Bala Town 1 Connah’s Quay Nomads 3

FULL TIME

BALA’S faint hopes of winning the Cymru Premier took a huge hit tonight after they were beaten by leaders Connah’s Quay Nomads at Maes Tegid.

The Lakesiders now trail the Nomads by 12 points but with a game in hand after the Nomads recovered from an early setback when they conceded after 43 seconds to run out 3-1 winners.

The visitors’ experience proved decisive in the end after they showed extra menace up front to seize the initiative and they will now take some beating to stop them claiming the title.

Colin Caton’s men surged ahead after just 43 seconds when delightful link-up play between Will Evans, Raul Correia, Chris Venables, and Lassana Mendes cut through the visitors’ back line, the ball ending up with Correia who finished with aplomb past keeper Oliver Byrne.

Caught cold, the Nomads were nearly back on level terms moments later when Danny Davies fired wide from a good position.

But they equalised on four minutes, George Horan heading home from close range after the Lakesiders failed to deal with a long throw-in into the mix.

A free kick by Danny Davies landed on the roof of the net after Nathan Peate gave away a needless foul as the visitors set the pattern early on with direct play pushing Bala back.

Bala, who named an unchanged side to the team that beat Cefn Druids 3-1 at the weekend but with Andrew Burns replacing Danny Gosset and Anthony Stephens in place of the suspended Steve Leslie on the bench, were guilty of giving away too many free kicks in promising positions.

And after another foul by Peate, another Davies free kick flicked off Will Evans in the wall and onto the bar.

Connah’s Quay were in the mood with Bala struggling to contain them, Declan Poole firing over from the edge of the area after Bala struggled to clear a corner.

It was all Connah’s Quay with the hosts with Aron Williams a threat down the right and Bala struggling to create any meaningful attacks.

Poole was cautioned after pulling down Correia to thwart a rare Bala attack on 26 minutes but nothing came from the free kick.

Credit to Bala they started to come back into it on the half hour and had a shout for a penalty waved away when the ball appeared to strike Horan on the arm but replays showed the ref made the correct call.

Venables then received the ball to feet inside the box, took a touch and hit it towards goal, but the ball was blocked for a corner.

The first chance of the second half fell to Michael Wilde whose close range header was spectacularly palmed away to deny the striker’s 200th Cymru Premier goal.

The visitors settled quickly again in the second half but both sides were struggling to create clear-cut chances with neither keeper forced into significant action.

It wasn’t a dirty game but the flow was disrupted by a succession of fouls slowing the game down with both teams anxious for the win as the news filtered through to Maes Tegid that second placed The New Saints were ahead against basement side Cefn Druids.

But the visitors felt better when they were awarded a penalty on 65 minutes when Wilde was bundled over in the area by Jonny Spittle, and Callum Morris slotted home the spot kick.

Will Evans spurned a great opportunity to restore parity minutes later when he sent a free header wide of the mark after missing with a couple of similar efforts against Cefn Druids on Saturday.

And that miss proved costly as Craig Curran slotted home from close range on 86 minutes to seal the win after good work by Wilde who headed down into his path.Bala finished the game with 10 men after Spittle picked up a harsh second yellow card late on.

Bala: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Nathan Peate, Jonny Spittle, Lassana Mendes, Ollie Shannon, Antony Kay, Kieran Smith, Raul Correia, Will Evans, Chris Venables. Subs: Harri Lloyd, Henry Jones, Shaun Kelly, Anthony Stephens, Andrew Burns

Connah’s Quay Nomads: Oliver Byrne, Danny Holmes, George Horan, John Disney, Danny Harrison, Declan Poole, Callum Morris, Neil Danns, Danny Davies, Aron Williams, Michael Wilde. Subs: Cameron Darling, Johnny Hunt, Tom Moore, Doug Tharme, Craig Curran, Sameron Dool, Sam Rickett