Penybont’s weekend draw with Aberystwyth Town leaves them as one of three sides competing for the two-remaining places in the JD Cymru Premier top-six, but manager Rhys Griffiths insists his team will not take anything for granted going into their final Phase 1 game against Haverfordwest County.
Penybont, along with Caernarfon Town and Haverfordwest, are competing for the final two places before the league split.
A top-half finish guarantees a place in the end of season play-offs to compete for a place in Europe.
Penybont sit fifth in the table with 32 points and a plus-2 goal difference and face seventh-placed Haverfordwest (29 points, minus-4) on Good Friday.
Caernarfon Town sit in-between the two clubs in sixth, also on 32 points but with a minus-6 goal differential.
Penybont’s draw at Aberystwyth on the weekend leaves them needing to avoid defeat to rubber-stamp their place.
“We’ve just got to take it as another game. If we played the way we did today and in the second-half last week, I’d imagine we’ll be ok but we can’t take anything for granted and Haverfordwest have done brilliantly this season,” said Griffiths.
Midfielder Mael Davies earned a point for Penybont after cancelling out Ryan Franklyn’s opener for Aber.
Haverfordwest have already ruled themselves out of a potential European spot after the Bluebirds opted out of replacing manager Wayne Jones to comply with UEFA licencing regulations.
Their good season continued with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Newtown.
Kieran Lewis and a thumping first-time effort from Cameron Keetch gave County a two-goal lead before substitute Marcus Griffiths slotted in a third.
Caernarfon might have quietly gone under the radar since the restart but their place in the top-six is no fluke.
Huw Griffiths steered his side to their third win on the bounce, winning 3-2 against Cardiff Met, with the Cofis taking 10 from a possible 12 points since the league has resumed.
Their fate on the final day of Phase 1 remains in their hands, however they must avoid defeat against The New Saints.
Former Wrexham youngster Jake Bickerstaff restored a two-goal advantage for ten-man Caernarfon, after Harry Owen had pulled a goal back for Cardiff. It was too little, too late when Elliot Evans again replied for the students, from the penalty spot, in added time.
The New Saints fired a warning to leaders Connah’s Quay as the managerless Saints hit six against Flint Town United.
Four goals, including a brace from Louis Robles, put The New Saints firmly in the driving seat after only 16-minutes.
Adrian Cieslewicz netted a fourth, before half-time substitute Ryan Brobbel took just seven-minutes to score in his first match in six months following injury, as The New Saints closed the gap on the leaders back to three points.
Colin Caton was left with little to cheer about on his 700th game in charge of Bala Town after the Lakesiders fell to a third-straight defeat, losing 6-2 defeat to Barry Town at Jenner Park.
Despite taking a second-minute lead through Chris Venables, Bala collapsed as Barry struck five times with Kayne McClaggon and Evan Press both netting twice. Kieran Smith pegged a goal back on a woeful day for the visitors before Curtis Hutson completed the rout.
Good Friday fixtures (5.00pm)
Aberystwyth Town v Cefn Druids, Bala Town v Flint Town United, Cardiff Met v Barry Town United, Newtown v Connah’s Quay, Penybont v Haverfordwest County (live on Sgorio), The New Saints v Caernarfon Town
Featured image courtesy of Colin Ewart.