Bala Town’s Will Evans starred as the Lakesiders dispatched ten-man Penybont with ease.
Braces for both Will Evans and Chris Venables and one goal from Kieran Smith mean Colin Caton’s men pick up all three points at the SDM Glass Stadium.
Lewis Harling had given the hosts the lead but a red card for captain Kane Owen, whilst they were leading, was key to their downfall.
Rhys Griffiths’ side remain winless in the league this season whilst Bala move top, having picked up seven points from a possible nine.
It took only three minutes for Penybont to come close as Ben Ahmun found space on the right-hand side and his cross found Nathan Wood.
Goalkeeper Alex Ramsay did well to save the shot from Wood who collected the rebound and whipped in a cross of his own.
Bala Town’s left-back Sean Smith almost scored an own-goal at the back post as his intended clearance forced another save from Ramsay.
Wood continued to be lively and was almost rewarded for his high-intensity pressing in the sixth minute as he capitalised on a mistake at the back for the Lakesiders, but his touch ran through and was collected at ease by Ramsay.
Four minutes later, Penybont broke the deadlock as a cross from Wood forced a save from Ramsay only for midfielder Lewis Harling to score from the rebound.
The hosts dominated in midfield in the first half with Ashley Morris stopping two counter-attacks in quick succession, both with recovering slide-tackles.
Penybont came close to extending their lead in the 24th minute as winger Kostya Georgievsky’s shot inside the box flew wide of the post.
Penybont captain Kane Owen saw red as his challenge on Kieran Smith forced the referee to give a red card without hesitation. This would have detrimental impact as his defensive output would be missed by the hosts.
The visitors came close to an equaliser a few times towards the end of the first half. New signing Will Evans had the best chance of the half for Bala as his header from a corner was off-target.
Will Evans made up for his earlier miss as his goal made all-things-square just after the half. Evans converted from a Oliver Shannon cross.
Evans came close again just three minutes later as Raul Correia found him free in the box only for his shot to be saved by Morris.
The ex-Cardiff Metropolitan attacker converted his next chance as Chris Venables flicked the ball over the head of the defender and Evans’ shot beat the goalkeeper.
The first-half sending off of Penybont’s captain Kane Owen undoubtedly massively changed the game as Penybont were struggling in midfield following his dismissal.
Chris Venables extended the Lakesides’ lead as he was found by man-of-the-moment Will Evans before slotting home.
Bala Town’s fourth goal came from the penalty spot. Evans was fouled just inside the box and Venables doubled his tally by converting.
Raul Correia came close to extending the lead again in the 76th minute. After a flick-in-behind from Kieran Smith, Correia was one-on-one with Morris only for his shot to fly over the bar.
Bala Town’s fifth goal came through Kieran Smith. A cross from the left-hand-side found Smith free in the box and the midfielder calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner.
Penybont: Ashley Morris, Kane Owen (C), Ashley Evans, Daniel Jefferies, Kostya Georgievsky, Lewis Harling, Benjamin Ahmun, Nathan Wood, Oliver Dalton, Connor Davies (Sam Snaith 68’), Ismail Yabuku
Goal – Lewis Harling 10′
Bala Town: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Nathan Peate, Anthony Stephens, Jonny Spittle, Will Evans, Henry Jones (Raul Correia 38’), Kieran Smith, Steven Leslie, Chris Venables (C) (Andrew Burns 83’), Oliver Shannon
Goals- Will Evans (46’, 55’), Chris Venables (61’, 71’), Kieran Smith (82′)
See how Bala Town cruised to victory at the SDM Glass Stadium here:
(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)
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