NEWS & FEATURES

This weekend sees the kick off of the third ever season of Ardal Southern, with 32 clubs out to match the aspirations of previous winners Pontardawe Town and Abergavenny Town in 2021-22 and Caerau (Ely) and Abertillery Bluebirds in 2022-23. The league will again be sponsored by Floodlighting & Electrical and is gaining in statue with two prolific ex-pros competing this year, Lee Trundle at Mumbles Rangers and Matt Green at Newport City.

We have eight new clubs joining us this season, two from Tier 2 (Swansea University and Ynyshir Albions) and seven joining us from Tier 4 (South Gower, Morriston, Canton Liberal, Cardiff Corries, Abercarn United, Aberbargoed Buds and Hay St. Mary’s). Although the Albions and Buds are old friends from our inaugural season.

The league will be continuing with Club of the Month Awards, while there will also be a Golden Boot Award for the top goal scorers as well as a new award of Player of the Year in the West and East to be chosen by the Managers.

So let’s have a quick look at the games kicking off this season on Friday evening……

Ardal Southern South East – Friday 4th August 2023

Treharris Athletic Western v Lliswerry KO 7.00pm at Parc Taf Bargoed

Treharris Athletic Western begin life in the South East Division after finishing mid table in each of the last two seasons in the South West under Nana Baah. He has now moved on along with several players to Cardiff Draconians, with Player-Manager Dean Raven and his assistant Owain Locke taking the reins. It will be a new look side, with a large number of new players coming in, including Gavin Robins from Taffs Well and Ali Abdalmageed from Grange Albion. Lliswerry meanwhile won their relegation battle at the end of last season relegating Croesyceiliog, after a priceless 2-2 draw at Brecon Corries, even though it seemed like a defeat on the day after being 2-0 up. They will be looking to bounce back tonight from the disappointment of losing on penalties 7-6 last Saturday, to New Inn in the Welsh Cup after a 1-1 draw. Cory Painter put Lliswerry ahead after just 10 minutes only for New Inn to equalise on 82 minutes.

Goytre v Tredegar Town KO 7.30pm at Plough Road

Goytre will be highly fancied to challenge at the top this season, after signing several established players including Marcus Jones from Taffs Well and Owen Bancroft from Llanelli Town. They have also retained the services of double Golden Boot winner Chris Ham. However they will be looking to bounce back tonight after their 1-0 defeat to Newport City last Saturday and avenge their end of season 3-0 defeat at home to tonight’s opponents Tredegar Town, in a game where the scoreline didn’t tell the tale of Chris Ham twice hitting the woodwork. The win kept Tredegar up in front of their travelling support of over 120, with Tom Lynch scoring twice as well as Connor Evans. Last weekend Tredegar won 2-1 at Brecon Corries in the Welsh Cup, new signing from Risca United Owen Thomas scoring twice to get the management of Liam McCann off to a flyer. Other new signings include Andrew Hargreaves from the Butchers Arms and Andrew Martin from AFC Porth.

Trethomas Bluebirds v Aberbargoed Buds KO 7.45pm at CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence

Trethomas Bluebirds will be looking at concentrating on a promotion push this season after twice coming up short in the end, which can be contributed largely to cup success, winning the Ardal Southern Cup in 2021-22 and the FAW Trophy last season. Manager Mark Dunford has pushed his side through a competitive preseason, with games against Penydarren BGC, South Gower, Ammanford and Hereford Lads Club. The visitors Aberbargoed Buds will be returning to the Ardal Southern after just one season away with a point to prove after their relegation two seasons ago following a points reduction by the FAW. Despite a disappointing defeat last Saturday home to Pill in the Welsh Cup, Manager Sean Wharton has strengthened well adding the likes of Joel Powell (Risca) Abdul Ibrahim (Cwmbran Town), Kris Leek (Goytre) and Tom Beynon (Abertillery Bluebirds) to the Buds squad to supplement established players such as captain Gavin Meacham and Dan MacDonald.

Ardal Southern South West

Penydarren BGC v Seven Sisters Onllwyn KO 7.30pm at The Bont Playing Fields

Kerry Mullin will be looking for his side to mount a promotion challenge this season, after they fell away in the previous two seasons when well placed due to long cup runs. Despite losing last seasons top scorer Aarran Caffell to Cambrian & Clydach Vale BGC, Penydarren got off to a flyer last week with a 4-0 win at West Wales Premier League side Cwm Wanderers, Josh Brogden scoring two, with a debut goal from Gabriele Viazzani signed from Pontypridd United. Meanwhile Seven Sisters Onllwyn will be looking to build on a promising first season at this level and bounce back from last Saturday’s shock 4-2 loss at Tata Steel in the Welsh Cup. Under new manager Josh Williams, he faces a tough task to emulate the success of previous Simon Isaac, who took the side into the Ardal Southern and won the prestigious West Wales Intermediate Cup, but home form will be key to another successful season as they build their Welfare Ground into a fortress.

Posted 04/08/23