Bala Town defeated The New Saints for the second time this season as George Newell’s penalty earned the Lakesiders a 1-0 win over the champions on Wednesday night.
The decisive moment came in the 39th minute, when Connor Roberts brought down Osebi Abadaki in the box and Newell kept his cool to fire home from the spot.
Declan McManus came close to equalising almost immediately for the Saints, but his free-kick from the edge of the area rattled the crossbar. Craig Harrison’s side could also not find a goal in the second half, meaning they succumbed to a fifth league defeat of the campaign – the earliest in a season that TNS have suffered that many defeats since 2000/01.
Bala, who became the first ever side to win home and away against the Saints in Phase One, have climbed into the top six on goal difference.
TNS’ defeat means that Penybont have a four-point lead at the top of the table again after their 1-0 home win over third-place Haverfordwest County on Tuesday.
Ben Ahmun thought he had given Haverfordwest the lead in the first half as he sent a fierce strike into the top corner, but referee David Morgan ruled the goal out for a foul on Nathan Wood in the build-up.
Penybont then found the breakthrough two minutes into the second half when Mael Davies volleyed home from Kane Owen’s corner.
Haverfordwest’s woes increased shortly after the hour mark when Luke Tabone was sent off for a second bookable offence, as Bont saw out their first clean sheet in six league games to earn a crucial three points.
Briton Ferry Llansawel scored in the 17th minute of stoppage time to earn a vital 2-1 win over Newtown at Old Road on Tuesday.
A head injury to Ricky-Lee Owen at the start of the second half led to a 20 minute delay, before Aaron Williams gave Newtown the lead soon after the restart as he headed in from Zeli Ismail’s free-kick.
Corey Hurford equalised eight minutes later, squeezing in an effort past Samuel Ussher at the near post for his first JD Cymru Premier goal.
Newtown were reduced to 10 men in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Ryan Pryce was shown a second yellow card, before Ferry captain Alex Gammond found the winning goal with 107 minutes on the clock as he bundled the ball home after Ussher had fumbled it on the goal line.
Victory saw Ferry climb out of the relegation zone, but only for 24 hours as Flint Town United triumphed 3-0 over Aberystwyth Town on Wednesday night courtesy of Florian Yonsian’s hat-trick.
The Ivorian took just three minutes to open the scoring, as Josh Jones flicked the ball into his path and he coolly finished past Dave Jones.
It was 2-0 midway through the first half when Jones again played through Yonsian, who produced a fine piece of skill to set himself up for a shot which beat Jones at his near post.
Yonsian completed his hat-trick five minutes into the second half, latching on to Mikey Burke’s ball over the top and calmly slotting home to ensure Flint picked up back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Connah’s Quay Nomads missed the chance to leapfrog Caernarfon Town and into the top six as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Essity Stadium on Tuesday.
It was the Nomads who took the lead in the 34th minute when a late challenge from Ryan Sears on Noah Edwards in the box saw Rhys Hughes step up and send Stephen McMullan the wrong way from the spot, moving joint-top of the league’s scoring charts in the process.
However, Caernarfon were a much improved side in the second half and equalised just after the hour mark as Adam Davies headed home at the back post from Phil Mooney’s cross.
Mooney was shown a second yellow card in the 89th minute, but his dismissal did not affect the scoreline and Caernarfon remain two points ahead of the Nomads with a game in hand.
Midweek results in full:
Briton Ferry Llansawel 2-1 Newtown
Connah’s Quay Nomads 1-1 Caernarfon Town
Penybont 1-0 Haverfordwest County
Bala Town 1-0 The New Saints
Flint Town United 3-0 Aberystwyth Town
