BALA TOWN 1

AIRBUS UK BROUGHTON 0

LATE drama saw Bala Town pick up all three points in their home JD Cymru Premier contest with Airbus UK Broughton.

The match was eventually settled in the Lakesiders' favour thanks to Chris Venables' 94th minute strike.

As far as games go, Friday’s game was far from a classic, but it indeed proved that teams must play to the final whistle as Venables' header saw Colin Caton's charges pick up another valuable three points.

Half-chances were most of the opportunities in the first half, with Henry Jones being denied from a close range effort early on, before Peers brought the ball down, but struck the ball over the crossbar for the visitors.

Airbus were playing some tidy football and they were causing problems for the Lakesiders through the influential Strong on the wing.

After a sustained spell of pressure, the visitors had the ball in the net through Andy Owens, but he was deemed offside.

Mendes saw his curling effort dropped by Roberts into Louis Robles’ path down the other end, but he couldn’t find enough power to drive the ball into the net for Town.

Bala weren’t really at the races and it was the visitors who looked most likely to score, with Strong firing at Josh Tibbetts and then Owens glanced a header past the upright.

Before the interval, Roberts pushed away at excellent strike by Jones to keep the scoreline level at the break.

Things improved a little in the second half but to their credit, Airbus battled away with the Lakesiders finding it hard to break them down.

Henry Jones' shot from the edge of the area fizzed wide, prior to Peers breaking into the area, but he saw the Town backline clear away the danger.

Mike Hayes and Steve Leslie came as Bala looked to bring in some fresh legs and find a winner.

Slowly but surely, momentum was building in Town’s favour as they quickened the tempo, with Hayes beating the offside trap and attempting a volley from the edge of the box, which Roberts gathered.

However, the Wingmakers had a superb chance in the closing stages when substitute McGilloway got on the end of Hooper’s delivery, but he rocketed the ball over the woodwork.

Four minutes of additional time was shown and Bala were throwing everything they could at Airbus.

Finally, in the 94th minute, their perseverance paid off.

A sloppy Airbus clearance was pushed back in by Andy Burns, with Kieran Smith laying the ball back out to him.

Burns’ looping cross was headed back in across the face of goal to Hayes and with the ball ping-ponging in the box, Smith’s crucial touch took it into an unmarked Venables and he buried in a header from three yards out to stealing the three points at the death.

A draw would have been a fair outcome considering the performance from Airbus, but it was a crucial three points for the Lakesiders, who stay hot on the heels of The New Saints and Connah’s Quay.