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Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Friday 27th February (ko 7.45pm) Bala Town v Aberystwyth Town Aber Town's Players can't wait for Friday's night's game, says Manager Ian Hughes, as his side prepares for another vitally important Championship Conference match at Maes Tegid, home of Bala Town in 48 hours time. Following two defeats in a row to Top Four Rivals Airbus and TNS the Black and Greens now face their third major obstacle to a place in the UEFA Europa League in second place Bala Town - and there are nothing but positive messages coming from the Manager: "It's great that we have another game so soon after Sunday, so that we can go out there and put things right. The Players are really looking forward to Friday and can't wait to make up for last weekend's result. We are three points off second place, which in itself is a great position to be in, but we now need to believe in ourselves, and make a big push for that all important second place." Bala and Aber have enjoyed an excellent and sporting rivalry this season as they both vie for the Corbettsports WPL Runners Up spot. With both sides so evenly matched it seems amazing that both League matches between the sides have ended as 4-0 home wins - but with the Business End of the season now looming, Friday's game is certain to be much closer. Town's injury woes appear to be lessening, with Stephen Wright and Antonio Corbisiero both able to start last week's game, and Mike Lewis' late replacement last Sunday was a precautionary move. The team trained well last night and will be primed and ready to go come Friday evening. The local derby normally attracts a good number of Black and Green supporters, and with a return journey on the Supporters Coach costing just £10, it's not surprising. The bus leaves Park Avenue at 4.30pm. We'll see you there! Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Sunday 22nd February Aberystwyth Town 0 The New Saints 4 Aberystwyth Town suffered a bad day at the office in the rain at Park Avenue this afternoon, losing 4-0 to Champions Elect The New Saints, whose clinical and dominant performance was crowned by goals from Adrian Cieslewicz, Mike Wilde (2) and Mattie Williams. On a soggy pitch Aber started the game fairly well, putting early pressure on TNS, and when a weaving run from Luke Sherbon earned a corner, Stuart Jones headed inches wide from Antonio Corbisiero's ball in. Both sides were giving the ball away in difficult conditions but TNS drew first blood when a defensive mix up in the home defence presented Cieslewicz with a clear chance, and he scored with a low shot in the 18th minute. Six minutes later a ball in from the right found Wilde unmarked, and he doubled the lead, and the super Saints front man scored again five minutes after thath with a commanding header from Chris Marriott's deep left wing cross. Aber were understandably deflated by a dodgy eleven minute spell that had cost them the game, and Marriott went close again. For Aber Stuart Jones brought a save from Chris Mullock with a header, and Ryan Batley's excellent left wing cross just evaded Mark Jones, to keep thehalf time score at 0-3. The Saints remained in control for the second half, though chances were more evenly distributed. Wilde headed another Marriott cross just over the bar in front of the Dias Stand. TNS's first mistake at the back presented Geoff Kellaway with an opportunity to hare in on goal, but his effort was blocked by Mullock, and then Mark Jones fired another chance wide. Twenty minutes in Williams picked out Mike Lewis' bottom corner after being fed by Jamie Mullan, and the scoring was done. Kellaway went close with a lob after Mullock presented him with a half chance, but at the other end Wilde did really well to create an opportunity for Cieslewicz, but the Polish Flier curled the ball just past the post, and he was denied late on by sub keeper Phil Draper, only for Scott Quigley to miss the target from close range. Today's game was a chastening experience for Aber, but fortunately for them, their results against TNS will not define their season, and the Black and Greens will be looking forward to the chance to put things right at Bala on Friday night (ko 7.45pm). Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Sunday 22nd February (ko 1pm) Aberystwyth Town v The New Saints Top Grade Welsh Premier League action returns to Park Avenue on Sunday as Champions Elect The New Saints visit for a televised Championship Conference game, with Aberystwyth Town looking for a positive result to kick start a big end of season push. Town are looking to bounce back from a first defeat in eight at Airbus last week, and will have to do so without Chris Venables, who is suspended after seeing an injury time read card in that game. Ian Hughes' squad has been seriously tested of late with a litany of injuries, and they started last Saturday's game with three defenders missing. Another week of recuperation will hopefully have cleared up some of the injury list, and the Players will be itching for a chance to make a mark in front of another large crowd at Park Avenue. TNS are unbeaten so far this season, but Aber remain the only side they have not yet beaten, as both previous encounters ended in 1-1 draws, at Park Avenue in August and at Park Hall in November. Ian Hughes' squad feel they are getting closer and closer to beating the Champions, and the Saints will be missing their goalkeeper and Captain Paul Harrison for the first time in 250 games on Sunday, after his sending off in last week's draw against Newtown. The game is being preceded by an Academy Day as Aber and TNS' youth sides of all age groups face each other at Blaendolau in the morning, before attending the game in the afternoon. Aberystwyth University's Marketing Department also has two teams - Costa Del Aber and Stevenson's Smashers - helping to promote the game, and Sunday Lunch will be served in Ruth's Kitchen prior to the game, from 11.30am. It all adds up to a Memorable and Unmissable Occasion at Park Avenue, and all for the incredibly low price of £5 for Adults, £3 Concessions and £1 for Kids. Don't miss it- we don't want to have to tell you how Great it was after the event! St Valentines day is traditionally a day of love and affection. However, there was nothing of the sort in the air in Broughton this weekend as Aberystwyth suffered the most cruel late heartbreaks against Airbus UK, succumbing to a 3-2 defeat with virtually the last kick of the game, writes Matthew Wallace.
However, despite the defeat, boss Ian Hughes had nothing but praise for the endeavour, attitude and desire his team put in, especially considering a number of key personnel were missing from the starting XI. “It’s disappointing, not with the performance, not with the effort the players put in. We’ve got four players out injured and Wyn Thomas had to play a full 90 minutes in the back four. The disappointment comes from external factors that we cannot control. That’s football” These sentiments were echoed by assistant manager and experienced centre half Wyn Thomas. “It’s very cruel, but the lads performed magnificently. We came here with a game plan and we executed it quite well. It’s unfortunate really because we deserved much more.” The first half was a tale of two spot kicks. Chris Venables gave the away side the initiative early on before Tom Field equalised from a similar scenario minutes later. A somewhat drab second half was brought to life in the 83rd minute when Luke Sherborn nodded home after Thomas had produced a great save from home stopper. The wingmakers levelled the match for the second time in the 87th minute after a well taken Field freekick from 25 yards out before referee pointed to the spot for the third time in the match to hand Airbus the vital three points which keeps them in the hunt for second spot in the league. “We went 2-1 up, we’d have liked to see that through but they’ve scored a great free kick, then in stoppage time Mark Jones is brought down in the box, the referee looks like he’s going to put the whistle to his mouth then changed his mind. Obviously I’ll have to see it again to see if it was a penalty or not” Town now sit in third, two points ahead of the Wingmakers with Bala a further two points ahead of the Seasiders. With the race for second set to go to the wire, Hughes is pleased with the progress of his side. “We’re still two points ahead of Airbus and if you’d have told me that at the start of the season, I’d have bitten your hand off with Airbus finishing the last two seasons in second place. The way they celebrated after the game shows the threat that Airbus see us as this season. It gives us and the players great credit that they see this as a massive win at home whereas two or three seasons ago this would have been a routine win for us so we’re moving forward in that direction.” Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Saturday 14th February Airbus UK Broughton 3 Aberystwyth Town 2 Injury ravaged Aberystwyth Town suffered late heartbreak on Valentine's Day as two goals in the last six minutes won the game for the hosts, after strikes from Chris Venables and Luke Sherbon had put the Black and Greens within sight of victory. Despite starting the game without Sion James, Stephen Wright, Ryan Batley and Chris Davies Aber started confidently and showed their technical qualities on the superb 3G surface at the Airfield. In fact the surface contributed to a high quality half which was a great advert for the Championship Conference, as Airbus also showed some nice touches, though clear chances were few and far between. Glenn Rule fired just over for the hosts, then Town took the lead after 25 minutes when Antonio Corbisiero's lofted cross was handled in the area by Andy Jones, and Venables buried the gift penalty for what in a tight game looked a priceless lead. The hosts however responded quickly, and when Lee Owens' overlapping run into the box was halted by Craig Williams, referee Dean John pointed for a second pen, confidently dispatched by Tom Field on 31 minutes. Stuart Jones had a shot blocked for Aber, and Ryan Wignall fired inches wide for Airbus - and the visitor were very good value for the first half scoreline of 1-1. The Wingmakers in truth dominated possession for most of the second half as Aber dropped deep to protect their valuable point, however countless identical balls into the box were well dealt with by visiting centre backs Stuart Jones and Wyn Thomas, meaning that Mike Lewis had almost no saves to make. Into the last fifteen minutes Aber once again started to press and with just five minutes left a superb free kick from Ross Stephens found Thomas' head, bringing a save from James Coates which pushed the ball straight onto Sherbon's head for possibly Aber's biggest goal of the season. Unfortunately it came too soon. Three minutes later Field equalised with a peach of a free kick from the edge of the area, before a breathless seven minutes of injury time. Aber's Mark Jones intercepted the ball and bore down on goal before appearing to be taken out from behind, but play was waved on, then in the 94th minute Airbus were fortunate to be awarded a penalty for an innocuous handball by Ross Stephens, who was facing away from the ball, and Field gained a narrow and crucial victory for Airbus with a 94th minute penalty. Venables was dismissed for a second yellow card, and the game was done. The result was a very hard one to take for Aber, knowing how close they had come - twice - to a massive result. The good news is that Town have two more opportunities to beat Saturday's opponents, both at Park Avenue in the next six weeks. For now though the Black and Greens will lick their wounds and prepare for another important game next Sunday, when Champions Elect The New Saints visit Aberystwyth for a 1pm kick off. Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Saturday February 14th (ko 2.30pm) Aberystwyth Town v Airbus UK Broughton Aberystwyth Town supporters are hoping their team can serve up a performance to fall in love with on Saturday, as they travel North to face Airbus UK Broughton at the Airfield, on Valentine's Day. After the late drama of last week's Welsh Cup Fourth Round victory - on penalties - Aber return to the bread and butter of the Corbettsports Welsh Premier League, but this will be no ordinary game. The Black and Greens sit proudly in second place in the WPL, five points ahead of Saturday's hosts, so a positive result would be a major boost to Town's aspirations to remain just there until the end of the season. Aber had some walking wounded in training on Tuesday night, as some Players sat out the session as a precaution, to ensure they are right for Saturday. The Seasiders will certainly be without Centre Back Stephen Wright, who is suspended for one game following his sending off last week. As for Airbus, they enjoyed a comfortable Welsh Cup win at Cardiff Met last week and will look for a positive result to get back into contention for a podium spot following a rather unfortunate home defeat to Bala two weeks ago. The two sides drew 1-1 at the Airfield just ftive weeks ago so a close and competitive game is a nailed on certainty. The Supporters Coach will leave Park Avenue at 9.30am and the cost remains a heartwarming £10 return - if you're looking for a Valentine's Date, we'd love to see you on Saturday! The match kicks off is at 2.30pm. |
Gem Nesaf
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