The Lakesiders continue to chase their first victory of the season having come up short of the three points at Jenner Park against Barry Town after a game of few chances for either side.
High intensity, high tempo
It was end-to-end action straight from the off, with both teams looking to push the pace early. Barry almost drew first blood when Nat Jarvis found space to direct a header towards goal, however his effort dragged agonisingly wide as the Lakesiders blew a sigh of relief. When Bala did get up the other end, the final product was lacking as Michael Lewis was rarely tested in the Barry net. Kieran Smith displayed his defensive duties when making a pivotal block to deny Clayton Green whose shot locked destined to strike the back of the net inside the area.
Fiesty affair
The referee was no stranger to handing out the yellow cards as his book was in heavy use throughout the ninety minutes. With both teams looking to counter-attack at every opportunity, tactical fouls were on show with four yellow cards being handed out in the first half alone, two apiece.
The return of fans certainly helped in achieving this as they set the scene for what was a scrappy clash between two Cymru Premier rivals.
Dave Edwards pulling the strings
Former Wales international Dave Edwards was involved in every attack as Bala chased a winner late on and was at the heart of the midfield throughout the ninety minutes. The marquee signing of the summer played a roaming role in the midfield as he had the freedom to drift from side to side and help build each Lakesiders move towards the Linnets net.
And it was the former Wolves man who came closest to breaking the deadlock as his flick on from a Lakesiders’ free-kick forced Lewis into pulling off a superb save down to his right.
No Venables, no party
Having been sent off last week for violent conduct, Bala captain Chris Venables would miss the first away game of the season, and his missing presence was evident as we lacked chances and goals. Chris Sang was left with a lot of pressure on his shoulders with the Lakesiders reliant on him to provide the goals missing with the absence of Venables. However, he couldn’t quite provide the killer instinct required from what every Bala fan is so used to seeing with Venables.
Steve Leslie almost grabs the winner at the death…
In what turned out to be the final chance of the game, Bala won a free-kick just outside the Linnets box, with Steve Leslie stepping up to take it, his effort went inches wide of the goal. With that chance summing up our entire game as we came close to taking all three points yet lacked theend product to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
In the end,ninety minutes went by without any real clear-cut opportunities for the Lakesiders as both sides played out a goalless draw at Jenner Park.
Up next for Bala Town is Cardiff Met who travel up to Maes Tegid to take us on next Saturday August 28th at 2:30pm.
Match Stats:
Bala Town - Alex Ramsay, Ollie Shannon, Antony Kay, Anthony Stephens, Jonny Spittle, Kieran Smith, Lassana Mendes, Dave Edwards, Danny Walker-Rice, Will Evans, Chris Sang,
Barry Town – Michael Lewis, Luke Cummings, Chris Hugh, Robbie Patten, Kayne McLaggon, Nat Jarvis, Jordan Cotterill, Theo Wharton, Curtis McDonald, Luke Cooper, Clayton Green.
Substitutes:
Bala Town – Steve Leslie > Danny Walker-Rice (72)
Barry Town – Marcus Day > Jordan Cotterill (74), Callum Sainty > Robbie Patten (74)
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