BALA Town warmed up for their Europa League matches with an encouraging display against Northern Ireland champions Linfield in a 3-1 friendly defeat at a scorching Maes Tegid.

Mark Connolly had halved the deficit for the Lakesiders after first half goals from Andy Waterworth and Aaron Burns, from the penalty spot - but the Belfast side sealed a deserved win through Cameron Stewart’s header in the closing minutes.

Bala boss Colin Caton said it was an excellent work-out for the Welsh Cup winners, who travel to Belfast this weekend to take on NIFL runners-up Crusaders.

“Linfield were very good in the first half, they were very aggressive and they caught us off guard early-on,” said Caton. “We did well to fight our way back into the game, but it wasn’t about the result.“It was just about getting lads back onto the pitch and finding that match intensity again. It was a very good fixture against tough opposition, it’s given us a real test, and I’m sure that it’s done us good.

“They’re the champions of Northern Ireland, they’re a really good side, and they have a really good squad of players.

“We missed a few players today, but this week’s preparation and next weekend’s game will give us valuable minutes and opportunities for players to find match fitness before we go into our European fixtures, where the result really counts.’”

A bumper crowd, with a good number of visiting supporters, witnessed a superb game between the two sides, and it was the visitors who started on the front foot.

Chris Venables, however, almost opened the scoring for Bala when he saw his free kick from the edge of the box tipped around the post by goalkeeper Roy Carroll, following a foul on Nathan Burke.

Linfield took a deserved lead on 24 minutes when Niall Quinn burst down the left and crossed to Andy Waterworth, who slotted home from a few yards out.

Home keeper Ashley Morris made an impressive one-handed save to tip over Paul Smyth’s strike, but down the other end Mike Hayes and new signing Les Davies both forced the defence to clear.

Matthew Clarke was next to threaten Bala’s goal, but when he broke through on goal Bala keeper Morris saved well.

Linfield doubled their advantage five minutes before the break when Paul Smyth was brought down in the box and Aaron Burns stepped up to send Morris the wrong way from the spot, tucking the ball home into the bottom left corner.

Bala almost got a goal back from the restart when a cross came into the area to meet the incoming Burke, but his diving header was brilliantly kept out by Carroll.

The second half was better from Bala, and they put more pressure on the Linfield defence, without creating clear chances until midway through the period.

The Lakesiders halved the deficit on 70 minutes when the ball was flicked on to Mark Connolly, who turned well in the penalty box to fire home past Carroll.

Morris was called into action when Ross Clarke broke free, but he dived low and pushed the ball out for a corner kick.

Linfield, however, did make it 3-1 with three minutes to go when Kirk Millar’s delivery was met by Cameron Stewart who headed past Morris to seal victory.

Linfield boss David Healy, the former Leeds United and Northern Ireland striker, said it was a very worthwhile work-out.

“We don’t normally have this standard of opposition to play against when building up to a European game, so hopefully it has given us that extra boost,” he said.

“Bala have shown themselves to be a good side, they worked very hard, and we only just shaded the result in the end.

“We looked good in the first half, strong, composed, but Bala came back into it in the second half and they’ve got some good players on their books who can really hurt teams to be fair, but yeah, it was a very good fixture for us today.”

See this week’s edition for full details and reaction to the Europa League draw.