Goals from Chris Venables, Luke Wall and Kieran Smith saw Bala inflict a first home defeat of the season on Caernarfon Town. The 4-1 victory sees The Lakesiders progress to the last 8 of The Nathaniel MG Cup.
With one eye on the trip to Clyde on Saturday, Huw Griffiths rested a few of his players however it was a starting 11 that was more than capable of providing a stern test to the visitors. The home side started brightly and looked to test Alex Ramsay in the away goal however efforts from Ben Wynne and Joe Faux were easily caught. Caernarfon were trying to play a quick expansive game but were let down by some stray passes as they looked to carve their visitors open.
The away side opened the scoring in the 21st minute and it was their two veteran players who combined to get the first goal. Dave Edwards did brillantly well to keep the ball in play and it Chris Venables found enough space in the box and expertly placed his header beyond Tyler French to put the visitors 1-0 up. The goal seemed to be a catalyst to Bala as they started to play their usual style of football after it.
Lassana Mendes and Luke Wall particularly impressive in the middle of the park and it was the aforementioned Luke Wall who was on hand to get his side’s second of the game. 5 minutes from the half, Caernarfon failed to clear a free whipped in by Naim Arsan and Wall was there to strike home from six yards and put Bala 2-0 up at the half.
Caernarfon started the second half in the exact way Huw Griffiths would have wanted them to. A long hopeful ball was played towards Lloyd Marsh-Hughes and the Chester loanee did superbly to get the better of Ross White and he was able to carve out an opening for Ben Wynne and the striker finished beyond Alex Ramsay and the home were back in the game.
Unfortunately for the home side, it only took Bala two minutes to restore their two goal lead. Tyler French should have done better to gather a strike towards his goal but was unable to and Luke Wall was on hand to pounce and get his second of the game.
Caernarfon rolled the dice and made a triple substitution as they introduced Fidel O’Rourke, Darren Thomas and Rob Hughes to try and influence the game in their favour. A free-kick was awarded to Caernarfon on the edge of the box and Danny Gossett fired it against the bar with Ramsay beaten.
6 minutes from time Bala cemented their place in the next round with a fine finish from Kieran Smith as he curled in from the edge of the box. Bala were very efficient in front of goal at The Oval and that is what ultimately secured their win. Caernarfon fans and players will be looking forward to a momentous occasion at the weekend as they will travel to Scotland to play Clyde in the Irn Bru Cup while Bala will entertain Cardiff Met at Maes Tegid in a league game.
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