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This Saturday the JD Cymru Premier 2022/23 season will come to its close with Newtown and Haverfordwest County going head-to-head in the play-off final. The winners will join The New Saints, Connah’s Quay and Pen-y-bont as the clubs who will be representing Wales in Europe next season. Newtown (6th) v Haverfordwest County (7th) | Saturday – 17:15 (S4C) It promises to be quite the occasion at Latham Park on Saturday as Newtown and Haverfordwest County battle it out for the last ticket to Europe. The Newtown squad have plenty of European experience and will aim to qualify for the third successive season. Haverfordwest County on the other hand will be labelled the ‘underdogs’ with the Bluebirds looking to reach Europe for only the second time in their history, and for the first time in 20 years. This year is only the third instant in 12 seasons where the final will be held between the two lowest ranked teams in the play-offs, and Haverfordwest County will hope to become the fourth club to win the knock-out competition after finishing 7th in the leageu (Bala Town 12/13, Cardiff Met 18/19, Newtown 20/21). Haverfordwest County are competing in the play-offs for the first time ever after topping the Bottom Six table, and following a fantastic performance from Kiwi-keeper Zac Jones last Saturday, the Pembrokeshire side are now just one win away from Europe. Zac Jones was the man of the match in the goalless draw against Cardiff Met in the semi-final, saving a penalty during the game before stopping another two during the shoot-out to send Tony Pennock’s team into the final. Newtown are into the play-off final for the third time, and after winning their previous two finals the Robins will be confident that they can cross the line yet again. Chris Hughes’ clan first won the play-offs in 2014/15 as they beat Aberystwyth Town and qualified for Europe for the third time in their history, and for the first time since 1998. Then after a six year gap the Robins returned to Europe via the play-offs in 2020/21, beating Caernarfon Town in an extraordinary final (Cfon 3-5 New), before finishing 3rd last season to reach Europe for the fifth occasion. Since the turn of the year, Newtown have only won three of their 14 fixtures, with all three of those victories coming against Bala Town, including their semi-final triumph last Friday. Bala Town keeper, Harri Lloyd was unlucky to score two own goals, with Aaron Williams and Zeli Ismail also on the scoresheet in a six-goal thriller at Maes Tegid (Bala 2-4 New). The head-to-head record is leaning towards the home team as Newtown have already beaten Haverfordwest County twice this season and have only lost once in nine home matches against the Bluebirds. But ‘momentum’ is the magic word during the play-offs, and Haverfordwest County certainly have it on their side as they’re unbeaten in their last eight outings (won six, drawn two). Can Haverfordwest County become the 10th team to win the JD Cymru Premier play-offs, or will Newtown become the first team to win the play-offs on three separate occasions…? Follow all the action live on S4C at 17:00 in the company of Sioned Dafydd, Dylan Ebenezer and Malcolm Allen.
2023-09-09
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