Haverfordwest County 0 Bala Town 0

JD Cymru Premier

BALA had to settle for another battling point on the road, their fourth in succession in the JD Cymru Premier, after a goalless draw in very tricky conditions at Haverfordwest County’s Bridge Meadow Stadium on Saturday.

Both sides had half chances to seal the win but a draw was probable the fair result on the balance of play, Bala’s 10th of the campaign in a season blighted by injuries.

The Lakesiders, who have been drawn to play at Caerau Ely in the fourth round of the JD Welsh Cup, face a fight to finish in the top six with a number of vital fixtures coming up.

Manager Colin Caton said: “I thought we were the better team in the first half and they put us under pressure in the second half without having a clear-cut chance.

“I’m proud of the lads, it’s been really been difficult for us this season with the amount of injuries we’ve got.

“We’ve come here today without George Newell, Joe Malkin, Daniel Malone, Kyle Harrison, Alex Downes and Christian Norton so we’ve got seven players that are not available today.

“We’re playing with Lassana Mendes who’s really struggling with a hamstring strain and Louis Roubles has had to come on at half time today after Liam Higgins, our best player in the first half, went off injured.

“I’ve just said to the lads the character that they’re showing to play through injuries. I can’t fault their effort, draws and all this.

“We’re just fighting for everything that we’ve got and obviously with the amount of injuries we’ve got it’s killed us as a club.

“We’ll keep going, we’re not out of it yet and we keep fighting. We’ve got a bit of a rest now with no game next week, we will try to patch a few up and get them ready for the Barry game.”

The visitors fashioned the first chance on 17 minutes when Osebi Abadaki unleashed a shot after dashing down the right hand side, forcing Haverfordwest keeper Zac Jones into a decent save.

But clear-cut chances were few and far between with both sides struggling to get to terms with the impact of Storm Bert.

There was little to report in the second half despite County applying more pressure without really troubling Bala shotstopper Joel Torrance with the best opportunities to score for both sides coming from set pieces.

County manager Tonny Pennock said: “It was one of those days we just try to keep a clean sheet and see what we can get out of the rest of the game.

“It was awful conditions for both teams, I suppose you just take the draw and move on really.”