After weeks of anticipation Denbigh will end their 99-year wait to reach the FAW Dragon Signs Amateur Trophy Final this Saturday as they meet Trethomas Bluebirds.

It’s Denbigh’s first national final since 2016 when we faced The New Saints in the Final of the League Cup and a chance to win our first national title in just shy of a century.

Form

Denbigh come into the game on the back of a rare defeat on Wednesday night when travelling to Llay Welfare in the league. Nathan Brown’s penalty and Ben Lockley’s header weren’t enough in a 4-2 loss at the Ring. It was Denbigh’s first defeat since December and ended a 19-game winning streak.

Denbigh’s run in the FAW Amateur Trophy has been a highlight in what has already been a tremendous campaign. It began in September with a 3-0 victory away to Greenfield before putting Dolgellau to the sword in a tight 3-2 victory. The dismantling of Castell Alun Colts (7-2) and Rockspur (6-1) followed before a seeing off Penydarren Seniors 2-0 at Central Park.

Town were drawn against Pill in the Quarter-Final where Dewi Llion’s side ran out 3-1 winners in South Wales before the highlight of the run came in the final four. The Reds faced Bridgend Street on neutral turf smashing the southern opposition 8-1 in Llanidloes to book their place in the final.

Chasing a title of their own, Trethomas of the Ardal South East were in action on Tuesday in a top three clash away at Abertillery Bluebirds. Goals from Alfie Jones and Ethan Edwards secured the win for Trethomas in a crucial clash.

They began their cup run with a 6-0 victory over Sudbrook CCFC, 5-0 away win at Marshfield, narrow 2-1 success over Cardiff Airport and 4-1 win over Undy. In the Quarter-Final they made the arduous journey from their Caerphilly home to Bangor where they pulled of a surprise win in North Wales.

The Semi-Final could be the game of the tournament, when they faced Llandridod Wells in Penydarren. 11 minutes in the Bluebirds had Alex Newman-Jones sent off before going 3-0 down after just over half-an-hour. But Trethomas gathered themselves together and thanks to goals from Gareth Tedstone, Levi Rees and Jordan Harding (brace), they pulled off the comeback of comebacks to punch their ticket to the final.

Head-to-Head

Denbigh and Trethomas have never played eachother in the sides’ history. The Bluebirds compete as mentioned in the Ardal South East, a sister league of Denbigh’s own Ardal North-West (tier three).

When it comes to cup finals, Denbigh were last through to the last two in March 2020 in the Cookson Cup after beating 4-2 Nantlle Vale in the semi final, but never had the chance to fight for the trophy due to the suspension of football during the pandemic. The last time they had the chance to fight in a final was the loss to TNS where only coach Kristian Pierce remains involved with the first-team. Our last cup final victory came in 2014 when winning the Mawddach Cup.

Trethomas last appeared in a final of their own in 2022 when they won the inaugural Ardal Southern League Cup, beating Cardiff Draconians 1-0.

Keep Up

This weekend’s final will be held in Newtown kicking off at 12pm with a huge backing expected from Denbigh supporters. If you can’t make it to the game you can watch live via the FAW’s Red Wall + or keep up via live text commentary on our social media platforms.