Bala Town vs Connah's Quay Nomads Matchday Programme

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THE OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME OF BALA TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB

@?J?? RMU L TUESDAY 16TH MARCH 2021

VS CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS

NIGEL’S NOTES Blwyddyn Newydd Dda. How strange that this wish comes to you all on the 16th of March but the reality is that our last league fixture was on December 12th last year! Every single walk of life has been adversely affected by the COVID 19 pandemic which has afflicted the world since the first month of January 2020 and none more so than our beloved football game.

It is difficult to chronicle exactly the impact it has had at all levels and across all ages but suffice it to say that it has been a huge challenge that we all have faced. However we must now be positive and proactive in our approach to 2021 and put behind us the damage that the virus has done to our sport. We open a new chapter with the exciting prospect of a gradual return to normality and the anticipation of a closely fought battle for JD Cymru Premier League honours.

We have performed exceptionally well to put us in a position to challenge at the very top of the Welsh Pyramid and the prospect of some exceptional matches after the League split is something we can all look forward to especially when our spectators can once again return to our grounds. It is so disappointing that a fixture of such significance this evening will again be played behind closed doors. It promises to be an enthralling match which fortunately can be picked up on Sgorio Facebook Live and I can only hope that everyone who tunes in to the broadcast will enjoy the hugely competitive fixture which is an undoubted highlight of the JD Cymru Premier League.

2020 however despite the huge difficulties which we faced due to the virus was also once again a hugely memorable year!! It resulted in our Club once again re-writing the history books when they won their first Europa Cup tie with an outstanding result in Valletta. We then had the privilege of a visit to Standard Liege and performed superbly against such a well renowned European team. We were delighted to finish 3rd in the Premier last season which enabled our European qualification and we have continued to push towards the very top in this new campaign. We have more to offer in 2021, watch this space. Colin Caton remains at the helm in his 18th year in charge and we will be writing more historical achievements if this longevity continues! Dedication at the very highest level! We were also proud of Our Captain Chris Venables who once again won the Golden Boot award and his dedication and commitment to the Club has been exemplary throughout his 5 seasons with us. We are so fortunate to have so many high quality people at our Club.

My sincere gratitude to all the volunteers who contribute so much to the running of the Club and to our really hardworking Club officials who have had an enormously difficult year to contend with the added pressures of COVID protocols and safety! It has been a huge challenge but we remain committed to ensure our Club continues to succeed at all levels and provide a superb facility for the whole of our community.

Diolch ofnadwy pawb! Let’s hope that the virus is finally defeated in 2021 and that our Club continues to thrive despite the challenges which we will face. We cannot wait until we see all our most valued supporters back within the confines of Maes Tegid.

Even though we are behind closed doors tonight it has not stopped one of the Club's major supporters wishing to sponsor tonight's fixture. The Club are indebted to Robert (Foxy) Jones for his tremendous support throughout these most difficult of times.

Foxy has sponsored the Quay fixture for many years and tonight is no exception. This assistance is the lifeblood of our Club and we are proud to have such generosity and support afforded to us at Maes Tegid. Diolch ofnadwy Foxy!

Nigel Aykroyd, Chief Executive

GWASANAETH PÊL-DROED DIGURO UNBEATABLE ON WELSH FOOTBALL CYNGHRAIR Y CENHEDLOEDD UEFA 2020 UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE 2020 CYMRU PREMIER JD CWPAN CYMRU JD JD WELSH CUP CWPAN NATHANIEL MG NATHANIEL MG CUP UWCH GYNGHRAIR MERCHED CYMRU WELSH PREMIER WOMEN’S LEAGUE

O F F I C I A L

B A L L

S U P P L I E R

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OPPONENT - CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS EST. 1946 HOME: THE DEESIDE STADIUM ABOUT THE NOMADS Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Cei Connah) is a Welsh professional football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire.

They play in the Cymru Premier.

The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. name in 1951. The club's home ground is at Deeside Stadium on Kelsterton Road in Connah's Quay, and accommodates 1,500 spectators (500 seated). For the 2006–07 season, they temporarily played their home games in Flint due to drainage problems with the Deeside Stadium pitch.

In April 2013, the club announced that starting with the 2013–14 season, they would be using an all red home kit, accompanied by an all yellow away kit to complement the new logo which includes the traditional colours used in the Connah's Quay Town crest.

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Before the Nomads, two clubs represented the town. The first was Connah's Quay, founded in 1890 and playing in the Golftyn area of the town close to the present stadium. The club reached the Welsh Cup finals of 1908 and 1911, losing both times to Chester and Wrexham, respectively, but was disbanded soon after. A new club, Connah's Quay & Shotton, was formed in 1920, renting land at the rear of the Halfway House Hotel from the Northgate Brewery, and become members of the Welsh National League (North) as a fully professional outfit in 1922.

In the 2018–19 season, The Nomads made history as they beat Edinburgh City 5–4 on penalties in the Scottish Challenge Cup Semi Finals, and became the first non-Scottish side to reach the finals, despite many non-Scottish sides reaching the semi final stage in previous seasons, such as fellow Welsh side, TNS, who reached the semis for two consecutive seasons, losing to St Mirren and Dumbarton respectively.

The Nomads lost the Final 3-1 to Ross County at the Caledonian Stadium in Inverness.

In the 2019-20 season, the Nomads beat Kilmarnock F.C. 2–0 in Ayrshire, for a Europa League first qualifying round aggregate win.[11] They also won the 2019-20 Cymru Premier for the first time, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, after the season was cut short by the 2019-20 Coronavirus pandemic.

ALEX RAMSAY

ANDREW BURNS

SEAN SMITH

NATHAN PEATE

ANTHONY STEPHENS

JONNY SPITTLE

LEE MOLYNEUX

WILL EVANS

HENRY JONES

KIERAN SMITH

STEVE LESLIE

DANIEL GOSSET

LLYR MORRIS

SHAUN KELLY

LASSANA MENDES

CHRIS VENABLES

OLIVER SHANNON

RAUL CORREIA

LIAM DAVIES

HARRI LLOYD

ANTONY KAY

PREVIOUS FIXTURE Ten man Lakesiders grab all three points in stellar second half performance!

CEFN DRUIDS 1 BALA TOWN 3

The Lakesiders returned to action this weekend (Saturday 13th March) with a trip to The Rock to face Cefn Druids. The Ancients came into the game under temporary management, as Jayson Starkey took charge of team affairs.

On the other half, Bala came into the game having battled out a stalemate at Park Hall against The New Saints last weekend, and holding on to an unbeaten away record so far this league campaign.

We got underway at The Rock, with the hosts threatening early on the attack, and it didn’t take long until those threats paid off, as the hosts took the lead after just seven minutes through a strike from Former Bala player Stef Edwards, a low driven strike on his left foot that went across Ramsay and into the bottom right hand corner. A poor start from The Lakesiders, with Druids looking the better side.

An early yellow card was shown to Kieran Smith after 10 minutes, and after a few more fouls, Manager Colin Caton decided not to risk the possbility of going down to ten men and substituted Smith for Steve Leslie.

After 20 minutes gone, Bala slowly got into the game, despite the threat posed by Druids on the attack.

However, it didn’t take The Lakesiders long to level! Ollie Shannon managed to prod the ball home from close range, after Venables’ first time volley was blocked by a wall of Druids defenders, the ball dropped to Ollie who couldn’t miss!

Raul Correia came close to putting The Town ahead just minutes after the equaliser, as he latched onto a perfect ball by Leslie, but Raul dragged his effort wide of the post.

Bala piled on the pressure late in the half with two strikes on goal in quick succession, as Antony Kay had his strike blocked off the line, as did Ollie Shannon’s strike, and Druids were able to clear.

The half time whistle came, and possibly to the relief of the hosts, as The Lakesiders could have gone into the lead late in the half, if it wasn’t for the resilient defence of Druids.

We got underway for the second half, and all of a sudden…

Bala were ahead! Just minutes after the restart, Ollie Shannon pounced on the ball from close range and poked home to grab his second of the game! Just the start we needed to the second half!

Antony Kay and Ryan Pryce linked up well down the right hand side for a good chunk of the second half, with Pryce darting down the right hand side to put some brilliant balls into the box for the Bala forwards to attack.

With 20 minutes to go, Bala were awarded a penalty! Raul Correia’s driving run into the box was halted as he was brought down by a Druids defender inside the box, and referee Iwan Arwel pointed to the spot!

Chris Venables stepped up to take the spot kick, and cool as ever slotted it into the bottom right corner of the goal to gain a two goal advantage over the hosts.

The hosts appealed for a penalty after Nathan Peate put a challenge in inside the box, however the referee deemed it a clean tackle.

With just 10 minutes to go, Bala were reduced to ten men… Steve Leslie was involved in an altercation with Ryan Kershaw leading to Leslie being given his marching orders for violent conduct, yet Kershaw was given a yellow card for his involvement.

Five minutes from time, Danny Gosset was handed his first competitive appearance in nearly two years, after recovering from non-hodgkins lymphoma, a massive moment for Danny, The Club and Welsh Football as a whole, to witness the inspirational comeback from Danny.

Alex Ramsay was called into action late in the game, as he kept out a long range effort from a Druids midfielder.

Despite there being three minutes of added time, Bala saw the game out to pick up all three points after a much improved second half performance.

Yellow Cards: Kieran Smith (11), Jonny Spittle (40), Chris Venables (88), Red Cards: Steve Leslie (80) Substitutions: Steve Leslie (23), Henry Jones (65), Danny Gosset (81)

PREVIOUS FIXTURE

CEFN DRUIDS 1 BALA TOWN 3

#1

CHRIS VENABLES 17 APPS 16 GOALS 1 ASSIST

#2

WILL EVANS 18 APPS 10 GOALS 3 ASSISTS

#3

SEAN SMITH 18 APPS 1 GOAL 5 ASSISTS

#4

LASSANA MENDES 10 APPS 1 GOAL 4 ASSISTS

16

FIXTURES

SEPTEMBER SUN 20 SUN 27 WED 30

CEFN DRUIDS PENYBONT FC THE NEW SAINTS

OCTOBER

2-1 W 1-5 W 2-2 D

NOVEMBER SAT 07 SAT 14 FRI 20 FRI 27

THE NEW SAINTS PENYBONT ABERYSTWYTH NEWTOWN

SAT 03 FRI 09 TUE 13 SAT 17 TUES 20 SAT 31

HAVERFORDWEST ABERYSTWYTH BARRY TOWN UTD NEWTOWN FLINT TOWN HAVERFORD WEST

1-2 L 5-2 W 4-0 W 0-2 W 1-2 W 1-1 D

DECEMBER 1-1 D 4-1 W PP 3-1 W

SAT 01 SAT 05 WED 09 SAT 12

CAERNARFON TOWN CARDIFF MET UNI ABERYSTWYTH CARDIFF MET

1-1 D 1-1 D 1-2 W 4-1 W

MARCH SAT 06 SAT 13 TUE 16 SAT 20 SAT 27

THE NEW SAINTS CEFN DRUIDS CQ NOMADS CAERNARFON BARRY TOWN

0-0 D 1-3 W H H A

SPONSORS

18

SMITHY GARAGE Bala Town are so grateful for the tremendous support which Smithy Garage of Dyffryn Ardudwy have given the Club over so many years. We are delighted that they continue to sponsor the Club's playing shorts and last year went a huge step further when they kindly agreed to sponsor our Academy's Head of Coaching car.

This is so important for the development of our youth players and for the roll which he provides to our Community programmes.

Smithy Garage offers a whole range of vehicle services and we would be delighted if our supporters could look them up whenever there is any vehicular requirements. Car/Van sales, MOT's, Servicing, Body Repair etc!

Thank you most sincerely on behalf of us all at Maes Tegid.

Long may our relationship together continue!

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PLAYER SPONSORS Player Sponsorship is on a first come first served basis.

First team players £75.00 and at the end of the season, you will receive their match-worn shirt (home or away).

Higher bids or offers will be accepted. Once the money has been paid, the sponsorship is sold and no further offers will be accepted.

Andrew Burns – Emma Whitehouse Raul Correia – Gwyn & Jackie Penucha Colin Caton – Ado Vogt & Gee Gi, Liechtenstein Ffiona Evans – Arwel, Michelle, Hannah & Naomi Will Evans – Sion and John Roberts Stephen Fisher – Ado Vogt & Gee Gi, Liechtenstein Danny Gosset – Brian and Teresa Whitehouse

Henry Jones – Cigydd Bala Butcher – www.balabutcher.co.uk Steve Leslie – Evan Horwood Harri Lloyd – Felix Ospelt, Vaduz Lassana Mendes – Lee, George, Chris & Foxy Lee Molyneux – Ado Vogt & Gee Gi, Liechtenstein Nathan Peate – Kevin Swire Alex Ramsay – Cigydd Bala Butcher – www.balabutcher.co.uk Ollie Shannon – Ado Vogt & Gee Gi, Liechtenstein Kieran Smith – Jonah Armstrong Sean Smith – Peter Spitzmaul Jonny Spittle – Ado Vogt & Gee Gi, Liechtenstein Anthony Stephens – Katie & Matthew Spitzmaul Ryan Valentine – Top Personalised Gifts – www.toppersonalisedgifts.co.uk Chris Venables – Barry Yates & Stewart Venables Llyr Morris – Clwyd Williams, Family Butchers Llandyrnog Liam Davies – TBC Shaun Kelly – TBC Antony Kay – Marianne Taft

THANK YOU

@?J?? RMU L AOO L MK?BQ VENUE: MAES TEGID BALA KICK OFF: 19.45PM REFEREE: THOMAS OWEN LINESMEN: MARTIN WILLIAM ROBERTS & CONNOR EOIN FOWLER FOURTH OFFICIAL: SIMON LEE EVANS REFEREE OBSERVER: BRIAN LEO LAWLOR

MANAGER: COLIN CATON MANAGER: ANDY MORRISON ALEX RAMSAY ANDREW BURNS SEAN SMITH NATHAN PEATE ANTHONY STEPHENS JONNY SPITTLE LEE MOLYNEUX WILL EVANS HENRY JONES KIERAN SMITH STEVE LESLIE DANIEL GOSSET KEL SHAUN KELLY LASSANA MENDES CHRIS VENABLES OLIVER SHANNON HARRI LLOYD LIAM DAVIES RYAN PRYCE JACK MACKRETH

OLIVER BYRNE KAI CALDERBANK-PARK CAMERON DARLING JOHN DISNEY CALLUM ROBERTS HUN JOHNNY HUNT GEORGE HORAN DANNY HARRISON RIO GLEAN CALLUM MORRIS MICHAEL WILDE JAMIE INSALL NEI NEIL DANNS DECLAN POOLE TOM MOORE DANNY HOLMES JAY OWEN KRIS OWENS DOUG THARME CRAIG CURRAN SAMERON DOOL ARON WILLIAMS DANNY DAVIES AERON EDWARDS MAX MOORE SAM WILLIAMS HARRY OWEN JOSH ALLEN

@?J?? RMU L

TUESDAY 16TH MARCH 2021

VS CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS