Hunt penalty claims Bala victory at Deeside

The Nomads were defeated 1-0 in their final game of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League’s season.  A penalty from Lee Hunt was enough to see Bala Town secure automatic Europa League qualification, whilst The Nomads now await confirmation of their play off semi-final opponents.

The game was one where, for the first time in the season, The Nomads’ league position could not be affected in any way.  Following a 3-2 loss to Newtown, and a draw between Bala and Llandudno, the game had no effect on The Nomads’ guaranteed fourth place finish, their best ever in club history.

Therefore, The Nomads had the chance to rest senior players and hand opportunities to The Nomads’ squad, which delivered Tom Bibby and Ben Nash starting positions.  Bala meanwhile introduced a full strength lineup, knowing all they needed was at least a point to secure Europa League football automatically.

The game kicked off in front of live S4C Sgorio cameras, with the first chance going to The Nomads when Ruane who had a shot blocked, before Lee Hunt replied with a 15 yard effort that edged wide of the home goal.

Intent on keeping their European fate in their own hands, Bala tested goalkeeper Jon Rushton with a free kick from Valentine curling to the goal where Rushton dealt with it well.  Lee Hunt launched another attack two minutes later when he got clear on The Nomads’ goal but sent his shot wide in the best chance of the first half.

As the game slowed from an originally high tempo, both sides played well in their own right.  Bala kept on creating chances, whilst the likes of Bibby, Nash and Baynes performed well to largely mute any real goal scoring opportunities for the majority of the first half.

As half time neared, both sides missed their chances to take the lead when Hunt saw his header just a yard from The Nomads' goal saved by Rushton.  This followed a Wes Baynes’ ccorner flicked on at the near post by Ashley Ruane, forcing Bala 'keeper Ashley Morris into an instinctive point-blank save.

The second half began with a substitution for The Nomads, which saw Nathan Woolfe replace Nick Rushton who had taken a knock in the first half.  Bala were handed the opportunity to go ahead in the 48th  minute, when they were awarded a penalty after Hunt was brought down in the area by Ben Nash.  Hunt took the opportunity, slotting the ball cleanly into the net to score his 200th Welsh Premier League goal.

The Nomads made another substitution when Sean Miller came on for Chris Churchman, but it was a former Nomad who would have the next couple of chances, with Mike Hayes sending two headers wide of the goal in the 65th and 67th minute.  With 20 minutes to go in the game, Tom Bibby left the field to be replaced by Jamie Crowther. Bala Town, who benefitted from TNS’ lead at Llandudno, knew all they had to do was control the game to secure European football.

They did so well, resulting in little action for the rest of the fixture until some late Nomads attacks in the final few minutes.  When Danny Harrison sent a powerful shot into the Bala area, a goal mouth scramble ensued, resulting in Morris firstly failing to secure the ball before recovering, denying Ashley Ruane a goal practically on the Bala goal line.

Despite two more attacks from Ashley Ruane, consisting of a low and tight angled shot before a close range header, his late onslaught did not convert into an equaliser.Bryn Markham-Jones signalled for full time and Bala celebrated a victory which confirms their European status for the second consecutive time.

Despite the defeat, Andy Morrison was positive in his post-match interview with S4C, stating; "I thought the lads gave a good account of themselves considering the changes, I'm pleased with a lot of what we did - we lacked a bit of quality in certain areas and we were always going to struggle with things physically - we had one player in the team who was six foot and they've got a lot of big lads and they put a lot of balls in the box, so I think it was very unfair of them to keep putting balls into our box when they've got the superioirty over us!"

You can listen to Morrison's complete post-match interview below;


The Nomads will now prepare for the play-offs, against opponents to be confirmed pending the result of the Welsh Cup final. Should TNS win the Welsh Cup, Nomads will face Carmarthen Town at Deeside Stadium in the play-off semi-finals at a date to be confirmed.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall