Nomads defeat Met with late double in Cardiff

Connah's Quay Nomads recorded victory over Cardiff Met by two goals to one at Cyncoed Campus in the JD Cymru Premier on Saturday afternoon.

A Dylan Rees goal gave the students a half time lead, but Priestley Farquharson and Craig Curran both scored in the final fifteen minutes to make it six wins in a row for Andy Morrison's side.

• Nomads started strong but couldn't break deadlock early on
• They were dealt a blow with Michael Wilde forced off with injury
• Dylan Rees gave Met a shock lead on 42 minutes
• Priestley Farquharson headed Nomads level in the 77th
• An 88th minute strike from Craig Curran sealed comeback win

The game saw Nomads start a run of three away fixtures, and was their third game in seven days having defeated Cefn Druids and Caernarfon Town to go top of the JD Cymru Premier and go five games unbeaten.

Cardiff Met were meanwhile 10th in the table after a stuttered start to the season and were looking for their second win of the 2020/21 campaign.

Andy Morrison started a lineup including Sameron Dool, who returned from injury to start alongside Michael Wilde and Aron Williams who was making his first ever Cymru Premier start.

Cardiff Met named a side including stalwarts Will Fuller in goal, Charlie Corsby and Dylan Rees in their search for a home victory.

The match in South Wales kicked off with Nomads on the front foot, as they rushed into Met half to quickly start creating chances.

Aron Williams linked up with Wilde to send a throw in to him in the Met area in the fourth minute, with his effort blocked by a Met defender.

The Nomads then forced a couple of free kicks in the centre circle, which were sent into the area with dangerous balls from Kris Owens, but both ran out for goal kicks.

One of Nomads' first big chances came in the 12th minute, when a good Aron Williams cross was headed towards goal by Priestley Farquharson who had the effort saved by keeper Fuller.

Andy Morrison's side had started well, but they were dealt a blow in the 19th minute when Michael Wilde was forced off to attend hospital after sustaining a cut above his eye.

He was replaced by Declan Poole as Nomads continued to look for a way to open the scoring, and as the game approached the half hour mark it was still being played predominantly in the Met half.

On 37 minutes, Danny Davies cut in from the left wing and tried to pick out Callum Morris, who couldn't quite reach the ball in the Cardiff goalmouth before it was collected by the keeper.

But, against the run of play in the 42nd minute, a quick passing move from Met saw Dylan Rees receive the ball from around eight yards out and fire past Lewis Brass to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

It would prove to be a half of frustration for The Nomads who had enjoyed the majority of the possession only to find themselves trailing at the interval.

Andy Morrison made his first change before the second half, bringing on Aeron Edwards in place of Jay Owen.

The second half was again full of chances for Nomads, but was more evenly balanced as Met looked to stand firm and defend their lead.

An early warning shot after the restart came from Craig Curran on 51 minutes, whose header was initially dropped by Fuller before being collected back to the students' possession.

Nomads were constantly getting up and into the final third of the Cardiff Met half, but with an hour played the score remained 1-0 with strong wind also coming into play at Cyncoed Campus.

Both sides had their chances to change the game, as Aron Williams crossed into the Met box in the 65th minute and then headed the initial clearance back towards goal, but this was again swept up by Fuller.

Just two minutes later, a corner to the home side flashed across the face of the Nomads' goal to go wide by the back post in a good chance for Cardiff Met to tighten their grip on the proceedings.

But in the 77th, Farquharson found Nomads' equaliser with a thundering header from a Danny Davies cross to send the ball over Fuller and in to make it 1-1.

Priestley Farquharson
Peniad cryf i unioni’r sgôr ar Gyncoed.

77' Met Caerdydd 1-1 @the_nomads #JDCymruPremier pic.twitter.com/YmxWZq6ilM

— Sgorio (@sgorio) October 10, 2020

With just 13 minutes of normal time to play The Nomads pressed with urgency to try and find a winner, winning a corner in the 80th minute which was cleared by Met.

The game looked to have one more goal in it even as it reached the latter stages, and this was proved true by Craig Curran who pounced on a defensive mistake to send a half volley in the 88th.

Craig Curran

Gôl hwyr i ennill y gêm I’r pencampwyr! | A late winner for the champions!

FT | Met Caerdydd 1-2 @the_nomads#JDCymruPremier pic.twitter.com/roTM8uEgOX

— Sgorio (@sgorio) October 10, 2020

Connah's Quay's dramatic comeback was complete, and they held on for the remaining minutes to make it six consecutive wins in the JD Cymru Premier.

The Nomads now face a blockbuster week of games, travelling to TNS on Tuesday evening and Barry Town on Saturday evening, with both games being broadcast via Sgorio's live stream and S4C TV respectively.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall