Bala Town will be looking to progress through to the next round of Europa League qualifying for the first time in the club’s history tonight.
The Lakesiders have yet to progress further than the first qualifying round, and are still waiting for their maiden away victory in Europe.
The Maes Tegid outfit were on the verge of an upset in their first ever experience in the Europa League, having won the first leg against Levadia Tallinn 1-0 at home, before losing the away leg 3-1 in Estonia for a 3-2 aggregate defeat.
The closest Bala have got to reaching the second qualifying round was back in 2015, during their second European campaign.
They were drawn to face Differdange of Luxembourg and, having lost the first leg by three goals to one, progression to the next round looked unlikely for the Lakesiders.
However, Colin Caton’s side almost achieved the remarkable. With the scoreline reading 2-0 to the home team, Bala were 20 seconds away from progressing through on the away goals rule. However Differdange struck late, which meant it was heartbreak once again and another case of what might have been.
Manager Colin Caton will hope for a big performance from his team this evening. (Photo: Lewis Mitchell/YCPD)
It was Conall Murtagh, who is now a fitness coach at Premier League champions Liverpool, who gave the home side the lead. Ian Sheridan scored the second goal to give the Lakesiders the belief that they were going to pull it off, before Omar Er Rafik scored late into added time to shatter the hopes of the Bala players.
To rub salt in the wounds, it was Turkish giants Trabzonspor that would have awaited the Lakesiders had they have progressed.
One year later, Bala were playing against Swedish giants AIK. They lost both legs 2-0, in what was a respectable aggregate scoreline considering the vast size difference between the clubs.
Bala’s defence put in an excellent performance over both legs, and would have been pleased by their achievement of keeping Alexander Isak’s name off the scoresheet in both legs. The Swedish international, who now plays for Real Sociedad, was tipped for greatness when he initially signed for Borussia Dortmund from AIK.
The Lakesiders’ most recent outing in the competition was their worst. After a 3-0 defeat in the away leg against Sammarinese minnows Tre Fiori, they failed to overturn the deficit, winning 1-0 at home. This saw them crash out in humiliating style to the club who, a year previous, had lost 5-1 on aggregate to tonight’s opponents Valletta.
Forward Chris Venables is likely to play a key role for the Lakesiders. (Photo: Lewis Mitchell)
Bala go into tonight’s game as underdogs according to the bookmakers. Bet365 price Bala’s chances of winning the tie in normal time at 15/4, with Valletta the 4/6 odds-on favourites.
Caton’s side will be looking to follow the footsteps of Newtown, who defeated Valletta 2-1 in both legs to progress 4-2 on aggregate back in 2015.
With the tie consisting of just one leg, this may better Bala’s chances of progressing as there will be no second chances. This should give the players that extra motivation that may be required to achieve what arguably would be the greatest feat in the club’s history.
Caton, who as been at the helm for more than 15 years, will be looking for the players to leave everything out on the pitch as the Lakesiders prepare for another challenging test. They will be hoping to celebrate a first Europa League first qualifying round victory and avoiding another case of what might have been.
(Featured image: Lewis Mitchell/YCPD)
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