Bala Town 0 The New Saints 1

FULL TIME

Battling Bala put up a spirited display against title challengers The New Saints but eventually fell short.

Trailing by a solitary goal at the break, they improved after the break after being outplayed by visitors in the opening stanza but just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net.

Their best chance came late on when striker Chris Venables dragged an effort wide in stoppage time, after being kept quiet for the majority of the encounter.

Bala boss Colin Caton said: “I think TNS were very good in the first half, they were outstanding in the opening 30 minutes and then we grew into the game just before half time.

“I felt we could have got something in the second half, and I think we deserved something, the pressure and the performance we put in.

“TNS are a full-time outfit and we’ve caused them a lot of problems and our fitness levels were good.

“We just lacked a bit of quality and composure in our final attacking third.

“We couldn’t get at them near them in the first 30 minutes but we finished the half better and just lacked a bit of quality in the second half, we just needed something to drop for us.”

Commenting on the race for European qualification he added: “The race is hotting up for third spot, it’s good for the league, it’s good competition for everyone.

“We’ve been in this situation about six or seven seasons on the trot.

“It’s what we do against those that are in and around us now.”

With leaders Connah’s Quay Nomads beaten by Penycoed this afternoon, TNS were always going to be a force going forward as they pushed to get back to the top of the pile, as the Champions Conference got underway.

And the Lakesiders’ task was made tougher still when TNS, with new head coach Anthony Limbrick at the helm, took the lead on seven minutes, Ryan Brobbel slotting the ball home after the ball bobbled around the box.

Colin Caton made two changes from the side that faced Flint Town last weekend, with Alex Ramsay returning in net and Ryan Pryce coming in for the injured Ollie Shannon.

Even though the visitors were dominating possession they struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities with Bala hanging in there and slowly growing into it as the half wore on and starting to get a foothold in midfield.

It was turning into a battle which seemed to suit Bala and with only one goal in it the Lakesiders were still in contention going into the second half.

Bala were more positive after the turnaround with Will Evans forcing Paul Harrison into an early save before they had a shout for a penalty waved away after Blaine Hudson appeared to handle the ball.

Ramsay was called into action at the other end to deny Jon Routledge as TNS pushed to extend their advantage.

And the keeper pulled off another great save on the hour to deny Simon Spender whose strike seemed destined for the top left hand corner.

Kieran Smith and Raul Corriea entered the fray on 63 minutes to try and give the hosts some added impetus going into the closing stages, but the visitors held firm to take the points.

Bala: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Jonny Spittle, Anthony Stephens, Ryan Price, Lassana Mendes, Antony Kay, Steve Leslie, Jack Mackreth, Will Evans, Chris Venables. Subs: Henry Jones, Kieran Smith, Liam Davies, Nathan Peate, Raul Correia