by Dan Cope
BALA Town host top of the table Barry Town United in what promises to be the mouth-watering fixture in the JD Cymru Premier.
The Lakesiders, who currently sit in fourth place in the Welsh Premier League, go into the game with momentum after they clinched their fourth straight win with a narrow 2-1 victory over Carmarthen Town.
Meanwhile, Barry sit four points above Bala in first and have won seven out of their last nine games.
They were without a fixture last week as two of their players, Sion Spence and George Ratcliffe, were called up to Wales Under-21 international duty.
The unavailability of the two Cardiff City loanees plus Mo Touray, who was on standby for the game, enabled the club to invoked a rule that allows the postponement of a league fixture.
Injuries in Barry’s last game, a 3 – 2 win over Newtown, added to the number of players already sidelined and made the decision inevitable.
The last meeting between the two, back in August, saw the sides grind out a 2-2 draw at Jenner Park. The goals came from Drew Fahiya and Kayne McLaggon for Barry with Lassana Mendes and Stuart Jones scoring for Bala.
Gavin Chesterfield will be pleased to have goalkeeper Ratcliffe and Barry-born midfielder Spence back. However, neither featured for Paul Bodin’s side in Moldova. Ratcliffe was due to start the match but was forced to pull out just before kick-off. Spence was an unused substitute in the 2-1 defeat.
Bala Town will be without Stuart Jones, Mike Hayes and Josh Tibbets, however, defender Anthony Stephens returns to the squad after missing Bala’s last game through injury.
Kick off at Maes Tegid is 2:30pm
