THE JD Cymru Premier returns this Saturday, February 11, as the second half of the season gets underway.
With the league now split into two the race for European places hots up and there will also be an intense battle to avoid the drop.
At the top end of the table, Connah’s Quay Nomads will be hoping they can overhaul TNS’ 16-point advantage in a bid to claim the League’s top prize.
While it may seem unlikely, they will need to watch the three teams below them. Penybont (3rd) and Cardiff Met (4th) sit just three points behind them while fifth placed Bala Town are only four points behind the Nomads.
Newtown are a further seven points behind Bala but they are more than capable of causing an upset and could easily move themselves up with a couple of wins.
League leaders TNS visit Cardiff Met this Saturday looking for what would be their 20th win of the season. The runaway leaders beat the Met 4-0 and 7-0 in their two fixtures in the first phase and the Met will need to play well to pull off an unlikely result.
Bala host Penybont in a game that both sides will want to win in order to get their second phase off to the perfect start.
The Bont earned victory over Bala earlier in the season while the other fixture finished in a 1-1 draw.
Connah’s Quay Nomads travel to Newtown looking to get back to winning ways after being beaten by Haverfordwest County in the final game of the first phase.
However, their last trip to Newtown saw them held to a goalless draw so they will be keen to avoid a repeat.
That win for Haverfordwest saw the Bluebirds move up to seventh place in the table and was the perfect end to the first phase for Tony Pennock’s side.
They will be keen to stay there and they begin the second phase with a trip to Caernarfon Town, who sit just two points below them in the table.
Jordan Davies’ goal earned the Bluebirds victory over Caernarfon at the Bridge Meadow but the reverse fixture saw Caernarfon seal a 2-1 win.
Ninth placed Flint welcome tenth placed Aberystwyth Town with both looking to pick up points to move away from the bottom two.
Aber were boosted by their 2-1 win over Caernarfon in the last game of the first phase and they will look to push on against a Flint side who they beat at Park Avenue earlier in the season. The other game finished 1-1 and it promises to be another close game.
The bottom two sides meet each other as Pontypridd host Airbus. Airbus are without a win this season and find themselves 24 points from safety with only thirty left to play for.
A win against Pontypridd would be welcome for the Wingmen but they must come up with a good performance if they are to beat the Bont.
Pontypridd earned 4-0 and 1-0 victories over Airbus in the first phase and it looks like they could earn another win on Saturday.
With the sides from seventh to 11th in the table separated by just seven points, every point will be crucial between now and the end of the season.
Cardiff Met’s game with TNS kicks off at 12:45 while all other fixtures kick off at 2:30pm.
