Bala Town 4-1 Cardiff Met: Venables nets brace as Lakesiders sweep aside Met
Bala Town swept aside Cardiff Met with a convincing 4-1 victory at Maes Tegid.
Chris Venables was at the double for the Lakesiders and Will Evans scored against his former side, along with Anthony Kay.
Bala briefly moved to second after their victory but dropped to third after the Nomads’ 2-0 victory over TNS. Colin Caton’s side however are only three points off of top spot.
It only took five minutes for Evans to grab the goal he will have desperately craved against The Archers as he gave the home side an early advantage when he struck home from close range.
Despite the early setback, Cardiff Met looked lively, continuing to put the Lakesiders on the back foot in search of an equaliser.
But it was Bala who went closest to adding a second with Will Evans at the forefront of the attack. Henry Jones setting Evans through on goal following a bit of magic in midfield only for the pass to be just outside of Evans’ grasp as he looked for a second.
It was then Antony Kay who had a powerful strike of his own in the box when he unleashed an unforgiving shot past the helpless Alex Lang in goal to give the Lakesiders a two goal cushion.
Eliot Evans obtained two opportunities to give The Archers their first goal of the afternoon. His first opportunity coming from just outside the area shooting wide of Alex Ramsay’s goal. Before he managed to test the goalkeeper minutes later when his deflected shot was matched brilliantly by Ramsay.
Henry Jones did what Henry Jones does best just before half-time as he set up Venables with an incredible no-look pass assist as Venables dispatched the ball home from close range. This set the Lakesiders on their way towards a comfortable victory with a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Eliot Evans gave Cardiff Met hope of a comeback early in the second half as he got on the end of a neat cross into the area by Oliver Hulbert to narrow the lead to two.
Venables failed to grab his second just past the hour mark when his header went narrowly wide from close range after Jones sent a delightful free-kick into his proximity.
The captain finally got his second moments later as he sent a looping header over Lang following an unlikely assist by Ramsay who delivered the ball towards the opposition’s goalkeeper.
Cardiff Met never gave up hope of pulling off a miraculous comeback, however, Bala Town denied any opportunity as they looked destined to walk away comfortable victors at Maes Tegid.
Emlyn Lewis went closest to giving The Archers’ late hope however his header from a Met corner was straight at Ramsay.
Henry Jones was unlucky not to grab a goal for himself late on as he was denied by a brilliant save by Lang in front of the Met net.
The Lakesiders closed out the remaining minutes to earn a convincing victory. Their first over the Archers since 2018, closing the gap on Connah’s Quay Nomads ahead of their late kick-off clash against top of the table TNS.
Bala Town: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Anthony Stephens (Nathan Peate, 82), Jonny Spittle, Will Evans (Lassana Mendes, 82), Henry Jones, Steven Leslie (Liam Davies, 87), Anthony Kay, Ryan Pryce, Chris Venables, Oliver Shannon.
Goals: Will Evans 5, Anthony Kay 30, Chris Venables 44, 66’
Yellow Cards: Steven Leslie 19, Ryan Pryce 73’
Cardiff Met: Alex Lang, Dylan Rees (Matthew Jones, 69), Kyle McCarthy (Joe Evans, 46), Bradley Woolridge (C), Emlyn Lewis, Eliot Evans, Charlie Corsby, Ollie Hulbert, Rhydian Morgan, Liam Black, Tom Price (Harry Owen, 60)
Goals: Eliot Evans 49,
Recap the action from Maes Tegid as Bala Town cruised to victory over the Met:
(Featured Image: Colin Ewart)
