BALA TOWN 2

CARMARTHEN TOWN 1

WELL, the competition for the assist of the season is already done and dusted!

Take a bow Henry Jones, whose outrageous piece of skill helped Bala Town to an opening night JD Welsh Premier League win of the season versus Carmarthen Town.

Seemingly being hustled away from danger in the 34th minute, Jones pulled out a rabona with his right foot to supply an exquisite cross and it left Steven Tames with the simple task of powering in a close range header to give the Lakesiders the lead.

Tames added a fine second midway through the second half and while Carmarthen pulled a late goal back, the Lakesiders held on to record an opening night triumph.

During a high tempo start, Henry Jones threatened after only three minutes, with Lee Idzi collecting his effort.

Kieran Smith was the next home player to try his luck with a curling strike, but he too was denied by Idzi.

Luke Bowen’s shot was blocked by Anthony Miley, but in the main it was Bala who were growing in strength.

The midfield of Danny Gosset, Nathan Burke, Chris Venables and Henry Jones were creating plenty of problems for the visitors.

A slick passage of play led to Venables breaking through the defence, however he fired over with only Idzi to beat.

A Carmarthen free kick flashed across the face of goal in a let off for the hosts, while the moment of sheer magic came 11 minutes shy of the interval.

Fantastic work by Sean Smith saw the ball reach Henry Jones, who drove at and turned Aidan O’Kelly.

As he was on the left, Jones pulled out a rabona with his right foot to the far post, with Steve Tames powering home an unmarked header to give Bala the lead.

Bala looked strong for the rest of the half, with that man Jones going close on 43 minutes when he whipped a free kick inches wide of the post.

Carmarthen threatened at the start of the second half with a free kick being fired over, while Bowen found the side netting with an attempt.

Tames had a chance to make it 2-0 on 62 minutes, but he would make no mistake three minutes later.

He Tames picked the ball up from Sean Smith and won a tackle against Walters to power forward.

Tames proceeded to rocket the ball home from all of 25 yards to make it 2-0.

He could have had a hat-trick on 78 minutes when a brilliant cross into the box arrived to him four yards out, but he was unable to connect.

Six minutes from time and Carmarthen gave themselves a glimmer of hope.

Bowen crossed to an unmarked Sean Hanbury, who slotted home to set up a nervy closing spell.

A chance for Carmarthen was cleared off the line in the 87th minute, but Bala held firm to seal an important win.