COLWYN Bay pulled off a shock win on Saturday (Feb 19) as they defeated Connah’s Quay Nomads 2-0 at Deeside in the quarter final of the JD Welsh Cup.
On route to the quarter final, the Nomads had won all three of their games without conceding a goal, having beaten Rhyl 5-0, Trefelin 4-0 and Flint 2-0.
Colwyn Bay secured their Quarter Final place with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff Met in the previous round having also beaten Ruthin and Gresford in earlier rounds of the competition.
The first half began with Nomads dominating in the final third but were denied due to a collection of offsides as Ollie Byrne’s long ball aimed for Craig Curran saw the flag go up.
The first big chance of the afternoon came for Nomads in the eleventh minute as Craig Curran got in behind the Bay defence and found an unmarked Aeron Edwards but his header was off target.
Nomads saw themselves get in behind Bay again but this time, Aeron Edwards’ low ball across the face of goal was cleared by Lewis Sirrell.
A flurry of consecutive corners came for Nomads but nothing was created as glances towards the back post were caught and cleared by Andy Coughlin in the Bay goal.
Nomads had a free kick on the edge of the box after Jamie Mullan was fouled but Neal Eardley’s effort was blocked by the Bay wall and Nomads continued to be left frustrated.
As we neared half time, Bay managed to get their first attack of the game as James Kirby’s cross towards Kieran Evans saw John Disney brilliantly make the crucial defensive header.
The half time whistle blew and both teams had not managed to find the breakthrough and had it all to play for in the second half. There was another incredible attendance at Deeside as there were over 600 fans from both sides attending this quarter final.
Nomads were awarded an early second half penalty as they continued to pile pressure on Bay and eventually referee Iwan Griffith spotted a handball from Lewis Sirrell. However, Callum Morris missed his penalty as Andy Coughlin guessed correctly and saved down to his left.
The first sub of the afternoon was made from Nomads and saw Connor Simpson enter the field of play in place of Neal Eardley as Nomads looked to add more to their attack.
Five minutes later, Colwyn Bay took the lead as Bay passed around on the left hand side which led to Ryan Edwards curling in a 20 yarder leaving Ollie Byrne no chance to save.
Colwyn Bay doubled their lead not long after their first as James Kirby raced through on goal and his shot deflected off the boot of Ryan Harrington and eventually trickled over Ollie Byrne into the back of the net.
Craig Harrison turned to his bench again as this time Craig Curran was brought off and on came Jamie Insall who was looking to continue his impressive cup form this season.
With just over 15 minutes to go, Nomads had a gilt edge chance to get themselves back into the game as Declan Poole was left unmarked on the right hand side but his low effort towards the back post was blocked by Bay and the frustration continued to increase for Nomads.
Nomads’ final change saw the introduction of new signing Mello as he replaced Paulo Mendes. Bay made their first change with around seven minutes to go as James Ellison came on for Kieran Evans.
Nomads continued to dominate possession but their efforts only led to corners which were, in the end, cleared by Bay. John Disney had a low effort from the edge of the area which almost saw Jamie Insall get one back for Nomads but he was unlucky as the ball bounced back off his heel.
There was a slight stoppage in play as we just passed the full 90 minutes due to an injury to Colwyn Bay’s Jordan Harrington and so he was subbed off for Sam Jones.
The full time whistle was blown by Iwan Griffith and Nomads had been shocked at Deeside yet again this season as Bay were able to see out the game resulting in 2-0 victory which will see themselves into the semi-final draw for the JD Welsh Cup where they will either play TNS, Bala or Penybont.
As for Nomads, their attention turns back to the league next weekend as they travel to Newtown’s Latham Park in a game which will see Nomads look to secure their all but confirmed top six position.
Match report by Adam Angerer
