place in the 2024/25 Nathaniel MG Cup final.
On Saturday, Aberystwyth Town will welcome Cardiff City’s youngsters to Park Avenue, before Barry Town United take on The New Saints on Sunday afternoon.
As well as the cup fixtures, Newtown will face Connah’s Quay in a rescheduled league match after the clash between the two teams was postponed last week due to the weather.
Saturday, 30 November
Newtown (9th) v Connah’s Quay (8th) | Saturday – 14:30
The snow and ice prevailed over Newtown’s efforts to hold this game last weekend, and so the clubs will try again this Saturday.
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 doesn’t look as promising this year as the Robins have only won one of their last nine league fixtures and fallen from third to ninth place.
Callum McKenzie has taken charge since Scott Ruscoe was sacked, and in his only game in charge so far, Newtown lost 3-1 against Aberystwyth Town.
Connah’s Quay are level on points with Newtown, but while the mood is low at Latham Park, results have recently improved for the Nomads.
Connah’s Quay won 2-1 at Trefelin a fortnight ago to seal their place in the fourth round of the Welsh Cup, which was their first win away from home since August.
The last two matches between these teams have ended in a draw, but Newtown have not won at home against Connah’s Quay for eight years, losing six times and drawing four at Latham Park since then.
League form:
Newtown: ͏✅❌❌➖❌
Connah’s Quay: ͏➖✅❌✅❌
Aberystwyth Town v Cardiff City | Saturday – 14:30
At Park Avenue on Saturday afternoon, Aberystwyth Town and Cardiff will both aim to reach the Nathaniel MG Cup final for the first time in their history.
Aberystwyth Town reached the semi-finals in the 2019/20 season before losing 2-1 against STM Sports.
Last year was the first time that Cardiff City took part in the competition and the young Bluebirds lost against Swansea in the third round, which makes this their best run in the cup.
Aberystwyth Town sit bottom of the JD Cymru Premier having lost 13 of their 17 league games to date, scoring just 14 goals.
However, the Black & Greens have beaten Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Connah’s Quay to reach the semi-finals of this competition.
Cardiff City are enjoying a solid season in the Southern Development League under the leadership of former player Darren Purse, winning seven of their 10 league games to date and the club are battling for the top spot with Bournemouth u21 and Charlton u21.
Cardiff City had to see off Afan Lido, Pontypridd United, Merthyr and Cardiff Met to reach the semi-finals of this year’s competition.
Cardiff City’s 19-year-old forward, Michael Reindorf Junior is the Nathaniel MG Cup top scorer this season after netting seven goals in four games, including a hat-trick in the second round against Pontypridd.
Former Barry Town United manager, Gavin Chesterfield is the Head of the Cardiff City Academy, and he it would be a special occasion for him if the young Bluebirds were to make it to the final and potentially face his former club where he spent 15 years as manager.
Sunday, 1 December
Barry Town United v The New Saints | Sunday – 17:45
On Sunday night the two most successful clubs in the Welsh League Cup, The New Saints (10) and Barry Town United (4) will compete for a place in the final.
The New Saints have won the League Cup (or Nathaniel MG Cup) on 10 occasions, including a run of 19 consecutive victories in the competition between 2014 and 2018, and the Oswestry outfit are the current holders after beating Swansea’s under-21s in the final last season.
Barry Town United lifted the cup for four consecutive years between 1996 and 2000, and the Dragons are hoping to reach the final for the first time since 2016/17.
The New Saints were their opponents in the final at Cyncoed Campus in January 2017, and Chris Seargeant was the star of the show, scoring a hat trick as the Saints won comfortably by four to nil.
This will be the first meeting between the clubs in this competition since that final, but the teams have met 20 times since then with TNS winning 15 times and Barry winning just twice (drawn 3), with the last win for the Dragons coming in September 2019.
The teams have met twice in the league this season with the Saints winning 4-0 at home and winning 4-1 away at Jenner Park at the beginning of November.
But 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.
Barry Town United have beaten Llanelli Town, Trethomas Bluebirds and Pen-y-bont to reach the semi-finals this year, while the Saints have defeated Flint Town United, Airbus UK and Bala Town.
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.
