Prestatyn fight for lives in top flight

THE busy festive programme could go a long way in deciding which six clubs make the group fighting for European places and which six will be trying to fight off the drop.

Prestatyn, who travel to Barry Town United this afternoon, are fighting for their lives after a dreadful sequence of six defeats in seven matches which leaves them in the relegation area, three points away from safety.

It is only a year ago that their supporters raised £53,000, owed in tax, to save the club from extinction, but the season ended positively with promotion back to the top tier.

The situation looked promising at the end of October, but the rot has really set in culminating in a 7-1 hammering by fellow strugglers Aberystwyth Town and an ignominious 3-0 Welsh Cup exit to lower-league Ruthin Town.

“We need to get back on track as we have slipped badly lately. Confidence is low and we need a positive result to give the players, supporters and the club a boost,” said long-standing Prestatyn boss Neil Gibson.

Carmarthen Town’s plight is even worse as the Old Gold have just five points from 17 games and are 13 points adrift of safety.

The clock is ticking on their tenure of top-flight football stretching back to 1997 and it hard to see how they can survive from such a deficit.

Mark Aizlewood’s side have yet to win at home and today’s visitors Bangor City, who occupy second spot, are on an excellent six-match unbeaten run which has seen them gather 16 points.

Bangor boss Kevin Nicholson, who has masterminded the Citizen’s improvement, after his departure from Cardiff City, is looking for another three points at Richmond Park.

“We have a lot of matches over the Christmas period and I have set the players the target of taking our unbeaten sequence into the new year.

“We will certainly not underestimate Carmarthen, but I was really pleased with last week’s victory over Cefn Druids. We controlled the game well, scored two good goals and the performance was also very pleasing,” Nicholson said.