NEWTOWN 1

BALA TOWN 0

SEVEN days after grabbing a bumper six goals on their travels, Bala Town were unable to bag a goal during the JD Cymru Premier trip to Newtown.

It was a below par afternoon for the Lakesiders, who lacked the killer touch in front of goal at Latham Park.

Town started the brightest of the two teams and almost went ahead after three minutes when Steve Leslie’s 35 yard low drive went through Jones’ hands and was creeping towards goal, but the keeper was able to recover to push it out of play.

Henry Jones headed wide from Andy Burns’ cross from the right, prior to Ashley Morris keeping out Kenton’s effort down the other end.

Neither team took a hold of the half, with the game lacking quality.

For Bala, Louis Robles drove into the area, but placed the ball inches wide, before Steve Leslie’s free kick was blasted straight into the wall from the edge of the box.

Before the interval, Leslie’s opportunity was cleared by Newtown and then Chris Venables’ follow-up was saved, with a Newtown chance flashing across the face of goal a minute later.

The second half was an improvement on the first but again, chances were few and far between.

Burns’ cross narrowly missed the head of an unmarked Venables, but Barnes and Mills-Evans made it a difficult afternoon for Bala’s forward line.

Nathan Burke was next to test when his half-volley flew wide of the post as Town looked to be building some pressure.

The visitors had a hand ball shout waved away by the referee as the Town management brought Kieran Smith, Evan Horwood and Lee Molyneux on in an effort to take the lead.

A fantastic opportunity for Venables was hacked away by the Newtown defence, with Molyneux also going close when he picked the ball up on the left and he struck the ball wide of the post.

However, with six minutes left to play, the Robins went ahead.

George Harry capitalised on a mistake at the back, which allowed him to tuck the ball into an empty net.

In the closing stages, the game became frantic as Newtown tried to keep hold of their lead and Bala looked for a reply but it came to no avail.