BALA Town made it five games without defeat when they beat Penybont under the floodlights in front of the Sgorio cameras on Saturday evening.

Penybont 0 Bala Town 2, JD Cymru Premier

It was a crunch fixture for a top six spot going into the business end of phase one with Bala building up a head of steam after a dip in form in September.

Early goals by Paulo Mendes and Aeron Edwards put the Lakesiders in a strong position and their defensive strength this season enabled them to hold on comfortably to take a big three points.

Bala boss Colin Caton said: “I thought we started the game really well, we were aggressive in the press and it paid dividends especially when we pressed Henry Jones going backwards.

“And a great ball through and a great finish from Paulo and from Aeron.

“Their endeavour to get forward and our desire to want to get the ball back off them on their home pitch was fantastic.”

The visitors made a flying start with a goal after just four minutes.

It stemmed from their high press, Henry Jones forced into a mistake giving Ollie Shannon the opportunity to deliver a perfectly-weighted through ball to Mendes who lifted the ball over goalkeeper Alex Pennock from a tight angle on the right.

The second goal on 14 minutes was more route one, keeper Kelland Absamol with a long, driven free kick into the Penybont area with Edwards given too much space to take a touch before drilling the ball under Pennock from more or less the same spot as Mendes’ goal.

Bala pushed for more reward and nearly made it 3-0 on the half hour, Josh Ukek with an effort from just outside the area which stung the palms of Pennock before forcing the keeper into another save after a good run and shot from the left.

At the other end, Eliot Richards cursed his luck when his header from a corner struck the bar and was cleared to safety.

Penybont shaded the second half but failed to create any decent openings with Bala disciplined at the back and in no mood to concede their two-goal advantage.

Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths: “We didn’t start well and made a couple of errors and they’ve capitalised on it.

“I didn’t feel like they did much to be honest. They’re a good side and they’re full blooded with their intent with second balls and everything like that.

“I like the teams who beat us to have to do something for that and I didn’t feel like other than working hard they had to do much for their two-goal lead tonight. We reacted in the second half but it was too little too late.”

Up next for Bala is a trip down south to take on JD Cymru South outfit Caerau Ely for a last 16 Welsh Cup match, kick-off 2.30pm.