The regular season has come to an end and both The New Saints and Pen-y-bont have booked their places in Europe, but there is one more ticket up for grabs for the winner of the JD Cymru Premier play-offs.
The New Saints have won the championship for the 17th time in their history and for the fourth consecutive season, securing a place in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.
Pen-y-bont finished in second place for the first time ever, and as the Saints completed the treble by beating Connah’s Quay in the Welsh Cup final last Sunday, Pen-y-bont have therefore qualified for Europe for the second time in their history.
For the first time in 21 years, Haverfordwest County have confirmed 3rd place which means that they have received a pass into the play-off final where they will host the winners of the match between Caernarfon Town and Cardiff Met.
Caernarfon Town (4th) v Cardiff Met (5th) | Sunday – 17:10 (S4C)
For the second season in a row, and for the fourth time since 2019, Caernarfon Town will welcome Cardiff Met to the Oval in the semi-final of the European play-off matches.
Either Caernarfon Town or Cardiff Met have featured in six of the last seven play-off finals, but the clubs have never met in the final.
It will be exactly six years since Caernarfon Town’s first ever fixture in the play-offs, which was at home against Cardiff Met where Darren Thomas headed the Canaries ahead after 19 minutes which triggered wild celebrations behind the goal and resulted with the wall of the Oval falling down amidst the celebrations.
Cardiff Met then fought back into the game with goals from Chris Baker, Adam Roscrow and Kyle McCarthy, and a late penalty from Caernarfon captain Nathan Craig was not enough to save the Cofis (Cfon 2-3 Met).
Cardiff Met went on to beat Bala Town on penalties in the final that year, qualifying for Europe for the first time since the current club was established in 2000.
The Archers had reached the play-off final at the end of their first season in the JD Cymru Premier in 2016/17, before losing 1-0 against Bangor City.
And history was repeated a year later as Cardiff Met beat Barry Town United in the 2017/18 semi-final before once again losing 1-0 in the final, only this time to Cefn Druids.
The play-offs were cancelled in 2019/20 due to Covid-19, but the following year, Caernarfon Town reached the final after beating Barry Town United, but the Cofis eventually lost a dramatic final against Newtown (Cfon 3-5 New).
In 2021/22 Caernarfon Town and Cardiff Met went head-to-head in the semi-final once again, and the Canaries came out on top with Mike Hayes netting the only goal of the game.
Caernarfon Town went on to win the play-offs by defeating Flint Town United in the final, but the prize that year was a ticket to the Scottish Challenge Cup, rather than a trip to Europe.
Cardiff Met lost in the 2022/23 semi-final against Haverfordwest County, before losing again in the semis against Caernarfon Town last season.
It was a tight game at the Oval and late strikes were needed from Marc Williams and Adam Davies to claim the win on the night (Cfon 2-0 Met).
And then on a historic afternoon for Caernarfon Town FC, the Cofis managed to score three times in the first half in the final against Pen-y-bont to secure their place in Europe for the first time in their history (Cfon 3-1 Pen).
| Season | Round | Cardiff Met | Caernarfon Town |
| 2016/17 | Semi Final | Carmarthen 1-2 Met | – |
| Final | Bangor 1-0 Met | – | |
| 2017/18 | Semi Final | Met 4-1 Barry | – |
| Final | Cefn Druids 1-0 Met | – | |
| 2018/19 | Semi Final | Cfon 2-3 Met | Cfon 2-3 Met |
| Final | Bala 1-1 Met (p) | – | |
| 2019/20 | No play-offs | – | – |
| 2020/21 | Semi Final | – | Barry 1-3 Cfon |
| Final | – | Cfon 3-5 Newtown | |
| 2021/22 | Semi Final | Cfon 1-0 Met | Cfon 1-0 Met |
| Final | – | Cfon 2-1 Flint | |
| 2022/23 | Semi Final | Met 0-0 Hav (p) | – |
| 2023/24 | Semi Final | Cfon 2-0 Met | Cfon 2-0 Met |
| Final | – | Cfon 3-1 Pen-y-bont | |
| 2024/25 | Quarter Final | Met 1-0 Bala | Cfon 5-2 Barry |
| Semi Final | Cfon v Met | Cfon v Met | |
| Final |
Record in the European play-offs:
Cardiff Met: Play-offs – 6 | Won – 1 (17%)
Games – 10 | Won – 6 (60%)
Caernarfon Town: Play-offs – 4 | Won – 2 (50%)
Games – 8 | Won – 6 (75%)
In past years, a number of teams have suffered a drop in their performances after their first experience of European football, but Caernarfon Town have built on their success last year and have finished one position higher this season.
Richard Davies’ team have secured 4th place equalling their best season ever in the JD Cymru Premier (4th in 2018/19 and 2021/22).
Caernarfon Town will be aiming to be the first team to win the play-offs for two consecutive seasons after the Cofis won the competition last year and qualified for Europe for the first time in their history.
Caernarfon Town have a strong record in the play-offs having won their last five fixtures in the competition.
The Cofis have proven that they can perform under pressure, and the squad will be full of confidence after battering Barry Town United in the quarter final a fortnight ago (Cfon 5-2 Barry).
Louis Lloyd was the star of the show for the Canaries against Barry Town, scoring four goals and creating the other with a sublime pass, and the winner of the JD Cymru Premier Golden Boot has already scored four goals in four games against Cardiff Met this season.
Cardiff Met had a rather disappointing end to the season by going on a run of five games without a win (D3, L2).
But that is now old news since the students beat Bala Town in the play-off quarter final with their top scorer, Ryan Reynolds, grabbing the only goal of the game in the dying seconds.
In the six previous meetings between these clubs, the teams have won and lost alternately, and so if the pattern is to continue, as Caernarfon Town won 2-1 in the last meeting at the Oval less than a month ago, it is Cardiff Met’s turn to celebrate this week!
