Huw Griffiths saluted Cefn Druids after they moved to within a point of securing a “magical” top-six spot.

A hard fought 1-0 win at Carmarthen Town, courtesy of a goal from James Davies on the stroke of half time, means Druids will take their place amongst the league’s elite with a draw at home to Llandudno next weekend.

A Llandudno win would see Iwan Williams’ side snatch sixth, unless Barry Town won by a huge margin against Bala.

And Druids boss Griffiths can’t praise his players enough, saying: “I’m really proud of them all.

“We’ve used six or seven systems this season. People will say it’s not all about systems, but this group of players are the most adaptable in the league.

“We as a group of staff have asked them to be versatile within games and they switch between systems within games.

“Against Carmarthen we played with four wingers. It is something no-one else would do, but it worked for us.

“The players deserve everything they get and I’m so chuffed with them.”

Griffiths’ decision to play with four wingers at Richmond Park ultimately proved the difference as the visitors outfoxed their hosts for the first 45 minutes.

“We got the better of them for the first-half,” reflected Griffiths. “They expected us to play with a diamond and it took them until half time to come up with something to stop what we were doing.

“We battered them in the first-half. They had more of the game in the second-half, but we deservedly won.

“Carrots (Mike Jones) has made a great save at the end for us, but that shows the determination of the players to win and the willingness to work hard.

“We were missing the experience of Neil Ashton and Adam Hesp and we did great to keep a clean sheet.

“We brought three subs on who were able to impact the game, including new signing Iwan Cartwright, and we held out for a big three points.”

The win means it’s a winner-takes-all battle between Druids and Llandudno at The Rock next weekend in-front of the television cameras.

“We are in the boxseat,” said Griffiths, who was keeping tabs on scores elsewhere on Saturday afternoon. “Llandudno have to come here and win.”

Iwan Williams was left with mixed emotions as Llandudno kept their top-six hopes alive, but had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw with Bala Town.

Marc Williams opened the scoring for Llandudno, but Bala earned a share of the spoils as new signing John Disney struck in the 78th minute.

Boss Williams said: “It’s quite disappointing in a sense because in the first 45 minutes I thought it was the best we’d played since I’ve been in charge, I thought we were phenomenal.

“We carved them open with our intensity, we created chances and we kept the ball. The only bit of criticism towards the players at half time was that we weren’t more than 1-0 up.

“I’m proud of the lads. I asked them to take it into the final game before the split and we’ve done that.

“It’s a straight shoot-out between us and Druids next week.”