Cefn Druids 1-3 Bala Town: Ten man Lakesiders triumph away at managerless Druids
Bala Town extended their unbeaten run on the road after defeating the Cefn Druids 3-1 at The Rock.
The Lakesiders fell behind to Steffan Edwards’ opener but were able to recover with Oliver Shannon levelling on the half-hour mark. He later put Bala ahead before a Chris Venables penalty put Bala further ahead
Bala’s only dampener of the afternoon was a red card to Steve Leslie who was ejected from the match for violent conduct.
Colin Caton’s side, who already secured a top six spot, moved nine points clearer of fourth-placed Barry with the win whilst the Druids remain bottom.
After the departure of Bruno Lopes this week, Druids had a point to prove as they had prospective new manager Curtis Woodhouse in the stands watching.
The hosts started brightly as they looked to take an early lead. Stefan Edwards collected an excellent pass from Joe Faux on the edge of the area to rifle the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-0.
As Druids were still causing problems through both Ethan and Iwan Cartwright, Town boss Colin Caton replaced Kieran Smith with Steve Leslie in an effort to change things for the visitors.
A move by the hosts involving Cartwright saw Venables clear the danger allowing Bala to break on the counter-attack and Sam Phillips to almost spectacularly put his clearing header into his own net.
With half an hour played, Bala were back level as a delivery on the left arrived to Venables who superbly struck it on the volley only for Jones to palm it back into the path of Ollie Shannon who fired in the rebound to level the score.
Pressure from Druids allowed Niall Flint to test Ramsay from the restart with the goalkeeper having to come out of his area to clear.
A series of opportunities came to the visitors before the interval which should’ve seen them take the lead.
Substitute Leslie delivered a fantastic through ball to Raul Correia who beat the offside trap but when one-on-one curled the ball wide of the post. A minute later the Druid’s backline brilliantly denied Correia and Venables on the line in a double block before Venables had a header cleared off the line again before the interval.
It only a few minutes into the second half before Bala took the lead. A shot by Chris Venables from around 12 yards out was blocked before Shannon picked up the loose ball to tuck the ball into the net to double his tally for the afternoon.
Bala were relentless with their pressure once they look the lead with waves after waves of opportunities to extend their lead.
Another crossfield ball from Kay found Pryce unmarked but his pin-point cross was unable to meet the heads of Venables and Evans who were running into the six yard box.
Down the other end , there was solid work by Sam Phillips who linked up with Ryan Kershaw but he blazed his strike wildly over the woodwork.
The hosts were seeming to ride out Bala’s constant pressure but they were dealt a blow as Stefan Edwards brought down Raul Correia in the area for a penalty to be awarded. Up stepped Chris Venables to surely secure the points for the away side.
In the last quarter, the team from The Rock should have had a penalty of their own when Peate made a fierce challenge on Simpson but the referee continued play.
Town goalkeeper Alex Ramsay was called into action and forced to make a point blank save to deny Cefn after an excellent move on the counter attack.
A disagreement between Steve Leslie and Ryan Kershaw saw the Bala man sent off with Kershaw given a warning meaning the Lakesiders had ten minutes to play with ten men.
Raul Correia was replaced by Danny Gosset who made his first competitive appearance in almost 18 months following his battle with cancer.
In the closing stages, Iwan Cartwright’s powerful strike was acrobatically pushed over the bar by Ramsay as Druids look to capitalise with a man advantage but it wasn’t to be as Bala ran out as winners.
Plenty for Druids to ponder about after three defeats on the bounce whilst the Lakesiders’ unbeaten away record continues.
Cefn Druids: Michael Jones, Josh Green, Phillip Mooney, Aaron Simpson, Ethan Cartnight, Sam Philips, Niall Flint, Iwan Cartwright, Josef Faux, Ryan Kershaw, Stefan Edwards.
Goal: Steffan Edwards 7’
Yellow Cards: Niall Flint 33, Ryan Kershaw 80’
Bala Town: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Nathan Peate, Jonny Spittle, Ryan Pryce, Ollie Shannon, Antony Kay, Kieran Smith, Raul Correia, Will Evans, Chris Venables.
Goals: Ollver Shannon 33, 50, Chris Venables p 50’
Yellow Cards: Kieran Smith 11, Jonny Spittle 40, Chris Venables 88’
Red Card: Steven Leslie 80’
(Featured Image: Hannah Gwenllian Jones)
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