Cardiff Met Uni v Connah’s Quay Nomads

Cardiff Met have been a solid Cymru Premier team for over 5 years after their rise through the leagues under Christian Edwards, who left this summer after almost 13 years in charge. His replacement is Ryan Jenkins who has been promoted to manager after 7 years as assistant coach which also saw him manage some of the universities BUCS teams. Cardiff Met have not made many improvements to their squad this year, bringing in Lewis Rees permanently after his loan spell last season, as well as three other players all under 21. They have however kept Emelyn Lewis, Elliot Evans and Harry Owen who are all key players for the squad. Met showed heart in their only competitive game under Jenkins so far, coming back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against Newtown in the Nathaniel MG Cup but after finishing 7^th last season, their main aim is to secure a top 7 finish again to see them into the European play-off. Despite all this Met are not one of the strongest teams in the division and will simply aim to hold their own again.

Connah’s Quay have also changed their manager with Andy Morrison having left to become Sri Lanka’s national manager and Craig Morrison who came in, leaving to return to TNS. They have brought in their ex assistant Neil Gibson who has joined after an incredibly successful season with Flint Town that saw them finish 5^th after battling relegation the season prior. That season Flint started really strongly and Gibson will be hoping for the same with his new team this year. Gibson’s first competitive match in charge saw them knock TNS out of the Nathaniel MG Cup on penalties and will have given Gibson plenty of hope for the season to come. Gibson had only had the players for one training session before the TNS match so with further training under their belt now, they will have hopes of challenging for league titles again. Connah’s Quay had won two league titles in a row before last season where they finished 9^th, so with new management will expect to be back at the top challenging. 

Connah’s Quay should be too strong for Cardiff Met in this season opener, although under new management Met will put up a fight, therefore draw no bet will cover in case Met are able to hold out for a draw.

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Newtown v TNS

TNS won the league again last year after two years without a title but have not settled, sacking Anthony Limbrick due to performances in Europe. They have brought back club legend Craig Harrison as manager, with fans claiming ‘the king is back’. Harrison won 6 consecutive league titles with TNS and during his time at the club broke Ajax’s record for the most consecutive wins by a team in a European top division, 27! TNS dominated Connah’s Quay in the cup last weekend despite drawing and will know similar performance levels will see them win against any other opposition. Harrison strives for success as manager and has brought in high quality signings in the form of Josh Pask and Josh Daniels who played 31 matches in the football league between them last year as well as Liverpool academy graduate Daniel Atherton on loan. TNS also have several players available now that missed the Connah’s Quay match and have effectively a full squad to choose from. 

Newtown have not had the best start to the season. Their manager has been at the club since 2013 and their third placed finish last season was their best finish in over 20 years. Despite this Newtown were only able to scrape past HB Torshavn on penalties in Europe before being pummelled 6-2 on aggregate by Spartak Trnava. Newtown also disappointingly lost to Cardiff Met University last weekend after going ahead, before conceding 2 goals in the last 20 minutes. They have also disappointed in the transfer window, three players have come in all from the Cymru Premier and their team has mainly added depth rather than quality. 

TNS will expect to win the league again this season and that will start with a win against Newton. Newtown have disappointed so far this season so for them to get anything out this match will be a struggle against a team that dropped points just 7 times last season.

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