Bala Town 3, Rhyl 0

It gave the home spectators a first glimpse of some of the new summer signing, and potentially a last look at Mark Powell, who had made the switch to today’s opponents over the summer.

The Lakesiders got out the blocks in super quick fashion, forcing a save out of the Rhyl keeper after 16 seconds, as a cross from Chris Mason allowed Ross Jefferies to get clean through, and send a stinging shot at the visting keeper.

It wasn’t long though until Bala were able to take the lead, as in the 7th minute new signing Stef Edwards left two Rhyl players for dead with his pace, and was then able to cross the ball in front of the keeper, allowing Mason to break the deadlock with an easy finish into an empty net.

A few minutes later the visitors thought that they were going to get a golden opportunity to equalise, as Danny Williams brought down a Rhyl striker in the box, however referee Nick Pratt waved away the visitors penalty claims, stating that Williams had won the ball fairly.

Bala doubled their lead in the 14th minute as Ross Jefferies collected a ball that was flicked across the box, and his shot across the face of the goal ended up in the top corner of the net, out of the reach of the Rhyl keeper.

New signing Peter Doran attempted to out fox the Rhyl goalkeeper by taking a quick free kick; however Rhyl’snumber 1 had his wits about him, and reacted quickly to easily collect the ball.

Rhyl gave the home defence a scare in the opening minutes of the second half when their winger whipped a free kick from near the touchline, and landed straight into the path of their striker, but he was unable to get a clean contact, and sent his shot wide from close range.

Bala put the result beyond any reasonable doubt with just over 20 minutes left on the clock, as a quick one-two from Mason and a Trialist cut through the heart of the Rhyl defence, allowing the Trialist to get one-on-one with the keeper, and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

The visitors came close to pulling a goal back with 10 minutes to go, as one of their second half substitutions crossed the ball into the box, allowing a second substitute to shoot at goal, but fortunately for Bala John Irving was able to scramble the ball off the goal line.

Five minutes later Rhyl came agonisingly close to scoring again, as one of their centre backs get a powerful free header from a corner, forcing Terry McCormick into making a fantastic reaction save.

Peter Doran came close to making it 4-0 to Bala in the closing stages, as he got on to the end of a John Irving cross in the air, but he saw his shot cleared off the line by the Rhyl defence.

Match Photos courtesy of Evan L. Dobson

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