It’ll be a case of third time lucky for both Ammanford and Baglan Dragons on Friday night as the highly anticipated game between the two sides in the JD Cymru South will finally go ahead.
The two teams were set to go head to head in a double header straddling the end of October and the beginning of November however, rain put paid to both of those fixtures and no games were able to take place.
With both sides being knocked out of the JD Welsh Cup, ironically both at the hands of Haverfordwest, the first of the rearranged fixtures will be played at the Recreation Ground with Ammanford looking to continue their positive league form at home.
Having lost just once in Carmarthenshire this year, they will be confident in gaining a result particularly in light of the excellent 3-0 victory at home to Carmarthen Town in the WBS League Cup and the 4-3 thriller against Cwmbran Celtic in the last second tier match in SA18.
However, if they are to continue their positive home run, they will be up against a confident and well drilled Baglan Dragons side.
The Dragons are a new outfit to the JD Cymru South this season after securing their place in the division thanks to the playoffs at the end of last season. Many tipped them to struggle however, Carl Clement’s side have dumbfounded many preseason critics and currently sit in 7th place with 18 points from 12 matches
A familiar face in the visiting lineup will be Jay Thomas. The striker began the season as part of Town’s squad but made the short trip down the M4 to the Evans Bevans playing fields in search of regular first-team action. During his time in Ammanford, Thomas made a huge impression and scored four times in nineteen showings including the winner against Llantwit Major to secure survival.
Manager Griff Harrison has selection headaches to contend with. Having rung the changes against Carmarthen, many players performed excellently and were rewarded with places in the Team of the Week in the case of Lewis Rocke and Mark Jones.
Thomas Bevan is the man in the middle who’ll require no introduction to either side having officiated both this season. In fact, this is the third time he’s refereed the Dragons this year and they’ve enjoyed a positive record in the game he’s taken charge of.
They boast 2 wins and 1 defeat in those games. Meanwhile, Bevan was the man with the whistle when Ammanford overcame Trefelin in the WBS League Cup via penalty kicks back in October. David Badger and James Olyott’ll assist him.
Kick off is at a slightly later time of 19:45 and as ever, we are extremely grateful to DJ Davies Fuels and Penybanc Car Hire for their kind and generous sponsorship of the Match Day and the Match Ball.
Entry is at £5 for adults, £4 for concessions with under 16’s priced at just £1. Academy players and coaches are permitted to enter the Recreation Ground free of charge.
