Bala Town Win Welsh Cup! The JD Welsh Cup Final As It Happened

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FT BALA TOWN 2-1 THE NEW SAINTS

  • Bala win the JD Welsh Cup for first time in their history after coming from behind to win
  • Keiran Smith scores late Cup final winner 
  • Substitute Jordan Evans curls in equaliser for Bala
  • Greg Draper taps-in from close-range to give TNS lead
  • Bala goalkeeper named Man of the Match
  • League and League Cup winners TNS denied domestic treble
  • Tweet @1matthewburgess to get in touch

16:17 – And that’s a wrap. Thanks for following this live blog on an afternoon in which Bala Town made Welsh football history. Commiserations to The New Saints, I’ll be back in the week previewing next weekend’s Welsh Premier League play-off semi-finals. Well done to all at Bala Town FC.

16:10 – So many people associated with Bala, close to, or in tears now. You can see how much the club means to the players, officials and volunteers. Their success is just a tremendous sporting achievement.

TNS have received their runners-up medals, now Bala Town take to the podium and are about to lift the cup. Colin Caton shakes hands with Chris Coleman and Chris Venables lifts the JD Welsh Cup!

The goal that won Bala Town the Welsh Cup!

“We don’t stop making history,” says a clearly emotional Colin Caton, with tears in his eyes.

BALA WIN THE CUP! Bala goalkeeper Ashley Morris named Man of the Match, Bala have won a free-kick inside the Bala half. And the full-time whistle blows! Bala have come from behind to win the Welsh Cup! What an incredible turnaround!

TNS win a corner 91′ on the clock, it’s pinball in the Bala box. Bala clear their lines but it’s going to be pumped straight back into their half… Incredible tension.

Three added minutes to be played and Bala Town win a late corner! It’s within touching distance for the Lakesiders now!

90′ TNS have made a double change. They’re throwing everything forward now. Bala doggedly hanging on. This could be a huge Welsh Cup shock.

85′ GOAL! Bala stun TNS to take the lead with just five minutes remaining! Keiran Smith could be about to enter Bala folklore after heading his side in front. Chris Venables does superbly to keep possession and work his way into space to deliver an inch perfect post to the near post for Smith to nod in.

Bala’s equalising goal:

83′ Replays showing that Evans’ goal took a slight deflection off Smith as it deceived Harrison. There’s definitely more of a spark in this Bala side following the goal.

77′ Chance! TNS look to make Bala pay immediately. Ashley Morris makes another good save to deny Cieslewicz.

76′ GOAL! Bala equalise out of nothing! Substitute Jordan Evans with the equaliser! The Lakesiders do well to work the ball into the edge of the box, Evans picks it up and curls a right-footed finish past Harrison. Just when the game looked to be slipping away from them!

73′ TNS showcasing their strength in depth as goalscorer Greg Draper comes off for Scott Quigley. There’s space in behind the Bala defence as they start to push up, Quigley has the pace to punish them.

72′ Second change for Bala Town as Ian Sheridan makes way for Ryan Wade. Like for like down the left.

70′ Chance! Jame Mullan carves his way into the Bala goalmouth to latch onto an inviting ball forward, Morris is hesitant to come for it, the TNS winger has time to steady himself and shoot but is denied by the Bala keeper, who makes an unorthodox save with this feet.

68′ Yellow card: David Thompson is booked for a strong challenge. Won the ball but had his studs showing.

Here’s the TNS goal:

65′  Bala Town make a change as Jordan Evans comes on for Lee Hunt. Expect Kieran Smith to go up-front now with Evans playing down the wing

62′ Chance! Adrian Cieslewicz with a trademark run, cutting in-field from the left, gets a good shot off but Morris is equal to it. It would’ve been some goal.

Huge test of Bala’s character and quality now to get back into this game. Just how much will their poor record against TNS be weighing in the back of their minds? The risk now for Bala is exposing space as they push forward. Lee Hunt, sort of minutes this season, looks like he’s beginning to tire up-front.

56′ GOAL! TNS 1-0. TNS take the lead moments after hitting the woodwork. Ashley Morris, who was excellent in the first-half, parried a tame effort back in front of the goal. Saunders picked up the rebound and squared it for Greg Draper to score into an open net from point-blank.

54′ Chance! TNS have another dangerously-placed free-kick. Central, 22-yards from goal. Marriott strikes it far better than his first-half attempt and it smacks against the crossbar.

51′ TNS settling on the ball early into the second-half. Just wonder how long Craig Harrison will give it before using his bench should it remain goalless. A lot of attacking talent sitting in the TNS dug-out, not least Chris Seargeant who came on to score a hat-trick in the League Cup final earlier in the season.

Second-half. We’re back underway and immediately Bala Town win a free-kick which is whipped deep into the TNS goalmouth for under-pressure Paul Harrison to just about deal with. No changes to either side during the break. It’ll be interesting to see whether the tempo remains as high as the first-half.

Well that just flew by! Despite being scoreless it was an enjoyable open half which TNS just shaded. Colin Caton won’t have any complaints however as his Bala side worked tirelessly from front to back. They just started to drop off a bit deep and invite TNS onto them towards the end of the half however, something which they need to avoid doing. Right, I’m off for a cuppa…

45′ Half-time, 0-0. TNS win a dangerously positioned free-kick after Venables was adjudged to have brought down Cieslewicz 25-yards from goal when replays clearly showed there was no contact. Justice was done however as Marriott’s free-kick is a poor one and Ashley Morris watches it harmlessly sail off-target before Huw Jones blows for half-time.

37′ Another drilled ball into the box from TNS down the right. They’re definitely targeting Bala’s left flank.

33′ Yellow card. Steve Saunders becomes the first player to be booked. He kicked out at Lee Hunt out of frustration as the Bala forward held the ball up on the half-way line. Saunders is a bit of a hot-head, Hunt will be onto him all game now.

Here’s that save from Morris:

23‘ Chance! TNS are denied the lead by an excellent save from Ashley Morris. Mullan breaks down the right and delivers a superb ball to Greg Draper. Morris reacts superbly to keep the scoreline goalless. “Ashley Morris for Wales,” quips Sgorio commentator Mark Jones. A few more saves of that calibre and the watching Chris Coleman might have a decision to make!

21′ Cup finals aren’t supposed to be open-ended, attacking games. This one is so far bucking the trend as Ashley Morris clutches onto a deflected TNS effort.

17′ Chance! Bala enjoying a good spell now. Hunt’s overhead kick forces Harrison to save  and TNS are stuck inside their own half.

15′ Strong claims for a penalty for Bala! Venables hits the deck when under close attention from Saunders. Replay looks like Huw Jones made the right call.

12′ Morris is tested again and makes another good save, this time from Routledge strike from distance. TNS on top here.

7′ Mullan again looking dangerous early on. He lost his marker and flashed a ball right across the goalmouth. Fortunately for Bala, there wasn’t a TNS shirt to latch onto it.

4′ Chance! Early chance for Jamie Mullan shots low to Ashley Morris right. He gets down well to push it out.

Kick off! Today’s match official Huw Jones gets things underway. Both teams similarly matched as we’d expected. Should be a well-contested game.

13:59 – After a rousing national anthem from Only Men Aloud’s Craig Yates we’re almost ready to go! For what it’s worth, I’m going for a 2-1 TNS win.

13:52 – Nearly time!

13:48 – A year’s a long time in football. Goals from Ryan Brobbel and Scott Quigley saw TNS defeat Airbus UK Broughton in last year’s final. Airbus then went on to lose in the Play-Off final, missing out on Europe, and finished this season bottom of the table.

13:38 – Welsh footballing royalty in Bangor today:

13.29 – Predictions! TNS are the strong favourites, Bala are 15/2 outsiders! Rarely do TNS fail to show up on the big occasion but I do think we’re in for a closer game than the bookies are suggesting. Let me know your scoreline predictions, get in touch with me on Twitter @1matthewburgess and I’ll give them a mention.

13:24 – I’m a little bit surprised to see Quigley only make the bench for TNS but they do have such strength in depth. Plenty of quality and goals on the Saints bench should they need to change anything. They really are a dangerous side. Bala seem to have gone for quite an attacking line-up. Lee Hunt is a veteran goal poacher whilst Kieran Smith and Ian Sheridan will work the TNS back four very hard starting from wide positions. Good to see Mark Connolly return to the bench too – he’s missed a lot of this season with knee ligament damage and I didn’t expect him to feature at all here.

13:16 – More team news. Despite scoring a hat-trick against Bala last week, Scott Quigley is surprisingly named amongst the substitutes this afternoon. He’s one of five five changes for the final with Paul Harrison returning in goal, Connell Rawlinson also returns in central defence with Jon Routledge coming into central midfield. Winger Jamie Mullan is recalled and there’s also a return for Greg Draper.

13:09 – Team news! Bala make three changes from last weekend’s defeat. Goalkeeper Ashley Morris, goal-scoring midfield and forward Kieran Smith all come into the side.

13:06 – The form book doesn’t make good reading for Bala Town. They’ve never beaten TNS and the two sides played each other last weekend in the Welsh Premier League with TNS coming out top, winning 6-4! Few would expect to see the same amount of goals today though.

12:56 – Pre-match reading? As well as here of course, the FAW have made this year’s official matchday programme available as a digital download, completely free.

12:50 – Welcome to this live blog for this afternoon’s Welsh Cup final. The New Saints, looking to win the domestic treble for the third year in a row – the treble, treble, up against Bala Town, who despite becoming a real force in Welsh domestic football in recent years, have never reached the final before. TNS are strong favourites to win this but it would be foolish to completely write off Bala Town’s chances. Team news will be coming shortly…

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