Barry Town United leapfrogged Cardiff Met into the JD Cymru Premier top six with a 1-0 win over the Archers at Jenner Park on Boxing Day.
The decisive moment came in the 32nd minute when Met failed to clear Robbie Willmott’s free-kick from the right and it dropped to Ben Margetson in the box who produced a superb overhead kick past Sam Seager.
Seager produced two diving saves to deny Willmott and Keston Davies in the second half as Barry pushed for a second goal, but one proved to be enough as the Linnets made it 12 games unbeaten in all competitions.
Sixth-place Barry are now one point ahead of Met in seventh, with Steve Jenkins’ side also having a game in hand.
An impressive crowd watched on as Colwyn Bay strengthened their place in the top half with a 2-1 win over Caernarfon Town on Saturday.
Over 1,333 fans were in attendance at the Go Goodwins Stadium, where Bay took the lead in the 15th minute when Louis Robles’ cross found Nathan Peate who fired home from close range at the second time of asking after his initial effort was saved.
Jamie Cumming added a second goal for the Seagulls on 64 minutes as he received the ball from Aeron Edwards and produced a stunning first-time curling shot beyond Connor Roberts.
Caernarfon halved the deficit just four minutes later when Danny Gosset’s volley struck Peate’s arm inside the box and Sion Bradley stepped up to score the resulting penalty.
However, Bay held on to claim the victory and are now level on points with Caernarfon – both sides sit four points clear of seventh place with two Phase One games remaining.
Penybont confirmed their place in the top half despite dropping points in a 1-1 draw at home against Briton Ferry Llansawel on Boxing Day.
Bont were reduced to 10 men after just eight minutes when Chris Venables was shown a straight red card for striking the face of Ferry captain Alex Gammond after the pair challenged for the ball.
But despite being a man down, it was the hosts who took the lead shortly before half-time as James Crole received Clayton Green’s long ball upfield, cut inside from the left and sent a powerful effort beyond Will Fuller to score for the fourth consecutive league game.
However, Ferry levelled the contest just before the hour mark when Gammond calmly converted from the penalty spot following Kai Ludvigsen’s foul on Rio Dyer inside the box.
Both goalkeepers made fine saves later in the second half as Dan Higgs tipped Tom Walters’ header over the bar at full stretch before Fuller denied Noah Daley in a one-on-one battle. Penybont are now winless in their last four matches in all competitions, while Ferry are a point above the relegation zone.
Second-place Connah’s Quay Nomads closed the gap on league leaders The New Saints to seven points with a 2-0 victory over local rivals Flint Town United at the Essity Stadium.
The Nomads were awarded a penalty inside just nine minutes as Jack Flint brought down Abdi Sharif inside the area, with Rhys Hughes stepping up from the spot to score his ninth league goal of the campaign.
Flint made numerous key saves to keep the hosts in the contest, most notably denying Dan Cowan from point-blank range, but the Nomads eventually doubled their lead in the 72nd minute when Harry Franklin received Cowan’s long ball on the right flank, battled past past Jack Thorn and squeezed a shot into the bottom corner for his 11th goal in eight games.
John Disney’s side saw out the remainder of the contest to earn their sixth consecutive league win and move to within just two points of equalling their entire points tally from last season. At the other end of the table, Flint slip back into the bottom two.
Haverfordwest County moved five points clear of the relegation zone and kept their slim top half hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Llanelli Town at Ogi Bridge Meadow.
Owain Jones opened the scoring in the 24th minute, picking up the loose ball from Greg Walters’ blocked shot and sending a sweetly struck low drive into the bottom corner. Jones then turned provider eight minutes later as his low ball found Corey Shephard, who similarly found the bottom corner for his sixth league goal of the campaign.
Ben Fawcett, who was making his final appearance at Ogi Bridge Meadow before moving to Australia, sealed the victory in the 74th minute as he fired home in the box after seeing his initial shot blocked.
The Bluebirds are now four points behind the top six with two games in Phase One left to play, while Llanelli’s hopes of avoiding relegation continue to decrease as they are now 11 points adrift of safety.
Weekend results in full:
Barry Town United 1-0 Cardiff Met
Flint Town United 0-2 Connah’s Quay Nomads
Haverfordwest County 3-0 Llanelli Town
Penybont 1-1 Briton Ferry Llansawel
The New Saints P-P Bala Town
Caernarfon Town 1-2 Colwyn Bay
