In the Championship, Airbus UK will be looking to get back
to winning ways at home to Port Talbot Town on Saturday (March 16), while the
top two, TNS and Bangor City, clash at Park Hall.
In the Conference, Newtown and Aberystwyth will be looking
to build on their wins last week with trips to Afan Lido and Llanelli
respectively as all four clubs continue to battle against relegation.
Championship:
Airbus UK v Port
Talbot Town
Airbus are now without a win in three, with successive
defeats to Bangor City seeing them crash out of the Welsh Cup and relinquish
second place in the table.
Boss Andy Preece believes the fighting spirit shown by his
players in both games will see them finish second and automatically qualify for
the Europa League next season, but Port Talbot come in to this fixture on the
back of two victories and knowing that a win will move them level on points
with their hosts.
Airbus triumphed 3-0 in the Welsh Cup the last time these
two sides met, and with three players: Steve Abbott, Chris Budrys and Wayne
Riley, all in double figures this term they will be hoping that goals scored
will carry them to their goal.
The visitors have a fully fit squad to choose from, with
manager Scott Young’s only change enforced after Matty Crowell left the club to
return to Australia. They may have what it takes to stretch Airbus’ winless run
further.
Prediction: Airbus UK
1-1 Port Talbot Town
Carmarthen Town v
Prestatyn Town
Carmarthen face Prestatyn bottom of the Championship
section, with the visitors one place and seven points ahead of them.
The hosts do, though, have two games in hand, so they know
that a victory here, plus in those two matches, will see them climb to fifth,
and even move level with Port Talbot in fourth providing they go on a losing
streak.
The visitors triumphed in the Welsh Cup quarter-final
between these two sides on March 2, one of three games the Old Gold have gone
without a win since beating Bala Town in the previous round.
While tasting Cup success recently, Prestatyn have failed to
win in four league games. They will hope that a repeat of that Cup triumph,
although that was in extra time, will get the club back to winning ways and help
them climb above Port Talbot if they fail to get anything at Airbus.
Prediction: Carmarthen
Town 2-2 Prestatyn Town
The New Saints v Bangor
City
Many neutral eyes will be on the clash of the top two as
Bangor look to keep TNS within sight and stave off the challenge of the teams
behind them in the race for an automatic Europa League spot.
The leaders sit 11 points better off than their visitors, with
a game in hand over them, and without having tasted defeat since their penalty
shootout heartache against Carmarthen in the Word Cup final on January 12 (five
matches).
Alex Darlington and Michael Wilde continue to find the back
of the net with ease, and will be hoping to continue that trend against Bangor.
Yet The Citizens have goalscorers of their own. After going
nine league games without a victory, they have won the past three in all
competitions, including that double over Airbus, and that is largely down to
the goalscoring exploits of Chris Simm and Les Davies. Expect goals.
Prediction: TNS 4-2
Bangor City
Conference:
Connah’s Quay v Bala
Town
This week’s action kicks off tonight (March 15) with the
Conference’s top two meeting at the Deeside Stadium, streaming live on the Sgorio website.
The Nomads trail their visitors by five points, but with a
game in hand, so victory tonight is crucial if the club are to reach the
seventh-place play-off spot come the end of the season. They have a full squad
to choose from, and will be hoping for a resurgence of form after stuttering
recently.
Bala, on the other hand, have won four on the bounce and
will want to make that five tonight to give them a real cushion in the race for
that play-off slot.
They will have Conall Murtagh back from a four-match ban,
and will be hoping defender Stuart Jones (three in four) and Lee Hunt (four in four)
can continue their goalscoring runs.
Prediction: Connah’s
Quay 1-2 Bala Town
Afan Lido v Newtown
This would have been a battle of the bottom two had it not
been for Newtown’s vital win over Connah’s Quay last week.
Basement club Afan Lido gave a performance belying their
recent form in their 4-3 defeat at Aberystwyth last time out, and will be
hoping they can out-score their opponents on this occasion, seeing that their
defence has let in 67 goals in 25 league games this term.
Newtown’s defence is decidedly better than their hosts’. They
have only conceded six times in their last five games, and have kept clean
sheets in the last two. In the same run of games, Lido have conceded 16, with
just the one clean sheet.
It is hard to see past an away win here based on those
defensive stats.
Prediction: Afan Lido
1-3 Newtown
Llanelli v
Aberystwyth Town
Llanelli have been in freefall this season and welcome a
rejuvenated Aberystwyth looking to kick on from that vital and entertaining win
over Afan Lido last week.
The Reds have only registered four wins in their last 15
matches in all competitions, but two of those have been in their previous four
fixtures against Carmarthen and Bala, so the signs of improvement are there.
Aberystwyth’s win last time out was their first in five
games, and they currently sit two points behind Connah’s Quay and just one
ahead of both Newtown and their hosts this weekend.
All four sides will be doing all they can to stay ahead of
Afan Lido, and it could be Aberystwyth who continue to do so tonight.
Prediction: Llanelli 1-2
Aberystwyth
0 comments:
Post a Comment