CAERNARFON TOWN 1

BALA TOWN 2

GWYNEDD bragging rights belonged to Bala Town as they secured their spot in the JD Welsh Premier's top-six.

A brace from top scorer Chris Venables helped the Lakesiders to a 2-1 Boxing Day triumph at county rivals Caernarfon Town.

In front of an 800-strong crowd and the live Sgorio cameras, it proved to be a close encounter.

In the opening minutes, Brookwell placed a shot over the bar from the edge of the box for the hosts, while a quick break by Bala deemed Robles to be offside.

The hosts' were a threat on the counter attack and trying to open up the Lakesiders through Thomas and Cavanagh, but Bala’s backline stayed firm.

Lassana Mendes’ delivery arrived to an unmarked Louis Robles, but his diving header was cleared by Ramsey, prior to Venables driving down the right wing and finding Henry Jones, but the chance being blazed wide of the upright midway through the half.

The Canaries should have been ahead when Brookwell rattled the crossbar with Bala keeper Josh Tibbetts comfortably beaten.

Down the other end, Anthony Stephens headed wide of the far upright after a corner kick with the game opening up towards the interval.

Before the break, Bala had a brilliant opportunity to be ahead when Sean Smith danced down the left and put in a teasing ball into the area.

It arrived to the awaiting Robles, but the header soared over the bar from around seven yards out.

Bala came out with fresh vigour at the start of the second half.

Two minutes in and they had a great opportunity with a powerful effort through Mendes, but his shot was narrowly wide of the post.

Andrew Burns was brought down in the box after out-running Brookwell, but his penalty claims were waved away after 52 minutes.

With 57 minutes on the clock, Bala took the lead.

Louis Robles' floating delivery picked out Chris Venables on the six-yard line and he strongly headed the ball home.

Bala were playing some lovely football and they should have been further ahead as Jones was played through with an impressive ball by Venables, but his lob from 25 yards out dinked wide of the post.

The Lakesiders were breaking quickly, but the offside flag denied them on three seperate occasions as they looked to go further ahead.

Caernarfon upped the pressure as the game neared its conclusion and their momentum paid off in the 83rd minute.

Leo Smith's effort from 25 yards struck the crossbar, with John's follow-up being saved by Tibbetts, but Jamie Breese then tucked the ball into the net.

The drama wasn’t yet over and in the 89th minute, Bala regained the lead.

A header forward was picked up by Mendes and sent straight through to Venables, who weaved past three defenders and powered an effort through Ramsey’s legs to make it 2-1.