Bala Town 1 Connah’s Quay Nomads 1

HALF TIME

Bala got off to the best possible start in a hugely important match against league leaders Connah’s Quay Nomads at Maes Tegid tonight with a goal after just 43 seconds.

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 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.

With the game finely balanced it’s all to play for after the break with Bala happy to be on level terms on the balance of play.

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