BALA Town boss Colin Caton admitted that his side were not good enough on the night as leaders The New Saints closed in on a seventh consecutive Welsh Premier title by defeating the second-placed Lakesiders 3-0 at Park Hall on Friday evening.

The Saints broke the deadlock right on the stroke of half-time when Ryan Brobbel curled home a shot and, although Bala had chances after the break, substitute Dean Ebbe pounced on a mistake by Stuart Jones to double the lead on the hour.

Their win was finally sealed three minutes from time when Ebbe made no mistake after finding himself one-on-one with keeper Ashley Morris, as the Saints extended their lead at the top to 15 points.

Ironically, only Bala can now catch The New Saints, but with five games to go it is realistically a matter of when, not if, the Saints are confirmed league champions.

Bala now face Connah’s Quay Nomads at Maes Tegid on Friday in a crucial showdown for second place, and if the Lakesiders fail to win the Saints will be crowned champions, without even kicking a ball.

“We weren’t at the races tonight,” said Bala manager Caton. “You need the lads to be knocking on eight or nine out of 10, and we did not give enough tonight.

“Credit to TNS, they are a good team and they punished us. We’ll come back next week and work as hard as we can. It will be an interesting run-in, with lots of twists and turns, but we’ll be prepared.”

The Saints looked dangerous from the start, with New Zealand international Greg Draper testing keeper Ashley Morris, and Jamie Mullan firing wide of the post in the opening quarter of an hour.

Bala responded with Mike Hayes going through on goal, but with Blaine Hudson on his shoulder, his shot was eventually saved comfortably by Paul Harrison.

Chris Venables also placed a free-kick beyond a six-man wall, but again Harrison was in the right place at the right time.

At the other end, Northern Ireland U21 international Ryan Brobbel saw his free-kick hit the roof of the net, but right on the stroke of half-time though, Brobbel opened the scoring for the home side.

A ball in from the left was struck superbly as the Saints went into the break 1-0 up.

The second half started at a high tempo, with the Lakesiders looking to get back into the game, and Kieran Smith fired wide of the upright, and a couple of Bala free-kicks were cleared from the box.

Substituted at the two-thirds stage of the game, Draper remains on 99 league goals in his TNS career. His replacement, Dean Ebbe, however, then doubled the lead.

A low cross by Ryan Pryce down the left was not dealt with, and Ebbe pounced on the loose ball to score with his first touch.

Two minutes on, it was Ebbe again in the thick of the action, this time racing on to a through ball, but his shot cleared the bar.

For Bala, Jordan Evans curled over a free kick after Keiran Smith was bundled over, and Evans also released Chris Venables following a good box to box move, but the strike went inches over the woodwork.

They never let their heads drop, but the Saints continued to dominate possession with their patient, probing, passing football, and as the clock ticked down, Mullan found Edwards, and Morris pulled off a very good save to deny the midfielder.

With three minutes to go, however, Ebbe scored his second and TNS’ third as he again raced onto a ball and coolly slotted past the keeper for a flattering scoreline.

THE NEW SAINTS: P Harrison, S Spender (B Clark 79’), S Saunders, J Routledge, R Brobbel, G Draper (D Ebbe 59’), B Hudson, J Mullan, T Holland, A Edwards (K Kauber 87’), R Pryce. Subs not used: C Rawlinson, A Wycherley (gk).

BALA TOWN: A Morris, S Jones, S J Jones, J Disney, R Pearson, L Short, C Venables, M Hayes, I Sheridan (J Evans 59), G Rule (N Burke 74’), K Smith (A Jones 82’). Subs not used: E Horwood, L Davies, J Jones. Att: 256.