As The New Saints return to the top of the table under new head coach Anthony Limbrick, we take a look at five talking points from the win at Maes Tegid.
Ryan Brobbel shows his class
Back from injury for the first time since he damaged his knee ligaments back in September, today Brobbel showed how much The New Saints have missed him this season. Since his arrival at Park Hall in 2016, he has been instrumental for the Saints and there’s no doubt his absence has been felt in the TNS line-up as he is such a key player for them. His immediate impact this afternoon saw him back in the side and straight on the scoresheet with an excellent strike after only six minutes of play which sealed the win for the visitors.
New man at the helm at Park Hall
New head coach Anthony Limbrick will be very happy with his side returning to the top of the Cymru Premier title in his first outing in the dugout. The Australian brings plenty of experience to Park Hall after spells at Woking and Grimsby Town in recent years and with Gary Brabin rumoured to be joining him as Director of Football aswell as being assisted by Chris Seargeant, there will be high hopes for him to do well. With numerous members of the Saints’ squad coming to the end of their contracts this summer, it will be interesting to see how he shapes next season’s squad – will he retain most of Scott Ruscoe’s squad or will he want to put his own stamp on things and bring in new names to Oswestry?
Bala need to put their chances to bed
What has been apparent in previous seasons when these two clubs meet is that chances for the Lakesiders have been few and far between. However this season seems to have been a turning point for the Maes Tegid outfit who have been much more competitive and earned themselves two draws in these matches in the first half of the season. After being on the backfoot for 25 minutes on Saturday afternoon, Bala got their act together and delivered a solid performance for the rest of the match especially in the second half. The difference was that Brobbel took his chance and sealed the win in the first half whereas the Lakesiders saw their efforts go begging. Two golden opportunities fell to Chris Venables aswell as an overhead kick in the closing stages by Raul Correia which should’ve earned the home side a deserved point. If Town are to push for the title in the future, they need to make those chances count especially against the league leaders.
Strength in depth
Since the restart of the Cymru Premier, the league introduced the five substitute rule which all clubs are able to utilise to their advantage. Looking at both benches today, there were players in the home and away dugout who would walk into the line-ups of many teams in the Cymru Premier such as Greg Draper and Henry Jones. Colin Caton made use of his five substitutes bringing on Henry Jones, Raul Correia, Kieran Smith, Nathan Peate and Liam Davies with The New Saints bringing on Greg Draper, Leo Smith and Jamie Mullan which shows the sheer strength in depth at the disposable of both clubs. With the rest of the season being played on a Tuesday/Saturday basis for the next five weeks, that strength in depth will be key for both sides with the inevitable injuries and suspensions that will come in tow. The question that will be asked however is, will it be the top sides only that benefit from the new rule change?
Who will be playing European football this summer?
With this afternoon’s results seeing Penybont win at Connah’s Quay and Barry Town United win late on in Caernarfon, The New Saints’ victory saw them go level on points with Connah’s Quay meaning the title race is well and truly on. Bala who had quite the lead in 3rd pre-Christmas now find themselves with only a three point advantage over Penybont with the two clubs meeting on Tuesday evening. As the Welsh Cup has now been scrapped, 3rd place will take an automatic European spot but who will be the ones representing Wales this summer? Will Bala be able to hold off Rhys Griffiths and Gavin Chesterfield’s men? Will Connah’s Quay making it two titles in a row or will Limbrick ensure the trophy returns to Park Hall? It’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks!
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