Barry Town United confirmed their place in the JD Cymru Premier top six with an emphatic 5-1 win over Llanelli Town at Jenner Park on Tuesday night.
Knowing that victory would likely their top half spot regardless of results elsewhere, Barry took the lead with just three minutes on the clock as Ollie Hulbert rose highest from Mikey George’s cross and headed home into the bottom corner.
Llanelli – under the guidance of interim boss Terry Boyle for the first time – equalised in the 20th minute through Bradley Gibbings’ composed finish inside the area, but Barry quickly restored their lead thanks to captain Callum Sainty, who received Robbie Willmott’s defence-splitting pass and fired home into the top corner.
Ieuan Owen headed home in Willmott’s deflected cross to make it three by half-time, before the teenager pounced on a loose ball and slotted in his second goal of the evening seven minutes after the restart. Willmott rounded off a five-star performance from Steve Jenkins’ side with a simple finish from Hulbert’s low cross just before the hour mark.
Barry will compete in the Championship Conference for the first time in five years, while defeat for Llanelli leaves the Reds 15 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table.
Colwyn Bay also secured a top six spot despite their narrow 1-0 defeat to leaders The New Saints at Park Hall.
The decisive moment in Oswestry arrived inside just two minutes as Jordan Williams controlled Jordan Marshall’s cross and clinically fired beyond Rhys Williams for his 21st league goal of the season.
Ryan Brobbel went close to doubling Saints’ lead with two volleys from distance, while Bay’s best opportunity of the contest came through Jordan Davies, whose effort from a tight angle was kept out by Nathan Shepperd.
The Seagulls are the first newly-promoted side to finish in the top half since Caernarfon Town did so in 2018/19.
TNS are now six points clear at the top of the table after second-place Connah’s Quay Nomads dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Caernarfon Town at the Go Goodwins Stadium.
Callum Bratley marked his 100th appearance for the Nomads in style with a goal inside two minutes as he raced onto Rhys Hughes’ through ball, rounded Connor Roberts and slotted home from a tight angle. However, Caernarfon levelled midway through the first half as Phil Mooney steered the ball beyond Kit Margetson from Sion Bradley’s low cross.
Rhys Hughes scored for the fourth game in a row to restore the visitors’ advantage just before the hour mark as his wide free-kick sailed through everyone and nestled into the far corner, but Mooney equalised again from another set-piece on 81 minutes, this time tapping into the roof of the net from Ryan Sears’ cushioned header.
It brings to an end the Nomads’ eight-match winning streak in the league, but they are still 14 games unbeaten, while Caernarfon equal their highest ever points tally achieved in a Phase One campaign (34).
Bala Town climbed out of the relegation zone with an impressive 4-0 win over Flint Town United at the Essity Stadium.
The Lakesiders remarkably took the lead inside just nine seconds, as Cameron Ferguson nodded down a loose ball for Lassana Mendes, who sent a deft lob over Jack Flint.
Ben Wynne almost equalised for Flint as his fierce strike rattled the crossbar, but Bala doubled their lead in the 39th minute when Ferguson, who only joined the club from Flint on Monday, bundled the ball over the line from Ross White’s cross.
Ferguson never scored, or even started, during his time with the Silkmen but he haunted his former club again just five minutes later as he retrieved a loose ball and clinically found the net via the post.
Hussein Mehasseb grabbed Bala’s fourth goal on the hour mark as he slotted into an empty net after the hosts failed to deal with Sam Billington’s delivery into the box. Flint slip back into the bottom two following defeat, with Bala sitting two points above them.
Briton Ferry Llansawel climbed up to eighth in the table with a 3-2 win over Haverfordwest County at Ogi Bridge Meadow.
A stunning first half display saw the Reds go 3-0 up after 32 minutes. Ollie Anderson’s acrobatic volley – his fourth goal in five games – opened the scoring, before Tom Walters found the net from distance via the underside of the crossbar and captain Alex Gammond headed home Kian Jenkins’ corner.
Ben Ahmun scored with a looping header from Ricky Watts’ long ball to give Haverfordwest a lifeline on 76 minutes, before 17-year-old substitute Hari Thomas sent a curling shot into the far corner for his first senior goal to reduce the deficit further in stoppage time.
Nonetheless, it was too much of a mountain for the Bluebirds to climb and Ferry held on to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Penybont were held to a third consecutive draw on home turf as they played out a 1-1 stalemate with 10-man Cardiff Met at the DragonBet Stadium.
Fumpa Mwandwe got Met off to a flying start as he ran onto Sam Jones’ through ball and unleashed a low drive into the bottom corner with just three minutes played. The Archers were reduced to 10 men early in the second half though, as goalkeeper Sam Seager was shown a straight red card for deliberately handling the ball outside his area.
Bont capitalised on their numerical advantage and levelled the scoreline on the hour mark as teenager Ioan Phillips poked the ball home from close range for his fourth goal in three games against Met.
Met miss out on a top six spot – for the first time in four years – by just two points, while Bont remain nine points behind second-place Connah’s Quay Nomads.
Midweek results in full:
Barry Town United 5-1 Llanelli Town
Caernarfon Town 2-2 Connah’s Quay Nomads
Flint Town United 0-4 Bala Town
Haverfordwest County 2-3 Briton Ferry Llansawel
Penybont 1-1 Cardiff Met
The New Saints 1-0 Colwyn Bay
