Lakesiders earn late point in six-goal encounter
The Lakesiders lost the lead twice before fighting back for a point in the thick of a crazy second-half which saw six goals scored in a pulsating draw with Newtown.
Nathan Peate grabbed a brace with his first giving Bala the lead, and his second grabbing an equaliser late on as the points were shared in a thrilling encounter.
Jones pulls off two sensational saves to deny Bala
Fifteen minutes in, Steve Leslie did brilliantly to somehow get anoff-balance shot away to nearly open proceedings only for Dave Jones to match his effort with a superb save. While not long later, Jones was called into action once more when Lassana Mendes whipped in an incredible cross, which was inch-perfect for the head of Dave Edwards yet there was Jones again to keep the scores level.
The Robins then had the ball in the back of the net just before the break as James Davies scored from close range, only for play to be brought back with an offside given in the build-up. The Lakesiders entered half-time with the deadlock yet to have been broken with Jones denying us at every opportunity.
Peate’s opener cancelled out immediately by Evans’ equaliser
Antony Kay came off the bench at half-time and was straight into the action providing the assist for Peate’s opener as he headed the ball across for the defender to give us a well-deserved lead.
Yet Bala’s lead lasted only two minutes as Alex Ramsay’s howler at the back saw Newtown equalise. The goalkeeper had placed the ball down ready to kick having collected it from a cross, unaware of Nick Rushton’s presence behind him, the Newtown player poachedthe ball off of him and assisted Jordan Evans who had all the time in the world to draw his side level.
Mendes restores Bala’s lead
Bala’s spirits remained high despite Ramsay’s unfortunate mistake as we came straight on the attack. Another goalkeeping mistake then occurred to restore our lead as Jones misread Lassana Mendes’ cross with the ball crawling past the keeper to give the Lakesiders the advantage once more.
Newtown shock Bala with two in quick succession
With the score back in Bala’s favour, Newtown were forced into bringing the game at us with time ticking down following a crazy opening fifteen minutes of the second-half. However, with top goal scorer Aaron Williams not in the matchday squad, Newtown were calling out for another player to step up and make the difference, Nick Rushton was that man.
Having created the first with his intelligent thinking, the midfielder then curled in the equaliser as his shot beat Ramsay in net to bring the Robins level for a second time.
The hosts weren’t finished there as they continued to attack. Rushton then setup Evans for a second time in the match to smash home what the Newtown fans thought was the winner with little time remaining for the Lakesiders to respond.
Peate’s brace rescues a late point!
But respond they did, asPeate struck home a header from a Paul Rutherford corner to give Bala a late point. A remarkable second-half came to a close with three goals a piece and the points shared in Latham Park.
Great character was on show to fight back after a sucker-punching blow originally saw Newtown completethe turnaround. However, Colin Caton will be left disappointed to have only a point having led twice during the six-goal thriller.
Friday night football will be back at Maes Tegid in our next outing as Flint Town arrive to Town on November 19th with kick-off set at 19:45pm.
Match Stats: Newtown – Dave Jones, Brett Taylor, Callum Roberts, Shane Sutton, FumpaMwandwe, Nick Rushton, Jordan Evans, James Davies, Craig Williams, George Hughes, Jake Walker.
Bala Town - Alex Ramsay, Oliver Southern, Nathan Peate, Anthony Stephens, Sean Smith, Lassana Mendes, Bradley Bauress, Steve Leslie, Paul Rutherford, Dave Edwards.
Substitutes:
Newtown – Ryan Edwards > Shane Sutton (40), James Rowland > James Davies (77)
Bala Town – Antony Kay > Oliver Southern (46), Chris Sang > Dave Edwards (59), Danny Walker-Rice > Brad Bauress (82)
