CONNAH’s Quay Nomads returned to winning ways in the JD Cymru Premier on Friday night (Oct 29) as they beat Cefn Druids 4-0.
The Nomads came into this game on the back of an impressive 4-0 win against Holywell Town in the Nathaniel MG Cup, however, their league form has dipped due to the conceding of a late goal to Cardiff Met and losses to Newtown and TNS.
So, The Nomads looked to seriously kick start our season here as three points would take us to 13 points in the league and depending on other results, The Nomads could start their push for a top six place, maybe even a title challenging position.
Today’s opposition, Cefn Druids, came into this game without a win in the league and only one point which was an impressive point against title contenders Bala Town.
However, their nine losses leave them bottom of the table with their most recent loss being to the hands of Haverfordwest, who The Nomads conceded a late equaliser to at the start of October.
As we have seen from previous matches, The Nomads enjoyed an early spell of possession down the right and left hand sides as Declan Poole put in a series of crosses but a header from Craig Curran and a shot from Aeron Edwards were blocked and cleared by Cefn Druids.
In the seventh minute, The Nomads were caught out by a swift counter attack from Druids as Agyemang was put through on goal by Faux but the back tracking of Danny Holmes proved to be vital as Agyemang’s shot was blocked from a stunning slide tackle by Holmes.
Minutes later, this battle continued as the ball was let loose in The Nomads half and resulted in a 50/50 challenge between Agyemang and Holmes but referee John Jones deemed a foul on Holmes and The Nomads earned a free kick in which could have resulted in another Druids counter attack.
Druids continued to put up a fight as Kris Owens was caught out by Agyemang and he looked to be through down the byline but his touch let him down and George Horan was able to collect the ball safely and earn possession back for The Nomads.
A yellow card was shown to Druids midfielder Yalany Baio as a long ball from Neal Eardley almost reached Declan Poole but Baio gave away a free kick due to a handball. This was a free kick in a dangerous position and The Nomads were surely going to threaten.
The free kick from the right hand side resulted in a corner which then led to a goal scored by Nomads midfielder Aeron Edwards as Poole’s sublime corner was nodded in by Edwards who escaped his man with ease to put The Nomads 1-0 up.
There was a slight scare for The Nomads as John Disney was the subject of a nasty knock but after talks with physio Paloma Gioia, he was able to continue which is excellent for the team as John has been a stand out player for us over the past few seasons.
The 26th minute saw The Nomads double their lead and a brace for maestro midfielder Aeron Edwards who played classy football with Kris Owens before finding space to work into and finish into the bottom right hand corner past Ryan Neild in the Druids goal.
Agyemang then picked up a yellow card for a bad foul on Danny Holmes as Holmes worked the ball well to draw the foul by passing back to George Horan just in time and so that was Druids’ second yellow of the night inside 30 minutes.
Druids did then find a way to create a big chance as a through ball from Ben Wynne saw Josef Faux get put 1-on-1 against Ollie Byrne in The Nomads net, but Faux did not take the chance as Byrne pulled off an outstanding save to keep the score 2-0.
A loss for The Nomads came in the 41st minute as Declan Poole picked up a knock and could not continue and so on came Aron Williams who picked up a goal against Holywell in the cup.
No more chances came in the first half as The Nomads saw the remaining minutes out by controlling possession and passing the ball with ease. So, The Nomads went into the break with a comfortable two goal lead.
As we got into the second half, Aeron Edwards was looking to become a hat-trick hero for The Nomads as he provided some skill with a chop back but Phillip Mooney was there to deny him of his third.
A big chance for The Nomads came in the 55th minute as Jamie Mullan escaped his man once again and delivered a delightful cross towards Aron Williams but his low header was saved by Neild.
The Nomads eventually made it three as Neild’s clearance did not go far as it fell to Aeron Edwards who went for the 30-yard chip as the ‘keeper was off his line. His shot turned to an assist as Craig Curran who was there to tap home to send The Nomads on their way to an important three points.
The Nomads then had a series of free kicks in dangerous positions but Kris Owens was to be denied twice by Neild. Kris Owens then took a corner which almost went directly in but Neild was there again to deny him. A frustrating one for Kris as he would have loved to be on the scoresheet tonight.
The Nomads controlled the game for the next 10 minutes and also replaced Craig Curran for Jordan Davies as Craig Harrison looked to get fresh legs on the pitch to control the game even more to stop any potential comeback from Druids.
Nomads continued to press Druids and earned themselves more free kicks on the edge of the box but Nomads went short looking to score a more simplistic goal but Neal Eardley’s succession of crosses were to be blocked by the Druids defence.
The Nomads then made their final substitution as Jamie Mullan came off in place of Byron Harrison who was also a goal scorer on Tuesday night against Holywell Town.
Byron Harrison then had an instant impact as he was played in down the line by Callum Morris and Harrison slipped through Jordan Davies who shrugged off Mooney and calmly finished past Neild into the bottom corner. This meant Jordan Davies had now scored two goals in two games in the space of three days and The Nomads are enjoying his fantastic form and hope he can continue this in the games to come.
Byron Harrison almost bagged himself a goal to add to his assist as Aeron Edwards put a sublime ball into the unmarked Harrison but his header flew over the top and so it was not to be a goal scoring night for Harrison but he will be delighted with an assist.
This was the last action of the second half and so at full time, the final score was 4-0 to The Nomads and even though there was a valiant effort from Druids, The Nomads quality was too much for them and this meant The Nomads picked up an important three points and is their first win in the league since August despite incredible cup form.
The Nomads now sit on 13 points in the JD Welsh Cymru Premier League and will look to push even further as next week, they face a tough test away to Bala Town who are in good form and sit fourth in the league on 17 points which may turn to 20 points if they manage to beat Penybont in this round of fixtures.
Match report by Adam Angerer
