Cardiff City one win away from title, while Cardiff Met on brink of relegation
CARDIFF, WALES - 02 FEBRUARY 2025: Megan Bowen of Cardiff City Women in the Genero Adran Premier fixture between Cardiff City Women FC and Swansea City Women FC at Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
Only three games remain in the Adran Premier, and we are one step closer to knowing how the final table will look.
In the second tier, while the Adran North is wrapped up, the Adran South title battle is out of this world.
Let’s take a look back at the week that was.
Adran Premier – Championship Conference
We begin this week at Park Hall. Last weekend saw TNS and Cardiff City meet in the semi-finals of the Bute Energy Welsh Cup, with the Bluebirds triumphing 1-0 at Aberystwyth’s Park Avenue. Yesterday, for all the while it looked like TNS were going to get their revenge, but a tremendous late turnaround saw Cardiff City prevail 3-2.
It only took two minutes for the hosts to break the deadlock, as Maria Francis-Jones’ cross was headed home by Chantelle Teare. While there were to be no more goals in the first half, the action was end-to-end. For the reigning champions, Megan Bowen headed Ffion Price’s cross over the crossbar. At the other end, Tiggy Webb had a goal ruled out due to a foul in the buildup.
But five minutes after the hour mark, Shauna Duffy’s side doubled their lead. Francis-Jones was once again the architect, and this time it was Kayleigh Baker who headed past Ceryn Chamberlain. Suddenly, the title race looked set to go down to the wire.
However, this Cardiff City team is a resilient one and often this season don’t know when they are beaten, and Sunday was no different. Heading into the 88th minute, they were two down, but what happened next was truly remarkable.
The deficit was reduced by Nieve Jenkins, who turned home Price’s cross at the back stick, and in the first minute of stoppage time, Shannon Evans struck a leveller, as she powered the ball into the bottom corner.
A point in that situation would be good enough you’d think, but not for Iain Darbyshire’s side, and in the third minute of added time, they completed their astonishing turnaround, as Bowen fired the ball into the roof of the net.
The win now means Cardiff City can win the title next weekend, when these two meet in Leckwith this upcoming Sunday.
The reason why the Bluebirds are on the cusp is because Briton Ferry drew 2-2 at home to Wrexham.
Despite making a good start, it was Wrexham who gave up the first goal twelve minutes in. Keren Allen brought down Maia Owen in the box, and after being awarded a penalty, up stepped Meg Kearle, who sent Liz Craven the wrong way. Moments later the hosts almost doubled their lead, but Craven made a strong save to keep Wrexham in the game.
How the Red Dragons would make that save count, as they drew level five minutes before the break. Lili Jones’ free kick found the head of Abbie Iddenden, and while her initial header struck the post, the striker was alert and managed to convert the rebound. A minute later, and Wrexham found themselves ahead. Iddenden turned provider this time, as her pass through found Ava Suckley, who swept home her eleventh goal of the season, putting her joint top in the race for the golden boot.
After being shocked at the end of the first period, Briton Ferry responded well in the second half and bagged a deserved leveller nine minutes in, as Kearle scored her second of the game. Neither side were able to find a way through for the rest of the game, as both were forced to settle for a point, a point that might have brought to an end Ferry’s unexpected bid for the title.
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Adran Premier – Plate Conference
Cardiff Met are on the brink of relegation after losing 2-0 away at Swansea City.
From the beginning, Swansea were the team on top but struggled to find the back of the net for large parts of the game. Katy Hosford was denied by Carys Gittins, Jess Williams’ header went straight at the keeper, while Nia Jones’ stunning volley was ruled out due to offside in the buildup.
The closest Met came was through India Shanahan, who was in one-on-one with Charlie Haynes, but the Swans keeper came out on top.
As the game wore on, the more you thought Met could get an unlikely point out of the game, but 16 minutes from time, a big moment. Aimee Deacon darted through the defence and was fouled in the box. Penalty given. Up stepped Stacey John-Davis, who made no mistake and put Yzzy Taylor’s team in front.
And in stoppage time, the hosts secured all three points in some fashion, as Chloe Chivers powered a free kick in from long range; a goal well worth seeking out on social media. The defeat means Cardiff Met must win all three of their remaining matches to give themselves a chance of staying up.
Elsewhere, Barry Town got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win away at Aberystwyth Town.
After a quiet first half, Barry were handed a perfect chance to break the deadlock five minutes before full time with a penalty kick. However, Jasmine Turner failed to convert. The Linnets would make amends just eight minutes into the second half, as Sienna Stone scored her first goal of the season to put them ahead.
And just six minutes later their lead was doubled, as Lucy Attwood scored from Danielle Broadhurst’s ball through. Barry must beat Swansea next weekend to keep their chance of lifting the plate alive, while Aber need to avoid defeat to Met to confirm their safety.
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Adran North
Newly crowned champions Connah’s Quay are one win away from winning all of their league games this season, after a narrow 1-0 win against Llanfair United.
The only goal came with eight minutes remaining, as Ella Jones assisted Anna Marsh. When these two met earlier in the season, the Nomads prevailed 6-0, so this result goes to show the improvement Llanfair have made this campaign. However, if they beat Felinheli next weekend, Connah’s Quay can call themselves invincible.
However, that game against Felinheli might be tricky, as they defeated NFA 10-0 at home.
There were braces for Rubie Davies, Jenna Allsup, and Fflur Williams, while Elsi Williams, Ellie Jones, Hana Wellings and Katie Midwinter also found the back of the net. NFA had Courtney Ingram sent off in the first half, but with two games remaining, the visitors confirmed their place at the bottom of the table. Felinheli, on the other hand, confirm a third place finish.
Meanwhile, Flint Town United and Llandudno played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Essity Stadium.
Flint made a lightning start and found themselves two up within eight minutes thanks to Llinos Hughes and Zoe Stopford. However, Llandudno responded well and drew level before the break, with Kelsey Davies and Angharad Jones finding ways past Rebecca Bott.
In the 89th minute, Flint looked like they found a winner through Kaelyn Williams, but in the fifth minute of added time, Erin Doran snatched a point away from Flint. A truly entertaining game in the second tier.
Adran South
Cascade kept their title dreams alive with a stunning 6-2 win at home against league leaders Pontypridd United.
The hosts blew the Bute Energy Welsh Cup semi-finalists away in the first half, as two Chrystalla Moreton goals, coupled with an Erin Parry strike, put Cascade in a strong position. Ffion Simmonds did pull one back for Ponty before the break, but they failed to recover in the second half.
Moreton completed her hat-trick, while Ellis Lunn and Olivia Townsend also found the back of the net. Madison Williams scored a late consolation penalty for the visitors, but it was too little too late.
Swansea University also kept up their ambitions of playing Adran Premier football next season with a 2-0 win away at Penybont.
Both goals for the Students came in the first half. Hannah Pinney scored the opener, before Kayleigh Hateley wrapped up the win after the half hour mark. This means, heading into the final day of the season, Pontypridd, Cascade, and Swansea University are all level on top of the table on 24 points. April 6th is sure to be an afternoon full of entertainment!
And finally, Cwmbran Celtic recorded their first league win since mid-December with a 3-1 victory away at Caldicot Town.
Cwmbran scored all three of their goals in the first half, thanks to Georgina Cridland, Lauren Boyd and Alex Cridland. Layla Howells pulled one back for Caldicot in their last game of the season, but they will finish at the bottom of the pile. Celtic move up to fourth.
