WHILE it began in a disappointing manner, the year has ended in stunning fashion for Bala Town.
Despite finishing in the bottom-two of the Welsh Premier League last season, the club from Maes Tegid managed to preserve their Welsh Premier League status for a third season.
And the current campaign is turning out to be the best ever in the club’s history, with Bala cemented in the top-five of the Welsh Premier - and they’re also through to the last-16 of the Welsh Cup.
It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts to 2011 for Bala, who lost out 2-1 to Airbus UK Broughton on January 2.
Josh MacAuley scored from the spot, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Lakesiders off the foot of the Welsh Premier League standings.
Colin Caton’s charges did manage to climb off the bottom of the table with their comprehensive 4-1 defeat of fellow strugglers Newtown.
However, there was further gloom for Bala towards the end of January as they lost out in their vital six-pointer with Carmarthen Town.
Chris Mason had the black-and-whites a goal up at the break, but the Old Goal hit back to win 2-1. Even worse was to follow for the side as they suffered a shock Welsh Cup exit at lower league UWIC.
The students romped to a 4-1 victory and to compound Bala’s woes, they finished the tie with nine man after red cards were shown to both Mike Thompson and Mark Connolly.
Bala’s response to this setback was impressive and their next match resulted in a 2-1 league success at Airbus.
Mason grabbed the winning strike - and there was further good news when it was announced that midfield maestro Mark Jones had extended his contract with the club until the end of the 2011-2012 season.
Two goals in the first seven minutes helped Bala to a vital 2-1 win at Aberystwyth Town, the first coming from Mark Jones after just 36 seconds, but their survival hopes were hit by three consecutive losses, including a 2-0 result at home to Newtown.
Bala were one of the form teams over the closing month, though, and they lost just one of their last six games to ensure that they ended the campaign off the foot of the standings.
Vital to this statistic were a pair of victories over basement side Haverfordwest County, while Bala thrashed Carmarthen 4-0 for their biggest win of the season.
Once again, it was matters off the field that would decide whether the club would preserve its Premier League status.
In April, the Lakesiders missed out on securing an FAW domestic licence at the first time of asking.
Bala appealed against the decision and at that time, the club remained confident that it would be awarded a licence at the end of the month.
This confidence was well placed, because Bala managed to secure the licence on appeal, which meant they lived to fight another day at Welsh Premier League level.
It proved to be a busy summer for team boss Caton as he worked hard to strengthen his squad.
In came the likes of Prestatyn striker Lee Hunt, Conall Murtagh and Michael Byron, and the new players certainly gelled to guide Bala to a superb start to the season.
Early in the season, Bala lost the services of stalwart Owain Roberts due to work commitments.
“He was a pleasure to manage and I would like to wish him all the best for the future,” said Caton.
A Chris Mason equaliser gave Bala an opening night point courtesy of a 1-1 draw at fancied title challengers The New Saints, while goalkeeper Terry McCormick kept the ball out of his net for more than nine hours when the men from Maes Tegid embarked on a five-match winning sequence.
They saw off the challenges of Carmarthen Town (2-0), Newtown (2-0), Aberystwyth Town (4-0), Port Talbot Town (2-0) and Prestatyn Town (1-0) to vie with the Saints at the top of the table.
Mark Connolly scored a brilliant goal from his own half to win the match at Prestatyn, but Bala failed to pick up a point from their trio of matches against big guns Llanelli, Neath and Bangor City.
Another Connolly cracker in the 1-0 win at Afan Lido - this time with a 35-yard free kick - set Bala on the way on another unbeaten run.
They were undefeated in seven matches, including a second draw of the season versus The New Saints.
Mark Jones, who was honoured with his inclusion in last season’s Welsh Premier League team of the year, preserved this unbeaten run with his own goal of the season contender.
Bala trailed Newtown 2-1 deep into injury time, when Jones struck with a sublime chip from just outside the box to salvage a point.
There was a major landmark in the autumn when Colin Caton took charge of the side for the 350th time.
Caton became Bala boss in 2003, but the occasion wasn’t a happy one as Llanelli spoiled the party with a 3-1 win.
The side is also on the march in this season’s Welsh Cup and a 6-0 third round stroll at Merthyr Saints has set up a fourth round meeting at old rivals Buckley Town early in the New Year. The cup win marked Bala’s 200th win in all competitions with Caton in the hotseat.
And Bala ended the year in style courtesy of a 1-0 scoreline at home to Airbus UK Broughton on Boxing Day.
That result means that Bala are guaranteed to finish the Welsh Premier League campaign in the top-six.