Bala Town 1 Airbus UK 0

As far as games go, Friday night’s JD Cymru Premier encounter was far from a classic but it indeed proved that teams must play to the final whistle as Chris Venables’ final minute header saw them pick up another valuable three points.

Half-chances were most of the opportunities in the first half with Henry Jones denied by a close range effort early on before George Peers brought the ball down but struck the ball over the bar for the visitors.

Airbus were playing some tidy football and were causing problems for the Lakesiders through the influential Curtis Strong on the wing and after a sustained spell of pressure, saw the ball fly into the net through Andy Owens but he was deemed offside.

Lassana Mendes saw his curling effort dropped by keeper Dave Roberts into Louis Robles’ path but he couldn’t find enough power to drive the ball into the net for Town.

Bala weren’t at the races and it was the visitors who looked most likely to score with Strong firing at Josh Tibbetts and then Owens glancing a header past the upright.

Before the interval, Roberts pushed away at excellent strike by Jones to keep the scores level at the break.

Things improved a little in the second half but Airbus to their credit battled away with the Lakesiders finding it hard to break them down.

Jones’ shot from the edge of the area fizzled wide prior to Peers breaking into the area but saw the Town backline clear away the danger.

Mike Hayes and Steve Leslie came on as Bala looked to bring in some fresh legs and find a winner and slowly but surely, momentum built up in Town’s favour as they quickened the tempo with Hayes beating the offside trap and attempting a volley from the edge of the box which Roberts gathered.

The Wingmakers had a superb chance in the closing stages when substitute Brady McGilloway got on the end of Hooper’s delivery but rocketed the ball over the woodwork.

Four minutes of additional time was shown and Bala were throwing everything they could at Airbus and, in the 94th minute, their perseverance finally paid off. A sloppy Airbus clearance was pushed back in by Andrew Burns with Smith laying the ball back out to him.

Burns’ looping ball was headed back in across the face of goal to Hayes, with the ball pingponging in the box.

Smith’s crucial touch took the ball into an unmarked Venables who buried in a header from three yards out to steal the three points at the death.

Did the Lakesiders deserve all three points? A draw would’ve been a fair outcome considering Airbus’ performance but a crucial three points for the Lakesiders who stay hot on the heels of The New Saints and Connah’s Quay with the Nathaniel MG Cars League Cup taking their attention on Saturday.