MOLD 14
BALA 3
(Aggregate: Mold 24 Bala 16)
BATTLING Bala pushed higher league Mold all the way before bowing out of the North Wales Cup.
The men from Maes Gwyniad held a slender three-point advantage from the first-leg encounter just seven days earlier, but in the return match at Chester Road a brace of converted tries did the trick for the Division One (North) hosts.
Bala knew they had to make a good start to turn the pressure on Mold, but it was the Flintshire side who got off to a flyer.
Mold took just two minutes to signal their intentions for the afternoon as some quick and free-flowing passing allowed Mike Rogers to break through the centre of the pitch.
He was tackled, but off-loaded to the flying Richard Hopkins and the winger made no mistake, beating the challenges of three Bala defenders before crossing the line.
Dan Edmunds added the extras with a cool kick and all of a sudden Mold had a four-point aggregate lead.
“It was a good game after that and maybe they just edged it,” said Bala chairman Tony Parry.
Bala found their feet after the early setback and moved to within one point of the overall lead through a Gareth Owen penalty kick.
In the second half, Mold regained the initiative to stretch their lead.
Number eight Roger Lloyd picked up the ball from a scrum seven metres from the visitors’ line and piled over the line.
Edmunds successfully added the conversion and left Bala with a mountain to climb.
This didn’t faze Bala, however, who did finish the better of the two sides as Mold prop Aaron Jones was red-carded with a quarter-of-an-hour left to play.
Bala spent the closing stages camped on the Mold line, but the home side dug deep to keep them from adding any more points.
“We were quite pleased with the way we stood up to them,” added Parry.
“Over the two games, they (Mold) just about deserved it.”