The Lock Stock Ardal North West remains anyone’s guess as we approach the halfway mark with battles up and down the standings.
With teams beginning to come to terms – both good and bad – with what they’ll be battling, here we take a look at the last month in the third tier.
Leading the Way.
Just a point separates the top two as things stand as we have a new leader at the top of the division. This midweek saw Bangor City 1876 meet Llangefni at Bangor City Stadium, where a 4-0 success sent the Citizens top, leapfrogging title-rivals Porthmadog. Llangefni could have moved above Bangor with a win and just behind Port on goal difference, but the Citizens proved to be too strong in what felt like an early six-pointer.
Bangor returned to winning ways after a narrow 3-3 draw with a revitalised Penmaenmawr, where the league leaders needed a stoppage-time penalty to come away from Cae Sling with a point. It extended their unbeaten start to the campaign with nine wins from 11 games so far this season.
(Pic by Sam Eaden/FAW)
Porthmadog have won three of their last five games in the league with a 1-1 draw against NFA earlier this month, leaving the door open for Bangor. Both of the top two have been busy elsewhere in the JD Welsh Cup with Port overcoming South Walian side Port Talbot to advance, whilst Bangor managed an outstanding win over Cymru North side Holywell.
Chasing the Top
Llangefni sit third as things stand,four points adrift of Bangor whilst Prestatyn’s mixed start has them one below. The Seasiders missed out on putting themselves right in the mix on Wednesday night when newly promoted Bethesda Athletic came to Bastion Gardens and hitting four in a 4-2 win.
Good starts for Llay, NFA and the aforementioned Bethesda have them rounding off the top seven whilst Trearddur Bay finish the top half. All of them are within nine points of the top two so it’s not out of the question that we continue to see a charge. Trearddur Bay have won each of their last three games whilst Llay remain unbeaten since September.
Need to Get Going
In the summer, the likes of Llanrwst United and Llannefydd were tipped to challenge at the top as possible dark horses. However, both sit in the bottom half and in need of a kickstart. Llanrwst will be encouraged by an unbeaten run in the league that stretches back to August, but three losses from their first four games continues to hurt them. They now need to focus on turning draws into wins, with the points shared in each of their last three games.
Llannefydd comes as a surprise, sitting 10th with just one league win since August. They suffered a 4-1 home loss to Bethesda recently and surrendered a lead late to bottom-side St Asaph beforehand. The talent is there but they need to regroup if they aren’t to be left behind.
Mynydd Isa will be pleased with life back in the third tier and will now look to kick on with 12 games played, whilst Pwllheli and, surprisingly, Connah’s Quay Town sit just above the bottom three and are in danger of being dragged into a scrap at the bottom. A top-half finish for Town in their first season at this level last season, that tricky second year seems to be well in motion in Deeside.
It took until October to get their first win, but Penmaenmawr have begun to pick up points, including that impressive draw against Bangor, where they were just seconds away from picking up all three. Felinheli defied odds last year to keep their heads above water, but have struggled early on in 15th.
St Asaph are off the mark – Pic: James Owen Roberts
St Asaph City, docked points, without a win all season, finally had something to smile about recently. One draw in August had them on -2 points until November, where a draw with Llannefydd was followed up by an impressive 2-0 win over Bethesda – their first of the campaign. The Saints now have two points and if they can rally together, may mount a fight.
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Scoring Boots
There’s a battle on for the honour this season with joint leaders so far. Bethesda’s Osian Hughes and Llanrwst’s Callum Parry lead the way with ten so far. Cavan Daley isn’t far behind though, with nine for Llay.
There are eight goals each for Corrig McGonigle (Bangor) and Christoph Azimale (Trearddur Bay), and seven apiece for Byron Davis (Felinheli), Tom Hilditch (Trearddur Bay) and Jonathan Collo (Llay).
Coming Up
The pick of the games this weekend comes at Y Traeth as Porthmadog take on Llangefni. It couldn’t have gone better for Bangor, beating both in recent weeks and now 2nd and 3rd behind them will take points off eachother. They’ll still need to do the business away at Mynydd Isa though.
Bethesda look to maintain their good start and make it three wins from three against Connah’s Quay Town, Felinheli host NFA and Llanrwst welcome Llay to Gwydir Park.
Elsewhere, Penmaenmawr take on Llannefydd in what’s an unpredictable contest given their form whilst Prestatyn will need to bounce back in a trip to Pwllheli. Finally, St Asaph will look to make a statement at home to Trearddur Bay.
