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Get Ready for More Twists and Turns when Penybont Host Haverfordwest with Europe on the Line

Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths. Pic. Alamy

Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths. Pic. Alamy

There is nothing like a winner-takes-all clash at a season’s end to get the juices flowing, which is why Penybont v Haverfordwest County at the DragonBet Stadium looks a cracker.

In a season packed with unlikely stars, the Cymru Premier European play-offs have conjured up yet another seemingly unlikely scenario, ahead of Saturday’s final.

Penybont went into their semi-final contest with Colwyn Bay in north Wales as a team in freefall. 

Rhys Griffiths' men had claimed just three of the 30 points on offer in phase two, failing to win a single one of their 10 league games after phase one.

READ MORE: Rhys Griffiths Knocks Again at the Nomads’ Door . . . And Will Hope For an Opening

Bay had been continuing to upset the odds having gone into phase two as the first newly-promoted club to finish in the top half of the Cymru Premier at the split since the 2018-19 campaign. 

Prior to kick-off, Penybont boss Griffiths had even labelled the Seagulls as favourites given his own side's form.

But when it mattered most, Bont found a way via a penalty shootout, winning 5-3 on spot-kicks following a goalless draw in regular time.

"It's been draining, it's been a tough few months," Griffiths told Sgorio after an absorbing contest.

"I thought the better team on the day won. But the better team in the second half of the season lost today, so I feel for Mike [Wilde] and his players and staff, but that's the way football goes, I guess."

READ MORE: Two Sent Off, Plus A Manager . . . Just Another Quiet Night In Europe for Haverfordwest County

Little more than 24 hours later, Barry Town United hosted Haverfordwest County on the back of securing a remarkable third-place finish in the table after the regular season.

But they, too, were undone on penalties in front of their own supporters as the Bluebirds won 3-1 on spot-kicks following a 1-1 draw in regulation time. 

It left the vast majority of the 2,112-strong crowd at Jenner Park severely deflated as the Linnets' record of never winning a play-off fixture was agonisingly extended.

It represents a monumental turnaround for Haverfordwest who won eight of their 10 phase two matches - keeping clean sheets in every single one of those triumphs - to transform their season and finish at the summit of the Play-Off Conference.

After his side's dramatic win at Barry, watched by Penybont manager Griffiths, Haverfordwest boss Tony Pennock said: "Bottom of the league first week of October to now being in the play-off final is a credit to everybody at the club."

What the season has taught us is that, arguably aside from the might of champions TNS seemingly winning the domestic title at will, any storyline is possible.

Bala Town's 17-year stay in the top-flight came to an end as they were relegated having lost half of their 32 league fixtures in 2025-26.

Caernarfon Town lifted the Welsh Cup for the first time in the club's history, emerging victorious at Rodney Parade against a Flint Town United side that had not even been in the final of the competition since winning it 72 years earlier in 1954.

Prior to that, Barry Town United stunned serial trophy winners The New Saints at Bridgend's DragonBet Stadium to win the Welsh League Cup for the first time since 2000.

Even with TNS cruising to a fifth successive title, the 2025-26 season has been an astonishing one at the top end of Welsh domestic football, and in many areas further down the pyramid, too.

And there could yet be one more headline-grabbing story to come as the play-off final takes centre stage this weekend.

Pennock takes his Haverfordwest side around 76 miles east to take on Penybont - with a place in Europe at stake.

Both teams are aiming to qualify for Europe for the third time in four seasons. But it seems both managers - at least publicly - see the contest as something of a free hit.

Griffiths said: "I just think as a team, although our performances don't deserve to win the play-offs, somehow our resilience and togetherness, we've just kept going through it all, so maybe we deserve something to celebrate, even if it's just today (against Colwyn Bay)."

Griffiths' opposite number Pennock added: "It's another really tough game, they've beaten us twice this season.

"We'll go there away from home as underdogs."

One final mouth-watering contest awaits to bring an end to an action-packed campaign.

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