Cardiff City eight clear at the top, while Wrexham keep good run going – Adran Premier roundup

It was a pivotal weekend in the Adran Premier, as the league finally split in half, leading to high stakes in every game.

As well as topflight action, we had plenty of drama in the Adran North and Adran South.

Let’s take a look back at the week that was.

Adran Premier – Championship Conference

We begin with Sunday’s early kick-off at Old Road. The top two at the split were indeed Briton Ferry and Cardiff City, with the Bluebirds holding a five-point lead over their rivals. Ferry haven’t made life easy for City in the Adran Premier, holding them to a draw away from home, and beating them convincingly on home soil around the Christmas break. However, Iain Darbyshire’s side got their revenge, as they defeated Rhys James’ team 2-0.

After Shannon Evans headed just over the bar in the early stages, City took the lead 15 minutes into the contest. Lining up a corner, Ffion Price conjured up yet another magical moment in what’s becoming a memorable season, as she scored directly from it. An Olimpico from the wing-back, who still remarkably leads the race for the Golden Boot.

Ten minutes later and the lead was doubled. Evans once again got on the end of a cross, but her header this time was saved by Courtney Young. But Young couldn’t recover in time to stop the rebound, which was tapped in by Mackenzie Olden.

To their credit, the more the game wore on, the more Ferry grew in confidence. Lowri Ridings headed straight at Ceryn Chamberlain, Maia Owen couldn’t reach a cross at the far post, while Jade Crofts failed to convert a one-on-one opportunity.

All in all, a showing that Ferry can take a lot of pride from. But it’s Cardiff City, the winning machine that is Cardiff City, who finally found a way through their rivals to open up an eight-point gap at the top with five games remaining.

To North Wales now. It has been a season to remember so far for TNS, but one team who have had their number lately has been Wrexham. The Red Dragons claimed a vital win over them in their bid to reach the top four, and now they were in it, both teams met at The Rock once more. And this time, the outcome was the same. A Wrexham win, but this time, the scoreline was 3-1.

As you’d expect with two teams who like to attack, the opening phases were frantic. A flurry of TNS corners were dealt with well by Wrexham, while the Red Dragons tried to hit on the counter at the other end.

Midway through the half, the Saints defence gave way, as Ava Suckley finished from a tight angle to give Steve Dale’s side the lead. Only two minutes later, Wrexham and Suckley had their second. Forcing Mackenzie Haydn-Jones into an error, the in-form striker took full advantage to double the lead.

Shauna Duffy’s side responded well to the shock of conceding two so quickly, as they pulled one back before the break. Grace Dunkerley’s cross into the area found Molly Havard, who turned home with ease.

TNS certainly had confidence coming back out after the interval, but that hope was dented further ten minutes into the second half, as Carra Jones scored a screamer from distance to restore Wrexham’s two-goal advantage.

That’s how the game ended, as Wrexham close the gap significantly on Briton Ferry and TNS, and a very unexpected second place finish could be on the cards.

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Adran Premier – Plate Conference

Perhaps the biggest game of the day came at Cyncoed. Bottom of the table Cardiff Met have failed to win in any competition so far this season, and things were looking bleak. However, seventh placed Aberystwyth Town were only three points ahead of them, and a win on home soil for the Archers would blow the relegation scrap wide open. However, a late Aber show saw them take all three points.

Despite a strong start from the Seasiders, they would be hit with a sucker punch midway through the first half. Beca Thomas showed tremendous strength to keep the ball, before she turned away from her markers and found the bottom corner to give Met a rare lead at the break.

The visitors introduced Jess Baker at the break, and the striker changed the way Aber played for the better. It was her through ball on the hour mark that found the run of Lleucu Mathias, and the young forward showed great composure in the box before rolling the ball past Charlotte Smith.

The game looked set to end in a draw, but with four minutes to go, Imi Scourfield struck a howitzer from 30-yards out that sailed over the keeper and wrapped up all three points for Aber. They go six clear of Met, and the Archers know they have to start winning sooner rather than later with so little time remaining in the season.

Swansea City found themselves in the very unfamiliar surroundings of the bottom four on Sunday, and their poor run of form continued, as they drew 0-0 with Barry Town in Llandarcy.

While the scoreline may suggest a drab game, both sides had chances to win it. For the Swans, Taite Trivett struck a mean half volley that whistled over the crossbar, while Katy Hosford’s curler narrowly missed the target.

The best chance of the whole game though fell to Barry. Jasmine Turner won the ball high up field before bearing down on goal, but she couldn’t put the ball away. There remains a four-point gap between these two teams, but Barry remain unbeaten in their three meeting with Swansea this campaign.

Cardiff Met 1-2 Aberystwyth Town: Seasiders take huge step towards Adran Premier survival

Adran North

Connah’s Quay maintained their 100% record on Sunday with a big 7-0 win over Rhyl.

Within the opening half hour, the Nomads had already scored five. There was a goal each for Ella Jones, Anna Marsh and Poppy Kendrick-Jones, while there was yet another brace for captain Polly Wild-McGregor. It could have been even better for the skipper, but she missed a penalty.

While the second half was a quieter affair, substitute Sophie Hodson scored her first goal of the campaign, while Kendrick-Jones also found another. It’s now 46 goals in ten league games for Jordan Parry’s side.

The only side who looks capable of stopping the leaders are Llanfair United, as they recorded yet another impressive victory, this time a 3-2 triumph over Llandudno.

It was Dudno who took the lead through Mia Roberts towards the end of the half, but within a minute they were pegged back, as Sophie Cook equalised for Llanfair.

As the second half wore on the draw was looking likely, but two quickfire goals courtesy of Becky Jones and Harriet Davies put Llanfair on the cusp of a big win. Amelia Mercer did score her first senior goal for Llandudno late on, but it was too little too late. Llanfair’s excellent season shows no sign of slowing down.

Perhaps the biggest shock of the day came at Cae Seilo, as Felinheli hammered Bangor 7-2.

In what was a phenomenal opening 20 minutes, Felinheli found themselves five goals up. A double for Fflur Williams, coupled with strikes for Ellie Jones, Jenna Allsup, and Alaw Huws shocked Bangor. It could have been six inside half an hour, but Hana Wellings failed to convert from the spot.

Menna Evans pulled one back before the break for Bangor, but Fflur Williams completed her hat-trick in the second half, and Rubie Davies bagged the seventh in stoppage time. Bangor scored a consolation goal through Cerys Parry, but they were well beaten on the road.

Flint Town United got back to winning ways by beating NFA 3-1.

It was bottom of the table NFA who broke the deadlock after five minutes thanks to Claire Smedley, but Kaelyn Williams equalised for Flint against her former club ten minutes before half time.

Then in the second half, two penalties from Zoe Stopford ensured Flint picked up the win after three straight defeats.

Adran South

Pontypridd United kept their spot at the top of the Adran South with an important 3-1 win over Penybont.

Nicole Fenton kept up her amazing season by scoring the opener after nine minutes, but Mollie Jones equalised for Penybont, who still harboured hopes of a stunning title win.

But Ponty went up the gears and won the game in the final 20 minutes. Fenton added another to her tally, before Madison Williams wrapped up the win in stoppage time.

Level on points with the Dragons at the top of the table are Swansea University after they defeated Cwmbran Celtic 1-0 away from home.

The only goal came after just five minutes, with Hannah Pinney converting from Annabel Stokes’ pass through. Sunday sees the Students take on Ponty in a fixture that could well decide where the Adran South title goes.

And finally, Llanelli Town managed to pick up their first league win of the season, as they defeated Caldicot Town 4-2 at home.

Bryanna Demery and Stacey Webber gave Llanelli the perfect start, but China Cooper-Jones reduced the deficit for Caldicot before the half hour. However, goals either side of the break from Annie Short and Nadia Phillips put the Reds in a commanding position.

Millie Pearce scored a consolation goal, but the result lifts Llanelli off the foot of the table, with Caldicot sinking to the bottom as a result.

(Featured Image: Ashley Crowden/FAW)