Bala Town 1-3 Connah’s Quay Nomads: Champions come from behind to secure impressive win over Lakesiders
Connah’s Quay Nomads maintained their three-point lead at the summit of the Cymru Premier with a 3-1 come-from-behind win against Bala Town at Maes Tegid.
Raul Correia gave Bala the perfect start when he powered a shot home from the edge of the area after just 43 seconds.
Their lead was short-lived, however, with Nomads skipper George Horan heading home from close range.
The score remained level until midway through the second-half, when Nomads were awarded a penalty for a foul on substitute Craig Curran, which midfielder Callum Morris converted.
Curran added a third for the Nomads five minutes from time to clinch the three points and cap an impressive comeback.
The Deeside outfit, who are looking to defend the title they won for the first time last season, hold a slender advantage over rivals The New Saints with two games left to play before the league splits into two conferences.
Having dropped points in the 0-0 draw with Pen-y-Bont on Saturday, the Nomads will have been keen to assert themselves early on, however they couldn’t have got off to a worse possible start.
After winning the ball back in their own half, Bala countered at pace, with Lassana Mendes picking out Correia on the edge of the area. The forward’s powerful first-time effort gave goalkeeper Oliver Byrne no chance.
The champions are known for their fighting spirit, and they were back on terms just minutes later when a throw-in close to the corner flag hit a couple of heads and fell into the path of Horan who made no mistake.
The visitors were the dominant force after the equaliser, winning more of the duels to allow them to assert their authority higher up the pitch.
Bala, who looked sharp in attack when they had the opportunity to break, forced Declan Poole to halt an attack for which the Nomads midfielder was shown a yellow card.
Andy Morrison’s men nearly went ahead when Danny Davies saw his free-kick from 25 yards deflected onto the crossbar by Will Evans. Alex Ramsay was beaten in the Bala goal, and was grateful to see the ball go behind for a corner.
A first-half with plenty of attacking intent from both sides nearly produced a third goal as the interval approached.
Oliver Shannon’s ball in from the left fell to the feet of Chris Venables, the Lakesiders captain took a touch and unleashed a shot – which looked destined to find the net – deflected behind for a corner.
Ramsay was on hand to deny the influential Michael Wilde from close range five minutes into the second-half, after a ball into the area from Danny Holmes somehow found its way through to the Nomads striker.
Having come close to scoring in the first-half, Davies had the opportunity to test Ramsay after the ball fell to the wing-back on the edge of the area. His shot, however, was well wide, with the Nomads man claiming he was impeded.
Despite being positioned on the left flank, Davies could regularly be found cutting inside to cause problems from a central position, as he crafted out a shooting opportunity from just outside the area which was comfortably off target.
It was the Nomads who made all the running in the opening 15 minutes of the second period, with Wilde seeing his penalty claim waved away as the champions continued to press for a second goal.
Morrison made his intentions clear with two attacking substitutions just after the hour mark, with Curran and Sameron Singh-Dool coming on in place of Neil Danns and Aron Williams.
And just minutes later, his side were awarded a penalty.
A free-kick, taken by goalkeeper Oliver Byrne, was met by Wilde who directed his header towards the far post where Curran – who was arriving and would surely have found the net – was brought down by Sean Smith.
Morris made no mistake from the spot to move his side into the lead with just over 25 minutes left to play.
Chances were few and far between for Colin Caton’s side after the interval, but they were presented a golden opportunity to tie the game when a corner found Evans unmarked inside the area, but the forward couldn’t direct his header goalwards.
The Lakesiders pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, with much of the action happening inside Nomads’ defensive third, but they were unable to find a way past Byrne.
Having played a crucial role in winning the penalty, Curran rounded off an excellent performance from the bench by adding a third and decisive goal for the Nomads, sliding in at the back post to meet Wilde’s header back across goal.
Bala Town: Alex Ramsay, Sean Smith, Nathan Peate, Jonny Spittle, Will Evans, Raul Correia, Kieran Smith, Antony Kay, Lassana Mendes (Henry Jones 77′), Chris Venables (C), Oliver Shannon.
Substitutes not used: Andrew Burns, Anthony Stephens, Shaun Kelly.
Yellow cards: Jonny Spittle 34′, Sean Smith 65′, Raul Correia 77′
Connah’s Quay Nomads: Oliver Byrne, John Disney, George Horan (C), Danny Harrison (Tom Moore 90′), Callum Morris, Michael Wilde, Neil Danns (Craig Curran 64′), Declan Poole, Danny Holmes, Aron Williams (Sameron Singh-Dool 64′ / Doug Tharme 73′), Danny Davies.
Substitutes not used: Cameron Darling, Johnny Hunt, Sam Rickett.
Yellow cards: Declan Poole 27′, Danny Holmes 68′, Danny Harrison 81′
(Featured image: Nik Mesney/Connah’s Quay Nomads)
