Two goals in as many minutes as The New Saints beat Bala Town in the JD Welsh Cup final dress rehearsal

Match Report

Goals: McManus (56), Brobbel (58)
Yellow cards: Baker (67), Craig Harrison (68)
Substitutions: Clark for Baker (69), Cieslewicz for Routledge (69), J. Williams for McManus (80), Lock for Brobbel (84), Dafydd for Smith (84)

Match report by Stewart Bloor
Lead image: Brian Jones

In the penultimate JD Cymru Premier game of the season, The New Saints secured all three points with a 2-0 win against Bala Town.

With less than two minutes on the clock, Connor Roberts was called into action as he denied George Newell from inside the penalty area.

Then it was The New Saints who threatened, with Chris Marriott’s free-kick from the right bouncing behind for a corner.

This was followed by a Ryan Brobbel shot on goal going high and over as the deadlock remained unbroken in the opening ten minutes.

As we approached the halfway stage in the first period, Declan McManus was allowed a free header inside the area that was just wide of Harri Lloyd’s left post.

With the visitors’ dominance continuing, Jon Routledge stung the ‘keeper’s fingers as the midfielder was the next player to go for goal.

In the 30th minute, it was Josh Daniels’ turn, as his attempt went over the bar.

On the end of a Brobbel ball in the box, Dan Williams’ header was straight at Lloyd, as the champions continued to threaten.

Brobbel himself looked to again open the scoring but once more, as we entered the final four minutes, his shot was off-target.

However, the final attempt of the half fell to Bala Town’s Newell, with his strike just wide of Roberts’ left post.

Six minutes after the restart, Williams and Daniels combined down the right but the incoming Leo Smith saw his attempt go high and over.

Then it was Roberts to the rescue at the other end, with the ‘keeper initially smothering a shot before getting both hands on it, as he dived to his left.

In the 56th minute the deadlock was finally broken, when McManus got his foot to the ball in the penalty area, putting it beyond the reach of Lloyd.

Two minutes later, again from close-range, Brobbel put the ball in the back of the net to double the advantage.

It was good to see Ben Clark back on the pitch as he was one of five TNS second-half substitutions.

Come the final whistle, it was a comfortable victory for The New Saints, with the sides meeting again on April 30 in the JD Welsh Cup final.