Nomads lose out to Lakesiders

The Nomads endured their second away loss of the season on Friday evening, losing to Bala Town by two goals to nil.  John Irving put The Lakesiders ahead in the second minute, with David Artell doubling the home advantage in the 69th minute.

The Nomads came into the match having progressed to the second round of the word cup on Tuesday evening, defeating Guilsfield 3-0 in extra time. Wes Baynes returned to the starting line up, with Nick Rushton in place of Ashley Ruane who started the game as substitute.

The game was also a historical event in Welsh football, as it was Bala manager Colin Caton’s 500th game in charge of his side. He had plenty to feel confident about ahead of the match, had yet to lose a game in this season so far.

The game began and Bala made their intentions of delivering a win for their manager clear, taking only two minutes to score. When a free kick was awarded around nine yards from the Nomads area, John Irving stepped up and sent the ball low, past the Nomads defensive wall and into the bottom left corner of the goal.

After this great start, Bala continued to go at the Nomads, coming close via Pearson with a low wide effort on goal before Sheridan hit the post.
Nomads slowly began to get a foot in the game, with McIntyre sending a free kick floating into the Bala area before Stephens cleared with a defensive header.

Les Davies enjoyed one of Nomads more progressive moments of the match, when deep in the Bala half he intercepted a defender and ran onto goal, his effort blocked by the Lakeside defence on 19 minutes.

Lee Hunt of Bala then also showed his individual prowess, sending a 30 yard shot goalwards only for it to go just wide of the top right corner.

The Nomads were dealt a blow after this, when following a challenge Sean Miller was forced to come off the field, replaced by Corey Roper.

As the half went on, The Nomads had more possession in the game, but this rarely converted into any threat upon the Bala goal. Play moved towards the attacking Rushton and Davies, who could not get in front of goal without an interception from the home defence.

The second half began with the similar scene to the end of first, with equal possession in the game but no clear chances for Nomads. A change was made at the start of the half, with Rushton coming off for Ruane.

Wes Baynes continued to impress for Nomads after his home debut last week, but could not get in front of goal despite some great runs down the wing. Bala may have felt they could have doubled their lead in the 52nd minute when a corner took went into the Nomads box and was dropped by Danby, before Rimmer cleared.

The Nomads created another half chance when Les Davies ran into the box close to the by-line and cut it back to Ruane who could not reach the ball before a clearance from the defence.

Bala then got their deserved second goal, when a corner was given and from that the ball went into the box and met Gibraltar international David Artell, who rose up and headed home. This was a big blow to The Nomads who had managed to even out the game in terms of possession, but after this goal their task to get anything out of the game expanded ever more.

The Nomad made few threats after this goal, one a near spectacular one after Harrison send a 40 yard effort towards Ashley Morris in the hope of lobbing him. Former Nomad Michael Hayes then came on as a substitute, and went clear on goal beside George Horan, who managed to clear in spite of home cries for a foul to be given against him.

With 90 minutes up, things went from bad to worse for Nomads when after making a challenge in the midfield, Horan was shown a straight red, meaning The Nomads were to play the last seconds with ten men.

Shortly after, the game ended and The Nomads went home empty handed after a disappointing evening where a resilient Bala defence meant the Reds never had a clear goalscoring opportunity. Nomads aim to put things right next week, when they host MBi Llandudno for a 2:30pm kick off at Deeside.

Match Photos