Welsh Premier League 9th/10th Feb

[traeth]

this weekend odds from bet365

09 Feb 19:30 Connah's Quay v Airbus UK 1.33 4.33 7.00
10 Feb 14:30 Aberystwyth v Caernarfon 1.53 3.60 5.00
10 Feb 14:30 Cwmbran v T.N.S. 8.00 4.50 1.28
10 Feb 14:30 Llanelli v Newtown 1.28 4.50 8.00
10 Feb 14:30 Port Talbot v Newi Cefn Druids 1.66 3.40 4.33
10 Feb 14:30 Porthmadog v Haverfordwest 2.30 3.25 2.62
10 Feb 14:30 Welshpool Town v Carmarthen 1.90 3.25 3.40

the league table
1. Rhyl FC 20 14 3 3 47 27 45
2. The New Saints 18 14 2 2 47 11 44
3. Welshpool Town 20 12 4 4 42 27 40
4. Connah's Quay Nomads 19 10 6 3 34 26 36
5. Carmarthen Town 20 10 5 5 43 30 35
6. Llanelli AFC 18 9 6 3 39 19 33
7. Port Talbot Town 20 10 3 7 29 27 33
8. Bangor City 22 8 5 9 40 35 29
9. Haverfordwest County 22 7 7 8 39 34 28
10. Aberystwyth Town 19 7 6 6 33 27 27
11. NEWI Cefn Druids 20 6 4 10 28 43 22
12. Porthmadog FC 20 4 8 8 24 31 20
13. Caersws FC 21 4 7 10 25 41 19
14. Newtown AFC 20 5 3 12 21 35 18
15. Cwmbran Town 20 4 6 10 26 41 18
16. Airbus UK 22 2 5 15 26 58 11
17. Caernarfon Town 19 2 4 13 22 53 10

[traeth]

some of my brief initial thoughts

Fri 9 Connah's Quay [4th] v Airbus [16th]19:30
High flying Connah's Quay versus the worse team in the league.
Connah's Quay home league record W6 D2 L1
Airbus away league record W0 3 8
Last week Connah's Quay continue their recent good home form with a 3-1 win in the Welsh Cup
Last Friday Airbus lost at home 2-3 to bottom club Caernarfon.
This price reflects Airbus' chances ...minimal

Sat 10 Aberystwyth [10th]v Caernarfon [17th] 13:30
Aber's home record W3 D4 L2
Caernarfon's away record W2 3 4
This should be a home win for Aber ...not for me at that price

Caersws [13th] v Bangor [8th] 14:30 ... no price for this match yet
Caersws home record W1 D4 L6
Bangor's away record W3 3 4
Caersws have a poor home record , getting moost of their home points from draws.
Bangor had a good win away at Cefn on Tuesday. They are rather inconsistant but I would take anything above 2.50 for an away win .


Cwmbran [15th]v The New Saints [2nd] 14:30
Cwmbran home record W2 D3 L5
TNS away record W5 D2 L1
I saw TNS lose to Porthmadog in the Welsh Cup last week , they were hit by injuries
but were much poorer than when I saw them earlier in the season.
With Cwmbran playing poorly TNS should win this fixture

Llanelli [6th]v Newtown [14th] 14:30
These two played each other in the Welsh Cup last Saturday with Llanelli winning 7-0 , so cannot see Newtown reversing the that scoreline.

Port Talbot [7th] v Cefn [11th] 14:30
Port Talbot home record W6 D2 L3
Cefn away record W2 D1 L7
Port Talbot had a good win in the cup last week
Cefn lost 3-0 at home on Tuesday.
This looks like a home win for me

Porthmadog [12th] v Haverfordwest [9th]14:30
Port home record W2 D4 4
Haverfordwest W3 4 5
Port had a great cup win against TNS last week
It is the draw that worries me in this match

Welshpool [3rd] v Carmarthen [5th] 14:30
Welshpool home record W6 D3 L1
Carmarthen away record W5 D2 L2
Welshpool are a very good home side , rarely lose on that poor pitch
Carmarthen are a good away side .
This looks like a draw to me.

Connah's Quay , Aberystwyth , T.N.S., Llanelli look good for wins but prices are very restrictive.
The two matches I will be considering are Bangor away and my team Port at home.

I will post more later on in the week , please post your opinions or questions

[BruceG]

Interesting to see. Maybe this will shake Airbus?

FORMER Manchester United and Wales midfielder Simon Davies has made a surprise return to the Welsh Premier after two seasons coaching youth football at Chester City and playing for the Deva outfit's reserves.
Davies has joined Airbus UK, who have strong links with the local League club, and is expected to make his debut on Friday night at Connah's Quay, where he was an interested spectator when the Nomads played TNS two weeks ago.
Davies made 11 Premiership appearances for Manchester United where he gained his full Welsh international cap and scored in a Champions League tie against Galatasary.
After falling out of favour with Alex Ferguson, he joined Luton Town for £150,000 in 1997 and had spells at Rochdale and Macclesfield before joining Bangor City, where he was Welsh Premier player of the season in 2002/3.
A transfer to TNS on a full-time contract did not work out and he returned to Farrar Road, then signed for Rhyl midway through season 2004/5.
In all, he has made 97 (+11) Welsh Premier appearances, scoring nine goals.

[Lumberjack]

What`s the weather f/c for Fri and Sat, traeth? And will Airbus` chances be any less minimal now?

[traeth]

hi bruce and lumberjack

Can't see Davies making much difference to Airbus , they would need half a dozen like Davies to make an impact , I do not rate Davies much nowadays, he did not appear in his spell with TNS , was sub once I believe. Airbus are a poor side and cannot see them getting anything from Connah's Quay.

The weather here has been terrible , we've had a lot of snow and the forecast is for frost tonight so a lot of the pitches could be frozen tomorrow.Connah's Quay groundshare with Flint as their ground is being "renovated" .Flint ground is poor and a few games have been postponed this season

this is a preview from Connah's Quay site ...wivey is a poster on low message board and is quite sensible with regards to his team chances , he sounds confident here.

NOMADS HOME DERBY TO AIRBUS Fri 9th Feb ko7.30pm
By wivey - February 8 2007
NOMADS ARE PLANNING A HOT RECEPTION FOR AIRBUS AT CAE Y CASTELL THIS FRIDAY:- A win is essential for The Quay against lowly Airbus, if the dream of European football is to become a reality. Airbus visit Nomads after 3 consecutive defeats, since their emphatic 4-1 win against Bangor City, >
Earlier in the season Airbus were crushed by Nomads in 2 Challenge Cup games, conceding 13 goals, but only lost 2-3 in the home league game. Airbus are having a dismal season. They are 2nd from the bottom of the league with only 11 points from 22 games, with bottom club Caernarfon only 1 point behind with 3 games in hand. At this stage of the season, they are looking like hot favourites for relegation. Never-the-less, they showed their battling qualities with the 4-1 victory over Bangor in January and will no doubt be out to cause a shock in this local derby game.
Nomads have shown outstanding form in the last 3 league matches and were unlucky not to beat TNS at home. They continued winning ways with a comfortable home victory against Llandudno in the Welsh Cup and must start as firm favourites for this Airbus match. With all of his players available to choose from, Nev Powell is likely to start with the same team that started the last two games against Llandudno and TNS. Nomads must guard against complacency and not underestimate Airbus, but a top-form Nomads performance will surely yield a comfortable victory and improve the goal difference.

[Lumberjack]

Thank you. Steve Claridge turned out for Harrow last week and his class was the telling factor in converting a 1-3 deficit into a 3-3 draw. This set me wondering.....But you`ve convinced me!

[Lumberjack]

Sorry, it was 4-4.

[traeth]

a few matches off this weekend

Fri 9 Feb 2007 Connah's Quay Nomads P-P Airbus UK OFF
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Aberystwyth Town P-P Caernarfon Town OFF
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Caersws FC P-P Bangor City OFF
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Cwmbran Town P-P The New Saints OFF
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Llanelli AFC P-P Newtown AFC OFF
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Port Talbot Town v NEWI Cefn Druids 14:30
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Porthmadog FC v Haverfordwest County 14:30
Sat 10 Feb 2007 Welshpool Town v Carmarthen Town 14:30 ...pitch inspection to come


Porthmadog weather check ... stopped raining , pitch o.k. at the moment , I've been in Ffestiniog [ 10 miles away ] and it snowed all day .

[traeth]

THE Welsh Premier suffered a complete whiteout as more heavy snow hit the Principality today and all eight games were postponed.

so it looks like i'll be watching rugby on the tele tomorrow afternoon