AFTER bruised Barry Town were hit with a third successive defeat on Saturday, the Jenner Park side will look to breathe new life into their season with a string of home matches, kicking off on Friday.

Neighbours Penybont will provide the opposition front of the S4C cameras, with Rhys Griffiths’ men looking to take their biggest scalp of the season, after winning four points from their last two games.

Barry and Penybont have forged quite different paths since the teams met on opening day in August.

Town’s comeback win at the KYMCO Stadium was the first of eleven league fixtures without a loss, a run that saw victories at TNS, Newtown, Carmarthen and Airbus, as well as three more on home turf.

Meanwhile, Penybont found their initial forage in the JD Cymru Premier to be difficult, picking up only a point from their next five games, before an upturn in form and fortunes as days darkened.

Ironically, some might see the visitors as more of an in-form prospect than the hosts of Friday’s ‘Five Mile Lane Derby’, though Barry supporters will be encouraged by an improvement in performance at Cefn Druids last Saturday, albeit one that did not result in the outcome their team perhaps deserved.

Indeed, Town created a hefty chunk of chances at The Rock, with Chris Hugh hitting one post after a sublime through ball from Jordan Cotterill and Kayne McLaggon striking the other later in the match.

Despite Druids having Ryan Kershaw dismissed for a rash tackle on Mo Touray, neither Hugh nor Keyon Reffell could punish the Ancients, with Michael Jones making a robust save from the latter.

As it was, Charley Edge’s third-minute opener would prove to be the winner, a scruffy goal yet an invaluable one for the Druids, as they climbed into the Cymru Premier’s all-important sixth spot.

With Connah’s Quay Nomads, The New Saints and Bala Town all recording wins the previous night, Barry’s latest loss meanwhile sees them drop down to fourth position; six points off the top, with a game in hand on both Andy Morrison’s Nomads and Colin Caton’s Lakesiders.

With none of the top three in action this weekend, Barry could be back in second place outright by Saturday, should the televised challenge of a blossoming Penybont side be successfully negotiated.

Friday’s visitors to Jenner Park though will be striving for a different outcome, with a Penybont win enough to lift the Bridgend boys up and out of the relegation places, clear of Airbus and Carmarthen.

With a host of former Barry players in the Penybont squad, the ingredients are there for an interesting match at Jenner Park this Friday, with kick-off at 8pm and admission on the gate.

Town then follow Friday evening’s derby with back-to-back matches with Newtown at Jenner Park, before the cameras return to Barry on Friday 13th December for a marquee melee with champions TNS.