Ten man Nomads draw at Newtown to go top

Connah’s Quay Nomads drew 1-1 with Newtown AFC on Wednesday evening in the JD Welsh Premier League at Latham Park.

A 2nd minute opener from Declan Poole sent Nomads ahead, but a penalty scored by Nick Rushton in the second half ensured the spoils were shared in Mid Wales.

The game saw Nomads complete the previous weekend’s round of JD Welsh Premier League fixtures, as they had been in action against Queen’s Park FC in the Irn Bru Cup quarter finals at Hampden Park.

And they went into the game off the back of a famous win in Scotland, as after going 1-0 down in the second half, two late goals from George Horan and Michael Wilde secured their place in the semi final, where they will face Edinburgh City at home.

Nomads knew a victory would send them top of the JD Welsh Premier, after TNS retook the top spot on the weekend, but remained joint on points with Connah’s Quay.

Andy Morrison announced a much changed line up from Nomads’ Irn Bru Cup outing, with Jack Kenny and Rob Hughes called into the starting eleven whilst George Horan and Michael Wilde were rested.

Newtown’s squad consisted of ex-Nomads man Nick Rushton along with the attacking Luke Boundford and Joe Kenton.

The game got off to a flying start for Nomads, as in their first attack on the Newtown goal, a free flowing passing move up the pitch from the likes of Laurence Wilson, Callum Morris, and Kenny set up Declan Poole who ran into the area unmarked to slot a low cross into the net.

Boosted by their goal, the Nomads went on to heavily dominate the opening ten minutes, with Rob Hughes a major threat in the final third. After winning a corner in the eighth minute, he sent a curling effort from the edge of the Newtown area curling over the goal and onto the roof of the net. 

Nomads were hunting a second, with Hughes again causing problems on 15 minutes when he intercepted a header from keeper Dave Jones to a defender, winning another Nomads corner.

The set pieces kept on coming for the visitors, with Jay Owen seeing a good header from a Laurence Wilson corner blocked from around eight yards on 24 minutes.

With half an hour played, the Nomads were continuously attacking the Robin’s end with some stylish play. On 31 minutes, a Jay Owen interception set up Jack Kenny on the right wing, who sent a low cross into the area which just missed both Hughes and Morris.

As the half went on the Nomads’ endeavours to get a second, which their work rate was more than worthy of, continued, but Newtown held on to keep the score at 1-0 during the interval.

The second half saw much of the same threat Nomads had been posing upfront, but a reorganised Newtown ensured it was much closer 45 minutes of play.

After Nick Rushton forced John Danby into a save near his right post on 48 minutes, Jack Kenny had the ball in the net from a Danny Holmes cross, but it was ruled out for offside.

In the 55th minute Rushton threatened again, with Michael Parker making a vital challenge inside the area from around eight yards out to deny the Robin’s forward an effort on goal.

After the hour mark Nomads remained in the lead and were managing Newtown’s attacks well, but the game was turned on its head inside two minutes of action.

After a Luke Boundford effort hit the Nomads’ post, Joe Kenton went down in the area which led to referee Bryn Markham-Jones pointing to the spot in the midst of protesting Nomads players.

Nick Rushton stepped up to equalise for Newtown in the 62nd minute, with Nomads dealt a double blow as after the goal, Danny Holmes was shown a straight red card for dissent.

With 10 men the Nomads now faced a battle to get a result, with a boosted Robins side now looking confident in their search for a winner. To shore up defensively, Jonny Spittle replaced goalscorer Poole.

There was drama in the 74th minute, when a stray pass nearly went to Nick Rushton who was clear on goal, but a way off his line John Danby ran out and made a sweeping clearance to block the striker.

On 81 minutes the Nomads made their second change, with Rob Hughes coming off for Ryan Wignall, who got involved in a tense close to the encounter.

The home side thought they had snatched a victory when a low cross by the Connah’s Quay goal line went in off a Nomads shirt, but the offside flag ruled out the chance.

The Nomads were forced to defend a heavy onslaught of Newtown attacks in the final minutes of normal time, with Michael Parker heading away a dangerous ball from his area in the 89th minute.

Newtown’s offensive continued within the four additional minutes of injury time, during which Newtown’s Leslie sent a long range effort over and Michael Bakare came on in place of Jack Kenny.

The final kick of the game was a close one, as Ethan Jones ran into the Nomads area but could only hit the side netting from 12 yards out.

The game had been one of two halves, but the draw was enough to send Nomads top of the league with 30 points after 15 games.

They now move onto Nathaniel MG Cup action, welcoming Cardiff Met to Deeside on Saturday 24 November for a 2:30pm kick off in the semi finals of the league cup competition.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall