BALA Town’s long stay among the elite of Welsh football came to a heartbreaking end as a chaotic final afternoon relegated the Lakesiders from the JD Cymru Premier after 17 consecutive seasons in the top flight.

Going into the final round, Bala sat 11th and trailed Flint Town by two points, knowing only a win against Briton Ferry Llansawel — and a helping hand elsewhere — would give them a chance of survival. For much of the afternoon, that unlikely escape appeared to be unfolding.

When Jacob Tarasenko fired Bala ahead after 72 minutes at Maes Tegid, news filtered through that Flint were down to nine men in their match at Cardiff Met. With momentum swinging their way and the table starting to shift, hope surged through the ground.

But football’s margins proved cruel. Briton Ferry found a response late on. Ricky‑Lee Owen rose to head in the equaliser from a corner in the 88th minute, and just moments later Sam Snaith struck the decisive blow after a goalkeeping error to snatch a 2‑1 win.

That collapse rendered Flint’s 2‑2 draw irrelevant, allowing them to recover from Welsh Cup final disappointment against Caernarfon Town and retain their Premier status. Bala, meanwhile, were left to absorb relegation alongside Llanelli.

Manager Steve Fisher, an ever‑present figure across Bala’s modern rise, did not hide his devastation.

“I thought we done ever so well, we stuck to the game plan, we’ve got ourselves in the lead. We found out the other game was going our way, I honestly thought we’d done it but then we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.

“Congratulations to Flint Town, really good side. It was one or the other who was going to go down and unfortunately it was us.

“On the amount of points we’re on, in the last 10 years only one or two team have gone down with that points tally,” he said.

Fisher reflected on how close Bala came to salvation.

“So overall this season we haven’t really done that bad but to get within touching distance when you can smell it you think Oh my God we’ve done it, we’ve pulled off the great escape.

“What happened in that two‑minute spell, that dressing room is like a bomb went off, everyone is absolutely devastated, gutted for the club.”

Despite the pain, Fisher confirmed his commitment to lead the rebuild.

“I’ll definitely be here… You can’t walk away cause the chips are down… We’ll work as hard as we’ve ever work to rebuild the squad and hopefully bring this great club back to where it belongs.”

For Bala Town, the challenge now is to turn devastation into determination — and begin the fight back.