Nomads secure Europe as Wilde hits 50

Connah's Quay Nomads defeated Barry Town United by one goal to nil in the JD Cymru Premier on Saturday evening at Deeside.

A 22nd minute Michael Wilde header, his 50th league goal for the club, coupled with a late save from Ollie Byrne were enough to see Nomads gain an important three points in the JD Cymru Premier title race, whilst securing European football for the sixth successive season.

• Wilde scores 50th league goal for Nomads
• Morris denied from the penalty spot on 30 minutes
• Barry denied equaliser by 87th minute Ollie Byrne save
• Nomads stay joint on points with 1st place

The JD Cymru Premier clash with Barry presented Connah's Quay with a big challenge in order to keep up with current leaders TNS, who they were on a joint 60 points with.

The match, which kicked off at 5:15pm due to the funeral of HRH Prince Phillip, followed a 6-1 victory over Caernarfon Town in which Danny Davies, George Horan, Declan Poole and Michael Wilde got on the scoresheet.

They all earned a starting place in Andy Morrison's lineup, with Johnny Hunt and George Horan replacing Jamie Insall and Kris Owens, who were named on the bench.

Barry manager Gavin Chesterfield meanwhile started the likes of Chris Hugh, Clayton Green, and Robbie Patten as they looked to bounce back from a 6-0 defeat to TNS in the midweek.

The game started with Nomads on the front foot, as Danny Holmes quickly targeted the Barry area with long throw ins, and Michael Wilde caused issues for the defence as he hunted down chances.

Their first major chance came in the 10th minute, when after some good play from Wilde and Neil Danns, Declan Poole had a low shot from seven yards out cleared from the goalmouth by a Barry defender.

In the 13th, they were dealt a blow when Danny Holmes pulled up and was unable to continue, seeing Aron Williams replace him in a forced change for Andy Morrison.

However, this did little to impact the Nomads' hold on the proceedings, as they were dominating the possession after 20 minutes.

Connah's Quay again went close to a goal in the 21st, when a great run down the byline from Aron Williams set up Michael Wilde who sent a half volley wide.

But just a minute later, he made no mistake in sending a sublime header past Barry keeper Mike Lewis, assisted through a perfectly weighted Declan Poole cross for the second time in as many games.

With Wilde having scored his 50th JD Cymru Premier goal for Nomads, they were given a chance to double their lead in the 30th when Danny Davies was caught in the Barry area and referee David Morgan pointed to the spot.

Callum Morris stepped up, but was denied by keeper Mike Lewis who pushed the ball outside of the left post.

Boosted by their keeper's save, Barry went onto see more of the possession as they pushed for an equaliser, but failed to test Nomads stopper Ollie Byrne in the first half.

Nomads started the second half strong, pushing into the final third quickly with Aron Williams and Danny Davies exerting pressure on Barry to win a series of set pieces as the 50th minute passed.

With an hour played, Nomads were seeing the majority of the possession, but Barry continued to grow into the game, making for a tight and sometimes fractious final 30.

This was seen when both Michael Wilde and Neil Danns were shown yellow cards for a challenge in the Nomads' area, with Barry Town also picking up three bookings in quick succession.

In the 63rd, Nomads made their first change, replacing Danns with Aeron Edwards who added to the midfield as the intensity increased at Deeside.

With 20 minutes to go, their second substitution Kris Owens was introduced in place of Danny Davies. In the 72nd, Barry had one of their biggest chances to equalise when a Luke Cummings throw in bounced close to the goal, but went wide.

On 75 minutes, Aron Williams made a good run into the Barry end and crossed looking for Wilde, but the delivery went astray to keep the proceedings tight as the latter stages approached.

Barry were now attacking the Nomads' area at every opportunity, and threatened with an 85th minute shot from Jamie Bird whose long range effort floated just over the Nomads' crossbar.

Two minutes later, Barry's biggest and best chance arrived when Nat Jarvis sent a diving header towards goal at close range, but a heroic stop from Ollie Byrne denied him to keep Nomads' lead intact as injury time arrived.

During three additional minutes of play, Nomads looked to keep the ball in the Barry area, but the visitors forced two last minute free kicks as they looked for a last gasp result.

Nomads nearly found a second goal right at the death, with Williams' cross-cum-shot seeing Callum Morris send his sliding effort against the post just before the full-time whistle went.

The victory sees Nomads stay second in the league, joint on points with TNS. They will return to Deeside on Tuesday evening, facing Bala Town for a 7:45pm kick off on Tuesday 20th April.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall