Bala held by Bluebirds
HAVERFORDWEST County went into their home clash against Bala Town hoping to avenge their 6-0 defeat last month. The Bluebirds also had to face the North Walians without long-standing manager Wayne Jones, who stepped down after last weekend’s 4-1 loss at Flint.
Jazz Richards (pictured right) and Sean Pemberton took over the preparation and their work was rewarded with a 0-0 draw to steady the ship.
Llandudno kept up their title challenge in JD Cymru North with a 2-0 win at Holyhead Hotspur, with Toby Jones getting both goals.
Their evening’s work was made a bit easier when referee Alex Livesey showed Leon Doran a straight red for a challenge on Matthew Mullender after only four minutes.
Jamie Hyne came up with two goals to extend Guilsfield’s unbeaten run in JD Cymru North to 15 games as they beat Llangefni Town 3-0.
Guilfsield now boast the only unbeaten record this season in Tier 2, yet still find themselves trailing both Airbus UK Broughton and Llandudno. They have two games in hand on them both, but are two behind second place and nine behind the leaders.
Airbus UK won 5-1 at home against lowly Llanrhaeadr, with two goals coming from Adam Davies.
That took his league tally this season to 23, the most in the two divisions in Tier 2.
The New Saints will head into the second half of the JD Cymru Premier season with a 12-point lead after their 13th win of the campaign at Jenner Park.
Anthony Limbrick’s side reached the halfway mark with a convincing 2-1 triumph over Barry Town United.
There are six games left to go before the top six teams split from the rest.
Then it will be a 10-game shootout before the champions are crowned and earn their richest reward of a place in the qualifying rounds of the Uefa Champions League.
At a ground where they hadn’t lost for more than 20 years, TNS got off to a flying start with a goal from Danny Redmond after only four minutes.
Jordan Williams doubled the lead just after the hour mark before Theo Wharton got one back to make it an interesting final 20 minutes.
“We got into the final third plenty of times and created a lot of chances. We should have got a third or fourth goal to make it more comfortable,” said Limbrick.
“We should have had more goals, but Danny Redmond’s goal was a great strike.
“We are still chasing because we haven’t won the title for a couple of years, but the players are hungry for success.”
A Nick Rushton double in the opening 20 minutes put Newtown in firm control at Park Avenue as they took full advantage of Flint Town United’s game being called off to move level on points with them in second place with a 4-2 victory on the road.
Reigning champions Connah’s Quay Nomads maintained their rich vein of form as they played out a goalless draw with Cardiff Met at Deeside in a game that was a dress rehearsal for their Nathaniel MG Cup final clash in February.
The Nomads have now gone seven games without defeat in the league and look odds-on for a top-six finish.
Penybont have now picked up 19 points out of a possible 24 in their last eight games and their 7-1 home win over Cefn Druids kept them in the top four.
For the Druids, it was a 14th defeat in 16 and they are now cut adrift at the bottom of the table and heading for relegation back to JD Cymru North.
Three home players scored twice – Lewis Harling, Sam Snaith and James Waite – and the first goal came from Kane Owen after only seven minutes.