BALA Town take on Northern Ireland League runners-up Crusaders in Belfast this weekend in their final friendly before the home leg of their Europa League tie against Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz.

The Lakesiders will be keen to impress in what is a reversed fixture of last season’s pre-Europa game, which saw Crusaders come away from Wales as 3-0 winners.

The Hatchetmen themselves face Liepaja of Latvia next week, and it promises to be a very worthwhile exercise for both sides at Seaview.

With Bangor City facing Coleraine United and Connah’s Quay Nomads coming up against Ballymena United, Bala’s friendly against Linfield last weekend was just one of a number of matches between Welsh Premier League clubs and their counterparts from Northern Ireland.

With friendlies at this stage of the season often very difficult to arrange given that teams not competing in Europe are usually taking time away from the pitch, Bala’s manager Colin Caton said he would like to see such fixtures become a mainstay.

“It’s fantastic to see such a relationship developing between the two leagues, definitely,” he said after his side’s 3-1 defeat.

“It is so hard to get quality friendlies at this time of year, because there’s rarely anybody available to play, but to play Linfield here, and welcome their following to Maes Tegid is great for both clubs.

“This is their only pre-season friendly fixture before going into their European games, so it’s great for both the Welsh and Northern Irish clubs, and the development of the game in both countries.

Linfield boss David Healy fully agreed that such fixtures can be very beneficial.

“This relationship that is developing between our respective leagues, with a couple of Welsh teams playing over in Northern Ireland today and next weekend too, will benefit both leagues when it does come to the teams playing in Europe.

“We’ve got a leg up on where we were at this point last year already because we’ve played such a top team in this environment, we’re very pleased with the whole trip, the welcome we got, everything.

“The standard was really good, it is tough to judge off one games and both sides were missing players, but I thought it was a really competitive game and a very valuable experience for both sides.

“This certainly ticks a box for us, we got everything we wanted out of coming here because we’re playing against good opposition, and can prepare ourselves well.

“I’ve got to say, when there was first talk of this fixture being set up I was delighted there was a chance to come over here and play a Welsh Premier League team.

“Especially playing away, because playing locally all the time means everything becomes quite structured and standard, whereas coming here to play has meant we’ve actually had to treat it like a potential European game, going away for a couple of days and preparing as we would do for one of the European qualifiers.

“Coming here has helped us measure where we’re at, and we’re very grateful to Bala for having us and our fans, I think it was a great occasion for all involved.”

He added: “Bala look in good shape at the moment, but in another 10 days they’re going to be much more prepared than they already are, so they’ll have a good chance of progressing if the draw is good, and I wish them all the very best.”

Click on link below for full details of Bala’s Europa League tie.