Match Report - Rhyl

It was a trip to “Sunny Rhyl” last Friday evening for another hugely significant Novira Cymru North League fixture.

The Hops and Barley Community Stadium holds many memories for Bala as it hosted 4 of our historic European matches and produced 2 memorable wins during that time.

This match however was a completely different challenge and the visitors arrived with another sizeable injury list adding to the difficulty facing a new look home side. Bala began the match in lively fashion and Tom Kelly’s neat dribbling inside the box saw his shot smothered by the home keeper. Charlie Fisher then received an early booking and Rhyl began to find a way into the match. This resulted in them forcing a huge save from Bala keeper La’trell Jones who somehow stopped a close range shot from opening the scoring.

Tom Kelly then had another shot saved after being put through by a superb Craig Lindfield pass. The home pressures started to tell and skipper Nathan Burke was booked for a fierce challenge. There was however no threat to either goal and the first half ended scoreless.

After the break the large home crowd were rewarded for a good spell of pressure when Josh Jones (a former Bala Academy player) hit home a fierce cross shot to give Rhyl the lead.

This goal seemed to energise the visitors and the response was excellent when Craig Lindfield headed home expertly from a Tom Kelly corner on 60 minutes. Bala then began to make substitutions with Will Bell replacing Charlie Fisher on 62 minutes and it produced a quick result when Craig Lindfield grabbed his brace with another deft finish at the near post. Bala were now extremely deserving of the lead and continued to pile pressure on the home goal.

Tom Kelly was replaced by Tomas Jones on 71 minutes and Craig Lindfield went into the book for a crunching tackle on 75 minutes. The Home keeper then made a string of remarkable saves to keep the scoreline down but Bala really should have made more of these opportunities to put the game to bed.

A double substitution saw Craig Lindfield and Naim Arsan being replaced by James Farr and Emmanuel Osilaja and in dramatic fashion Tomas Jones settled the result with a fine run and near post finish which secured the invaluable 3 points on 94 minutes. A huge win for the visitors against a strong home side and a confidence boost for the next big challenge on Monday with the visit to Maes Tegid of Newtown.

See you all at Maes Tegid on Bank Holiday Monday.

Roedd hi’n daith i “Sunny Rhyl” nos Wener ddiwethaf ar gyfer gêm hynod arwyddocaol arall yn Uwch Gynghrair y Gogledd, Novira Cymru.

Mae Stadiwm Cymunedol Hops and Barley yn dal llawer o atgofion i’r Bala, gan iddi gynnal pedair o’n gemau Ewropeaidd hanesyddol a chynhyrchu dwy fuddugoliaeth gofiadwy yn ystod y cyfnod hwnnw.

Roedd y gêm hon, fodd bynnag, yn her hollol wahanol, a chyrhaeddodd yr ymwelwyr gyda rhestr sylweddol arall o anafiadau, gan ychwanegu at anhawster wynebu tîm cartref newydd ei wedd. Dechreuodd y Bala’r gêm yn fywiog, a gwelodd driblo taclus Tom Kelly y tu mewn i’r bocs ei ergyd yn cael ei hatal gan geidwad y cartref.

Yna derbyniodd Charlie Fisher gerdyn melyn cynnar, a dechreuodd Rhyl ddod o hyd i’w ffordd i mewn i’r gêm. Arweiniodd hyn atynt yn gorfodi arbediad enfawr gan geidwad y Bala, La’trell Jones, a lwyddodd rywsut i atal ergyd o bellter agos rhag agor y sgorio.

Yna cafodd Tom Kelly ergyd arall ei hachub ar ôl cael ei ryddhau gan bas ardderchog gan Craig Lindfield. Dechreuodd pwysau’r tîm cartref gynyddu, a chafodd y capten Nathan Burke gerdyn melyn am her ffyrnig. Fodd bynnag, ni fu unrhyw fygythiad pellach i’r naill gôl na’r llall, a daeth yr hanner cyntaf i ben yn ddi-sgôr.

Ar ôl yr egwyl, cafodd y dorf fawr gartref ei gwobrwyo am gyfnod da o bwysau pan darodd Josh Jones (cyn-chwaraewr Academi’r Bala) ergyd galed ar draws y gôl i roi Rhyl ar y blaen.

Roedd y gôl hon i’w gweld yn bywiogi’r ymwelwyr, ac roedd yr ymateb yn ardderchog pan beniodd Craig Lindfield i mewn yn fedrus o gornel Tom Kelly ar y 60fed munud. Yna dechreuodd y Bala wneud eilyddion, gyda Will Bell yn cymryd lle Charlie Fisher ar y 62ain munud, a chafwyd canlyniad cyflym pan sgoriodd Craig Lindfield ei ail gôl gyda gorffeniad medrus arall wrth y postyn agos.

Roedd y Bala bellach yn gwbl haeddiannol o’u mantais ac yn parhau i bentyrru pwysau ar gôl y tîm cartref. Cafodd Tom Kelly ei ddisodli gan Tomas Jones ar y 71ain munud, a chafodd Craig Lindfield gerdyn melyn am dacl galed ar y 75ain munud.

Yna gwnaeth ceidwad y cartref gyfres o arbedion rhyfeddol i gadw’r sgôr i lawr, ond dylai’r Bala fod wedi gwneud mwy o’r cyfleoedd hyn i roi’r gêm y tu hwnt i amheuaeth.

Gwelodd eilyddiad dwbl Craig Lindfield a Naim Arsan yn cael eu disodli gan James Farr ac Emmanuel Osilaja, ac mewn modd dramatig, sicrhaodd Tomas Jones y canlyniad gyda rhediad gwych a gorffeniad wrth y postyn agos, gan sicrhau’r tair pwynt amhrisiadwy ar y 94ain munud.

Buddugoliaeth enfawr i’r ymwelwyr yn erbyn tîm cartref cryf, a hwb hyder cyn yr her fawr nesaf ddydd Llun, gyda’r Drenwydd yn ymweld â Faes Tegid.

Gobeithio gweld pawb ym Maes Tegid ar ddydd Llun Gŵyl y Banc.