BALA Town thumped Penybont 5-1 away from home in an encounter which can only be described as a game of two halves.

The Lakesiders moved up to second in the JD Cymru Premier table by picking up their second consecutive league victory at the SDM Glass Stadium on Saturday, thanks to an impressive showing in the second half.

The home side had been 1-0 up at half time. A shot parried away by Bala goalkeeper Alex Ramsay fell at the feet of Lewis Harling who fired them in front after just ten minutes.

However, the definitive moment of the match arguably came on the half hour mark when Penybont’s Kane Owen was dismissed following what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle on Bala midfielder Will Evans.

From there on out, Bala grew into the game - with Evans in particular proving to be a key player during the match. They had to wait until the second half to equalise, but once they did, the floodgates seemed to open.

Two minutes after the restart, Ollie Shannon’s mishit shot found its way to the feet of Evans who finished well to bring Bala level.

Chances were being created left, right and centre for Bala from there on out and so it was no surprise to see them go ahead just eight minutes after they scored their first goal.

Forward Raul Correia flicked the ball onto captain Chris Venables whose shot was saved by the Penybont keeper and Evans followed in with the rebound to make it a brace for himself.

Bala then took it up a gear, scoring a third just five minutes later. Evans turning provider this time, capitalising on a defensive error to get to the byline and set Venables up as he opened his account for the 2020/21 JD Cymru Premier season.

The Bala skipper, who scooped the JD Cymru Premier Golden Boot last season, then doubled his goal tally for this campaign as he netted a penalty on 72 minutes.

The rout was complete some ten minutes later when a ball in from the left hand side from Sean Smith crossed the box into the path of Kieran Smith who side-footed it past the keeper and into the net to complete the emphatic 5-1 scoreline.

The win takes Bala up to second place in the table, two points behind early front-runners The New Saints - who they face at home on Wednesday evening (7.45pm).