In a disappointing night for Welsh Premier League clubs, Bala Town and Cefn Druids were both eliminated from the UEFA Europa League preliminary round.
Bala suffered an aggregate defeat to San Marino outfit Tre Fiori whilst Cefn Druids were narrowly beaten over two legs by Lithuania’s FK Trakai.
Bala returned to winning ways on home soil but were left to regret their poor first leg result as they crashed out 3-1 on aggregate, despite winning 1-0 on the night at Belle Vue.
A heavy first leg defeat in San Marino left Bala Town needing three goals to avoid an early exit against Tre Firoi.
Ian Sheridan gave the Lakesiders a lifeline midway through the second-half, but it was too little too late as the Lakesiders crashed out.
Despite the need for Bala to get on the scoreboard early at Belle Vue, it was the Sammarineses who came closest to opening the scoring. Two chances in quick succession fell to Mirco Vassallo but the striker was unable to convert as Bala were served a reminder not to neglect their defensive responsibilities.
Bala struggled to muster opportunities of their own in the opening period and saw claims for a penalty rejected when Kieran Smith appeared to have been tripped.
The Lakesiders upped the ante in the second half but were becoming visibly frustrated by the intermittent flow of the game as Tre Fiori’s players repeatedly required treatment from their physio.
As Bala ramped up the pressure, Chris Venables fired a free-kick over from the edge of the area and with the game edging into the closing stages Tre Fiori goalkeeper Giorgio Pizzolato remained largely untested.
It took until the 77th-minute for Bala to finally break the deadlock as Ian Sheridan slotted the ball past Pizzolato leaving the hosts to require a further two goals to take the tie into extra-time.
Substitute Steven Tames thought he had added a second goal minutes later but his effort was chalked off for offside and even with seven-minutes of additional time, Bala were unable to gain control of the tie over both legs.
DRUIDS NARROWLY BEATEN
A first half plenty from former Everton and Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov knocked Cefn Druids’ European dream in Lithuania.
Druids earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the first leg but Bilyaletdinov’s spot-kick was enough to secure FK Trakai a 1-0 win (2-1 agg).
The Welsh side were undone when Justinas Marazas was brought down in the box by Michael Jones following a swift counter attack by Trakai.
Bilyaletdinov coolly thumped the ball past Jones from the spot sending the hosts through, though Cefn Druids will take consolation from their two committed performances across the tie.