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Watch: The weekend JD Cymru Premier Round-Up

10 Oct 2023 6 minute read
The JD Cymru Premier League trophy

Ryan March

Kicking off the weekend’s action on Friday night was second-place Connah’s Quay, who travelled to bottom of the league, Aberystwyth Town. The Nomads went into the game with seven wins on the bounce, and on paper, they were expected to make it eight. But, as we’ve seen from Aberystwyth over the years, they always have plenty of fight in them and can get a result when it’s least expected.

Despite hitting the woodwork early on, Aber found themselves 1-0 down late in the first half as Jordan Davies scored his tenth goal of the campaign. Anyone watching would no doubt have been thinking that the floodgates would now open, as is so often the case when Connah’s Quay take the lead. However, on the stroke of halftime, Aberystwyth’s John Owen headed home to level things up as the half time whistle blew.

The inevitable bombardment came from Connah’s Quay in the second half, but thanks to some great saves from Dave Jones in the Aber net, he and his defence held out for a massive point that would have repercussions at both ends of the table.

In the other Friday night fixture, Barry Town United made the short trip to Cyncoed to take on Cardiff Met. It was a fairly uneventful first half with both sides having a few half chances, but it was the second half where the game came alive. Elliot Evans gave Met the lead just after the restart with a tidy finish before Harry Owen made it two less than 10 minutes later.

Barry ramped up the pressure as the second half went on, but they weren’t able to find a breakthrough until the 93rd minute when Callum Huggins poked one beyond the Met keeper to make it 2-1. It would be too late for another as Barry slumped to a third defeat in a row. They now occupy the relegation zone with Aberystwyth as they continue to struggle on their return to the Cymru Premier.

As Saturday afternoon came around, the sun was shining across Wales as the current champions and league leaders, The New Saints, made the trip down south to take on Penybont.

It started very brightly for Penybont as Chris Venables headed a superb Mael Davies cross past Connor Roberts in the TNS net to give the home side a surprise early lead. It was looking very good for Bont as they approached the half-hour mark, but the dynamic of the game was about to change as Bont were reduced to 10 men after Josh Yorwerth was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident with Ryan Astles.

Despite the man advantage, The New Saints weren’t able to find an equaliser before halftime as the home side hung on to their lead as they went into the break. Despite Bont’s resilience at the back, as is always the case with The New Saints, it would only be a matter of time before they made a breakthrough. And that breakthrough came from Brad Young, who bent one into the bottom corner, before adding a second minutes later. Ryan Brobbel then scored an impressive brace to make it 4-1. That’s now 21 goals in five games for the leaders as The New Saints juggernaut just keeps on going.

Two more of the league’s high flyers came head to head on Saturday as Newtown hosted Caernarfon in Latham Park. Despite a good start to the season, Caernarfon have struggled to find consistency as they continued their pattern of winning one week and losing the next.

Aaron Williams was the star of the show here. His quickfire double on the stroke of halftime made it comfortable for Newtown before he completed his hat-trick in the second half. Ryan Sears then made it 4-0 late on and handed Newtown an impressive seventh win in a row.

Chris Hughes will be wondering how far his team can go this season as their good form shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

After three defeats in a row, Bala Town were hoping to get back on track as they welcomed Colwyn Bay and their large contingent of travelling support to Maes Tegid. Both sides went close on multiple occasions throughout the first half, but it was Bala’s Ryan Rogers who would break the deadlock as his cross into the box bypassed everyone before hitting the back of the net. Their lead wouldn’t last long though as Guto Williams headed a corner past Kelland Absalom to equalise for the visitors.

Despite being pegged back late in the first half, Bala would return to winning ways as Nathan Peate found the back of the net to make it 2-1. The all-important three points keep Bala in sixth spot, despite a bad run of form and pressure from Cardiff Met.

The weekend’s action finished up in Treforest as Pontypridd United hosted Haverfordwest County in the late evening sun. Both sides came into this one hoping for a win to lift them away from the relegation zone, and it was Ponty who came out the traps to take an early lead through Joe Hunt.

Haverfordwest never really got back into the game after the opening goal, and for the fourth time this season, they were reduced to 10 men as Tyrese Owen was sent for an early bath midway through the second half. And it was only a matter of minutes before Ponty capitalised on the man advantage as the teenager Jack Karadogan doubled Ponty’s lead to give them a much-needed three points as Haverfordwest’s woes continue.

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