The New Saints are up for more Welsh Cup glory
Midfielder Ryan Brobbel is hoping The New Saints will call up on past cup successes when they take on Bala Town in the Welsh Cup final.
TNS are set to battle it out with their rivals on neutral territory at Nantporth Stadium in Bangor on Sunday afternoon.
It has been another successful season for TNS who clinched the league title back at the end of March with five games to spare.
They have excelled in this competition in the past and are the current holders of the trophy. They also won it back in 2018/19 as well as three times between 2014 and 2016.
And Brobbel believes the experience of winning the competition before will leave them in a good place when it comes to this weekend’s crunch clash.
“I would like to think so,” he said when asked if their previous experience of winning the competition will help his team-mates.
“We have quite a few players here who have played on the big occasion quite a few times over the last few years.
“So the experience of playing in the cup and winning it a few times as well should help the team along.
“We played Penybont in the final last year and we had a bit of a scare when they got it back to 3-2, but we managed to get it over the line.
“We have had a few seasons with Covid, but we were still the holders through that time and quite a lot of the team are still here now so it gives us an advantage in these types of games.”
Brobbel, who plays an advanced midfield role, has a history of scoring in this game.
He scored the first goal when his side beat Airbus UK 2-0 back in 2015/16 and then netted twice in their 3-0 triumph over Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2019.
The last time TNS played Bala in the Welsh Cup final – in 2016/17 – though, it was Bala who came out on top, 2-1.
And Saints go into this game after another wonderful season.
“It has been unbelievable for us to be honest,” said Brobbel. “I think we have lost one game and it was a bit of a freak clash.
“We were 2-0 up in the game and we somehow got beat 3-2 away to Cardiff Met. It has been a good season overall, and we have scored 100-plus goals so it cannot really get much better, apart from winning this cup.”
