TOWN TRIP TO PRESTATYN POSTPONED

*UPDATE* Match postponed on Friday 9 February due to a waterlogged pitch. New date to follow.

Phase Two of the JD Welsh Premier League continues this Saturday, as Barry Town United make the 8-hour round trip to former Welsh Cup winners and Huws Gray Alliance champions Prestatyn Town.

With 376 matches under his belt, Gibson had been at the helm for 12 years, helping the club climb the ladder of North Wales football to reach the Welsh Premier League for the first time in 2008-09.

Establishing themselves in the top flight, Gibson’s Prestatyn team were 2-1 winners over Barry in the 2012-13 Welsh Cup semi-finals, going on to beat Bangor in a famous final at Wrexham’s Racecourse.

The milestones would continue to mount for the Denbighshire side when they knocked Metalurgs out of the UEFA Europa League, winning 2-1 in Latvia before securing a historic shoot-out victory.

While changes in personnel would see the club slump to relegation in 2015, Prestatyn showed true resilience to rise above some financial issues and return to the Welsh Premier a mere two years on.

However, their 23-game campaign thus far has been a difficult one; starting with a 4-0 thrashing by Connah’s Quay Nomads and taking in heavy losses to Aberystwyth Town, Newtown and others.

On January 24th, Gibson’s departure was confirmed; the end of an era, yet a good opportunity for former assistant and tenured WPL forward Gareth Wilson, who has since stepped into the hotseat.

Beaten 3-1 at Carmarthen Town in his debut outing as manager, Wilson will be encouraged by the knowledge that one of Prestatyn’s four Welsh Premier wins this season came at Barry’s experience.

Travelling to Bastion Gardens for the first time in their history, Barry looked to have earned a point on the season’s second weekend, only for skipper Mike Parker to pop up with a 93rd-minute winner.

For the fans and players that made the journey, this last-gasp defeat will still live raw in the memory.

Nevertheless, Prestatyn will be similarly eager to put a past result right, the North Walians having been beaten 4-0 at a lively Jenner Park in Phase One’s return fixture, two days prior to Christmas.

While Jordan Cotterill and Macauley Southam-Hales came up trumps with two goals apiece that day, Saturday’s addition of newcomers Jonathan Hood and James Demetriou to the Barry matchday squad offers further attacking options to a side seemingly revitalised by their two-week break.

For Barry, victory this Saturday would see them at least keep pace with the chase for a play-off spot, while extending the gap between them and their weekend opponents to a sizable 18-point margin.

A Prestatyn win meanwhile could bring them to within four points of safety, with eyes on both sides likely to be monitoring developments at Richmond Park, where Carmarthen entertain Aberystwyth.

Kick-off on Saturday afternoon at Prestatyn’s Bastion Gardens is at 2.30pm.