NEATH 2, BALA TOWN 1
AT the fifth time of asking, Bala Town have suffered their first ever Welsh Premier League defeat.
Colin Caton’s high-flyers were so close to gaining a point on their Sunday afternoon trip to full-time Neath, however, and it took a late strike from Welsh international Chris Llewellyn to wrestle the three points in the home side’s favour.
Summer came to the Gnoll with a glorious Sunday and, fitting in the sun, both sides started brightly.
However, it was Bala who took the lead after 15 minutes when Ricky Evans - returning to the Bala starting line-up after a spell out through injury - got the better of former Wrexham keeper Anthony Williams to walk the ball into an empty net.
Evans was quickly on his way to intercept a poor backpass from Neath’s on-loan Llanelli defender Rory Smitham to score his fourth goal of the season.
Bala continued to more than hold their own against the home side for the next 25 minutes, but it was to be level at the break as the full-timers equalised on 39 minutes.
A superb shot from 15 yards by Craig Steins made it one-apiece.
There was still time for Bala to get the ball into the home net again before the half-time whistle.
A 25-yard shot from Osian Jones was parried into the path of Stuart Hayes, but he was deemed offside.
The break galvanised Neath, who came out strongly for the second half and created numerous half-chances.
Chris Llewellyn, Carlos Castan and Craig Steins all had a sight of goal for the home side, but Bala’s rearguard coped well with everything thrown at them and Caton’s charges attempted to hit Neath on the break.
Possibly with a little luck and better finishing Bala could have gone back in front, but it wasn’t to be their day and with 85 minutes on the clock, Neath secured their second win in a row.
A peach of a cross from Castan on the right saw ex-Wrexham striker Chris Llewellyn head the ball beyond Bala keeper Jason Astbury and into the net.
That was Llewellyn’s fifth goal in five league games this season and the strike lifts the Eagles up to seventh in the table.
Bala’s first league loss of the campaign saw them slip down from second to fifth, but despite the outcome it proved to be another encouraging performance from the Gwynedd visitors and is a good yardstick to gauge how far Bala have come in a short period of time.
Neath: Williams, Castan, Smitham, Cronin, Hancock, Harris (Howard), Pockett, Steins (Spendiff), Llewellyn, Hill, D Evans (A Evans)
Bala: Astbury, Irving, Lloyd, Powell, Jellicoe, R Jefferies, Roberts, Moore, Hayes (Griffiths), R Evans, O Jones