Bala Town secures European qualification
26th April 2022
The Lakesiders are celebrating two epic victories from the past week which have earned them European qualification for a third consecutive campaign.
A comfortable 2-0 win against Caernarfon on Derby day secured Bala Town 2nd place in next season’s Europa Conference League, thanks to goals from Ebbe and Evans and an early setback for the Cofis.
Just a few minutes into the game, the Cofis’ midfielder Josef Faux sustained an injury and was forced to pull out of the game, much to the relief of the Lakesiders, as Faux caused some trouble for them earlier in the season.
With the half-time result level after some defending challenges for Bala’s backline, the Lakesiders knew they needed to keep pushing to secure a victory, and Will Evans did not disappoint. In the 55th minute, he latched onto a cross into the far post to head home the opener.
Caernarfon had an opportunity to respond – target man Mike Hayes missed a critical chance immediately after Evans’ goal due to hesitation, and things went from bad to worse for the Cofis when Ebbe scored Bala’s second goal with just 15 minutes of the game remaining.
Growing frustrations from the Cofis led to Aaron Simpson making an unnecessary tackle against Brad Bauress, resulting in Caernarfon losing another player and ultimately sealing their defeat.
After the Derby day victory, the Lakesiders were confidently heading into the final game of the season against Penybont, which resulted in even more celebration.
Bala secured a colossal 11-0 victory, with three substitutions – Spittle, Rutherford and Bauress – all paying off as the trio contributed two goals each. This, coupled with the fact that the Penybont team were all academy players due to a tactical decision from Rhys Griffiths to mitigate the risk of any injury with the Welsh Cup final looming.
The Lakesiders’ success was bolstered by further goals from Kay, Ebbe, Evans, and Mendes, all within the first half.
Spittle also had a memorable game. After two assists off the bench, he scored two goals in just two minutes despite his defender position.
Bala Town are now looking forward to the Europa Conference League’s first qualifying round next season, after finishing the campaign just one point behind their record points tally for a Cymru Premier season.
