Flint boss Niall McGuinness believes that a false start in his side’s Welsh Cup clash with Bala has handed his players a lifeline.

Saturday night’s televised third round game at Cae-y-Castell was abandoned after just four minutes because of a floodlight failure.

By that time the visitors had already taken a 1-0 lead courtesy of Kieran Smith’s well-placed volley inside two minutes.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s replay, McGuinness has demanded a stronger start from his side who have a ‘point to prove’ in the game.

He said: “Clearly we’ve got to start better than we did on Saturday.

“It was a massive game for the club and to fall behind so early was just sloppy on our part.

“The 10 minute delay to kick-off probably didn’t help us in that respect, because I think there were a few nerves creeping in at that point.

“So we’ve been given a bit of a lifeline really and a second chance to prove ourselves against a well-established Welsh Premier club.

“There has been criticism on social media from some jealous people from other clubs about what happened, but it was genuinely a freak occurrence that forced us to abandon the game.

“That kind of criticism just spurs us on to do better and gives us even more of an incentive to give a stronger account of ourselves.”

Central defender Myles Hart is Flint’s only injury doubt for tonight’s game in an otherwise full-strength squad.

The winners of Flint versus Bala will head to Haverfordwest in round four, which handed holders Connah's Quay Nomads a trip to Carmarthen.

Airbus have been handed a daunting home clash with The New Saints, while Cefn Druids head to Barry Town United.

Elsewhere, Bangor host Caernarfon, Rhyl visit Cambrian & Clydach, Aberystwyth face Cardiff Met and Llangefni entertain Llandudno,

Druids, meanwhile, will be looking to progress past Ruthin in the Newfa Challenge Cup tonight.

The two teams locked horns two weeks ago only for the tie to be abandoned due to fog at The Rock with the Ancients leading 2-0.

Asked where this competition stands in his list of priorities, Druids boss Huw Griffiths, who has one eye on Friday’s Welsh Premier League clash with Connah’s Quay Nomads, said: “We want to get through the game with no injuries.

“We obviously want to win, but we will be giving minutes to some players who haven’t had that many at the weekend and we don’t want any injuries.

“Virgil Moutaud has left the club and that leaves us a little bit light, but we will name a strong team with the likes of Fisnik (Hajdari), Ilan (Ap Gareth), Arek (Piskorski), Nathan Peate and Alun Morris getting game time.”

On the challenge of Cymru Alliance outfit Ruthin, Griffiths continued: “We were winning 2-0 when the game got abandoned, so they might see it as a free hit.”