Ben Margetson hopes that Barry Town United can harness the power of the whole club as they prepare to face The New Saints in the Nathaniel MG Cup Final on Saturday (KO 17:30).
The Linnets have reached the Final of the competition for the first time since 2017, while they are hunting their first piece of major silverware for over two decades.
It has been a strong campaign so far, with Barry securing a place in the top six for the first time since 2021, while they head into Saturday’s showpiece after achieving back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
“At the start of the year we set some goals out as a team,” Margetson says. “Top six was what we wanted and also a cup final, so we’ve achieved that. We just hopefully now want to go one step further, hopefully winning the cup.
“But then also now that we’re in the top six, we know we’ve got the play-off games again so we’re two games away from Europe. So we’re using this Phase Two as a sort of stepping stone into those games.”
2026 Nathaniel MG Cup Final
No player has played more minutes for Barry this season than Margetson, who has started every game in the league and cup so far.
The defender has helped the Linnets achieve the second-best defensive record in the JD Cymru Premier – only TNS have conceded on fewer occasions – while at the other end of the pitch he has bagged seven goals in all competitions, already more than in his previous two campaigns combined.
“I’m loving it,” Margetson says. “I’ve got a real buzz back for it again. I’m just really enjoying it, just finding myself in the box and at the minute it’s just going for me, which I’m happy about.”
Barry will head into Saturday’s final as underdogs to prolific trophy winners TNS, but the Linnets have provided a stern test to the Saints on multiple occasions this season – holding them to a goalless draw at Jenner Park in August, while only narrowing losing 1-0 in their most recent meeting at Park Hall last month.
“We know they’re a really good side and they’ve showed that over the last few years,” Margetson says. “So I think firstly we need to give them the respect they deserve. But I think it’s a fine line then because I think if you give them too much respect I think they show you how good they are.
“So I think it’s about matching them out of possession, being really aggressive, trying not to sit off and allow them too much possession. We have to try to press them and try to win the ball as high up as we can.
“When we’ve done that, especially in the game we played previously, I think we had more success in that game so hopefully we can do that again.”
Barry have a loyal fanbase home and away, and with Saturday’s venue of the DragonBet Stadium only a short trip along the A48, Margetson hopes that the Yellow-Blue Army can make the difference on Saturday evening.
“When we played Rhyl in the Welsh Cup, they travelled up in their numbers to that game. So hopefully, with it being quite close to Barry, they can travel in the numbers again. I think they’ll be huge on the night for us as a club.”
Saturday presents Barry’s players with the chance to write themselves into club folklore and Margetson is aware how special that opportunity is.
“We speak all the time as players and we’re really looking forward to the game. As a group and as a club we’ve had a tough couple of months with certain situations, so we just hope now that we can do it for those people close to us. Our goal is to win the trophy and it would mean a lot to everyone if we can do that.”
