Nomads continue winning run against Cardiff Met

Connah's Quay Nomads defeated Cardiff Met by three goals to one on Saturday afternoon at Deeside Stadium in the JD Cymru Premier.

Goals from Michael Wilde, George Horan, and Aron Williams saw Nomads extend their winning run to seven games in their final home fixture of 2020.

• Wilde heads in early opener
• Emlyn Lewis equalised to ensure tight encounter
• Horan headed Nomads back in front
• Aron Williams opens club account to seal victory

The game saw Nomads return to Deeside in fantastic form, having won six games in a row with the most recent a 2-0 victory against TNS in a top of the table JD Cymru Premier clash.

Andy Morrison made two changes from that line up, with captain George Horan starting in place of Priestley Farquharson and Brayden Shaw replacing the suspended Craig Curran.

The Nomads manager also handed John Disney his 125th start in a milestone for the Nomads defender who has seen play-off, Nathaniel MG Cup, JD Cymru Premier and European success in his time at Deeside.

Cardiff Met were meanwhile looking to bounce back from a 1-0 midweek defeat against Penybont having taken only one point from their last three. Manager Christian Edwards named a line up including the likes of Emlyn Lewis, Charlie Corsby and target man Eliot Evans.

The game began and it took only three minutes for a goal to come, as Michael Wilde got on the end of a Brayden Shaw cross to head in from the edge of the six yard box.

Dechrau perffaith i'r pencampwyr!

What a start for the hosts! Mike Wilde heads in the opener.

3' @the_nomads 1-0 Met Caerdydd pic.twitter.com/vIdDxHAANu
— Sgorio (@sgorio) December 19, 2020

Boosted by their lead, Nomads continued to attack the Met final third, winning a series of throw ins and corners within the first 10 minutes.

As the game went on the weather conditions worsened, with both sides battling against the strong winds and heavy rain at regular intervals.

With 15 minutes played the Nomads were on top and playing much of their football in the Met half, but the visitors countered to equalise via Emlyn Lewis in the 18th.

After a looping ball into the Nomads area which looked to have beaten the offside trap, Lewis was able to tap in from close range to bring the score level at 1-1.

Cardiff Met's equaliser ensured a tough encounter at Deeside, as they sought to block Nomads' efforts to retake the lead. These came via the likes of Aron Williams, who made a number of great runs down the wing only to find his final pass blocked or intercepted.

Half time came and the Nomads were dominating the possession, but had yet to find the finish to restore their lead thanks to some tough defending from the Students.

Andy Morrison made his only change of the game during the interval, replacing Brayden Shaw with Kris Owens who was returning from injury.

He also instructed his captain, George Horan, to push forward into an attacking role to add to Nomads' firepower upfront.

And the skipper got involved straight away as Nomads quickly targeted the Met area with an array of long throw ins, corner balls and runs down the wings.

After 50 minutes, Danny Davies found Wilde who headed just over from around eight yards, and in the 56th a Kris Owens cross turned to a shot as Met keeper Alex Lang was forced to come off his line to deal with it.

With an hour played, the Nomads were still being frustrated by the Cardiff Met defence and faced a big 30 minutes in order to get a result.

However, in the 64th, George Horan stepped up to make Nomads' pressure finally pay off as he beat the keeper with a diving header at close range from a Declan Poole cross.

GÔL! George Horan

Cei Connah yn ôl ar y blaen!@the_nomads restore their lead through @GeorgeHoran ?

63' @the_nomads 2-1 Met Caerdydd pic.twitter.com/5BXAYFw1Tu
— Sgorio (@sgorio) December 19, 2020

Nomads' lead was restored and they looked to stay on top as the game entered its latter stages, seeing a close chance to score a third in the 76th when a Kris Owens corner was sent off the underside of the Cardiff Met bar.

Three minutes later, Nomads countered a Met throw in deep in their own half to break via Aron Williams and Declan Poole, with Poole running through on goal only to be denied by Lang.

In the final 10, Cardiff Met pushed for a late equaliser, seeing a throw in go into the area in the 84th amidst a packed area, but they were unable to get a shot away before Nomads cleared to safety.

However, Nomads withstood this late attack and countered to seal victory via Aron Williams in the 88th minute. He ran onto a ball from Davies to coolly send the ball over the keeper to open his club account and make it seven wins in seven for Connah's Quay.

Aron Williams yn selio'r triphwynt i Gei Connah

Aron Williams seals the three points for the home side

FT @the_nomads 3-1 Met Caerdydd pic.twitter.com/RDmYqmQ4YX
— Sgorio (@sgorio) December 19, 2020

They will now move onto a Boxing Day fixture at Flint Town United for a 2:30pm kick off at the Essity Stadium.

Match Photos