The Lakesiders made the long trip down South this past weekend, as we headed to the Bridge Meadow Stadium on the West coast to face Haverfordwest County for Matchday Eleven of the Cymru Premier season.
Despite going 1-0 down in the fourth minute, the Lakesiders recovered well in the second half, with two quick fire goals from George Newell and Nathan Peate to give us the lead, until Super-Sub Adam Roscrow netted two superb goals to take a 4-1 victory back up North! However, the game wasn't short of controversy, as the hosts had Jack Wilson sent off after 10 minutes for what seemed like an unfortunate clash with Kieran Smith and Ross White was sent off for the Town with five minutes of the match remaining for another unfortunate clash with Elliot Dugan, as both sides ended the afternoon with a player short.
A Goal down, but a Man up...
The Town could not have had a worse start to the match, as the hosts were gifted a free kick around 25 yards out, with Elliot Scotcher to take. Scotcher hit the free kick superbly over the wall and into the back of the net, with a disappointed Alex Ramsay in goal who slipped on his way to make the save, having had torrential rain pour down onto the pitch in the lead up to kick off.
Despite taking the lead early on, the hosts were reduced to 10 men just six minutes later! Jack Wilson was adjudged to have went flying in on Kieran Smith with his studs showing, however on review following the end of the match, the decision looked extremely harsh on Wilson. The decision stood during the match, and the hosts were down to 10!
Second Half Turn-Around
The hosts held the lead throughout the first half, despite the Town piling on the pressure following the red card. Although, just minutes into the second half we were level! George Newell turned the ball home from two yards out, after the ball ricocheted off a Haverfordwest defender and into the path of Newell who could not miss.
It was only five minutes later and we had taken the lead! Nathan Peate with his trademark finish of heading the ball home from a corner, as he lost his marker at the back post and thumped the ball home to make it 2-1 after just 10 second half minutes!
Roscrow Seals The Victory!
Adam Roscrow made his way onto the field with 35 minutes of the match remaining, as George Newell made way for the TNS loanee. What happened next was superb Centre-Forward play from the substitute, as the Town cleared a Haverfordwest corner with only Wall and Roscrow forward, yet within one touch from Wall, his counterpart went steaming down the pitch with the ball at his feet and managed to squeeze the ball between the inside of the post and the goalkeeper, to finish off a superb counter-attack making it 3-1 to the Town!
Less than 10 minutes later, and the substitute had grabbed his second of the game! This time, Paul Rutherford clipped a ball into the front post where Roscrow was rushing in, and the Forward managed to send a header goalward with Lee Idzi only managing to palm the ball into the net as Adam Roscrow secured his second and Bala's fourth of the match, completing a stunning second half performance!
There was more controversy with five minutes remaining, as the Lakesiders were reduced to 10 men following an unfortunate clash between Ross White and Elliot Dugan, where White attempted to beat Dugan to the ball, yet both players missed the ball and White went over the top of him with both players ending up flat on the floor. The referee deemed the motion to be reckless and subsequently sent White off, meaning both sides ended up with 10 men each.
It's Penybont up next for the Lakesiders, as we welcome the South Wales side to Maes Tegid on Saturday 29th of October, with kick off at 2:30pm. Both sides currently sit joint third with 20 points on the board, and will look to move ahead of one another come Saturday evening.
Line-Ups:
Haverfordwest County - Lee Idzi, Rhys Abbruzzese, Elliot Scotcher, Dylan Rees, Kyle Patten, Ben Fawcett, Jordan Davies, Jamie Veale, Lee Jenkins, Jack Wilson, Harri John
Bala Town - Alex Ramsay, Naim Arsan, Nathan Peate, Ross White, Oliver Southern, Kieran Smith, Dave Edwards, George Newell, Lassana Mendes, Luke Wall, Chris Venables
Goals:
Haverfordwest County - Elliot Scotcher (4)
Bala Town - George Newell (49), Nathan Peate (54), Adam Roscrow (60,69)
Substitutes:
Haverfordwest County - Ricky Watts > Harri John (62), Elliot Dugan > Ben Fawcett (62), Zac Jones > Lee Idzi (70), Ryan George > Dylan Rees (70),
Bala Town - Adam Roscrow > George Newell (55), Paul Rutherford > Lassana Mendes (65), Ethan Jones > Kieran Smith (82), Ollie Shannon > Naim Arsan (82)
Yellow Cards:
Haverfordwest County - Kyle Patten (72), Jamie Veale (84), Ricky Watts (90+3)
Bala Town - Naim Arsan (24), Lassana Mendes (59), Ollie Shannon (85)
Red Cards:
Haverfordwest County - Jack Wilson (10)
Bala Town - Ross White (85)