Ardal South East odds as three horse title race predicted

The Ardal South East 2024/25 season gets underway on Tuesday (July 23) evening.

One element of intrigue this year is how Canton will fare. They have moved over from the South West, despite there being more eastern-based clubs in the division, and now they find themselves travelling to the Gwent and afar every week.

Canton finished ninth in the South West last season, and it will be interesting to see how Daniel Tanhai’s side can deal with the change. Their season begins away at Pen-y-Pound Stadium against Abergavenny Town, who have a new man at the helm, Rhys Llewellyn.

General View ahead of the match.
Abergavenny Town v Briton Ferry Llansawel in the JD Cymru South at Pen-y-Pound Stadium on the 2nd February 2024. — It’s all change at Abergavenny Town. A new manager is in charge at Pen-y-Pound and there’s a lot of changes to the playing staff. (Pic by Lewis Mitchell/FAW)

Abergavenny were relegated from the Cymru South, having only picked up a measly eight points. Llewellyn has brought in a few players from his days at Pontypridd United.

Aber Bluebirds were also relegated last season, having spent only one season in the second tier. They fared slightly better than Abergavenny, picking up seven points more than Abergavenny, but they were still 17 points adrift of safety.

Lee Thomas’ men are at home against Tredegar Town in their opening fixture. Tredegar, who finished 11th last season, are one of five clubs predicted to be relegated.

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In what is a rarity when it comes to the National League Board and the Ardal Leagues, Abercarn United were given reprieves after Aberbargoed Buds had withdrawn from the division. Only Lliswerry and Hay St Mary’s went down in the end, with there being no Mid-Walian side to come up.

Treharris Athletic Western's Iestyn Thomas' celebrates their third goal against Tredegar Town in the Ardal South East — Treharris Athletic Western ended up finishing outside of the relegation zone but are being predicted to go down this season. (Image Credit: Perry Dobbins).

Treharris Athletic Western finished four points above Abercarn and put together a string of good results at the end of the campaign to finish outside of the bottom three. Dean Raven’s men like Canton had previously played in the South West, but found it harder after they moved.

Croesyceiliog is back in the South East after being away for a year. They won the Gwent Premier Division title and were joined by Newport Corinthians, who were promoted after finishing in second.

Here’s a table-style run-through of the likelihood of each of the 16 teams winning the league from the top to the bottom.