BARRY TOWN UNITED 0

BALA TOWN 1

SATURDAY afternoon saw yet another chapter being written in the history of Bala Town FC.

There was a major landmark reached as manager Colin Caton took charge of his 600th match at the helm.

Following a surprise presentation by Barry’s manager Gavin Chesterfield to Caton, the J D Welsh Premier League game got underway and it was an entertaining affair in front of a 590-strong crowd.

Barry's Kayne McLaggon had the first chance of the game, when a break down the wing arrived to him, but he wasn’t able to connect with the cross.

This resulted in a Bala counter attack, which ended when Nathan Burke’s saw his effort being saved.

Town looked a threat on the break throughout the game.

A cross from Ryan Valentine attempted to find the incoming Jones, but the ball was overhit, before Nathan Burke saw his chance being hacked off the line by the Barry backline.

A free kick following a foul on Mike Hayes saw Chris Venables go close, but he was beaten to the ball by the goalkeeper.

As Bala continued their search for the opening goal, Les Davies' strike fizzed narrowly wide after a break down the right flank, with Stuart Jones blazing over from six yards out on the half-hour mark.

Bala’s play was fast on the zippy surface, with Venables and Burke’s move in the middle allowing Ryan Valentine to fire over from distance before the interval.

Bala cranked up the pressure in the second half.

A move between Venables and Les Davies saw a vital block by the Barry defence, while down the other end the dangerous McLaggon skipped down the wing, but Bala number one Ashley Morris strongly pushed the ball out of play.

Cooper headed over the crossbar for the home side on the hour mark and there was soon a change for the Lakesiders, with Jordan Evans replacing Burke.

Evans was straight into the action and he changed the game for Town, with the Lakesiders taking an even more direct approach.

Their midfield ran the show for the remainder of the game.

Substitute Evans received the ball in the Town half, broke forward and danced past two players.

He then delivered the ball to an Mike Hayes, who turned his marker and then from an almost impossible acute angle, fired past the keeper and into the back of the net to give Bala the lead on 65 minutes.

The visitors were in full control and they were looking to add to their tally.

The Lakesiders went extremely close to doing so when good initial work by Venables and Davies allowed Evans to break and link up with Hayes, whose curling strike rattled the crossbar.

A long throw from Short needed to be scrambled away, but Barry weren'r quite out of the contest and they could have levelled things up with five minutes remaining.

Cooper’s delivery found McLaggon, who directed his free header centimeters wide of the far post.

All in all, it was very good afternoon’s work from the Lakesiders, who put in a great shift all over the park and secured another vital three points.

This win closes the gap on Bangor City and Connah’s Quay going into the next phase of the season.