Nomads suffer back to back defeats at the hands of Newtown

Tuesday night saw The Connah's Quay Nomads take on Newtown in the 9th round of fixtures in the JD Cymru Premier League in which Newtown were victorious 2-0.

• The Nomads faced Newtown in a match which The Nomads looked to gain three points in order to push up the table after unlucky results over the past few weeks.
• Newtown went 1-0 up through a Shane Sutton header into the bottom right corner
• Danny Holmes' own goal gave Newtown a 2-0 lead at half time giving The Nomads a whole lot of work to do
• Dominant possession in the second half from The Nomads was not enough for them to complete a comeback

The Nomads took on Newtown at Deeside Stadium in a 7:45pm kick off under the lights in the JD Welsh Cymru Premier League following a 1-0 home loss to TNS last Saturday.

This game was a must-win for The Nomads as they look to secure their first win since August against Aberystwyth. The Nomads had found form in the cup with wins over Rhyl, Airbus and Trefelin but their league form has dipped this season, so we would expect The Nomads to go all out for the all important 3 points to boost their aims for this season.

The Nomads started the game very well which we have seen throughout their past few games as Kris Owens went close to bundling in from a corner headed across the six yard box by Declan Poole but his shot was narrowly wide of the target.

In the sixth minute, Newtown nearly scored a bizarre goal as a long throw went across the whole box and nearly trickled into The Nomads net. However, Ollie Byrne stayed calm and made a comfortable save down to his left.

The Nomads continued to apply pressure straight after as Kieran Mills-Evans was under pressure by Kris Owens and all Mills-Evans could do was scuff the ball out for a corner. This corner led to a quick succession of 2 more corners which Newtown managed to clear.

As we reached the 20 minute mark, we saw both sides of Neal Eardley as he made his first start for The Nomads. He stopped Fumpa Mwandwe from being put through on goal and in a matter of time he was linking up with Declan Poole down the right hand side but Dave Jones managed to collect safely in the Newtown goal.

In the 25th minute, Newtown took the lead through a Shane Sutton header which was placed into the bottom right hand corner and even with a valiant effort from Nomads keeper Ollie Byrne, the ball could not have been kept out and so The Nomads trailed 1-0.

Newtown had joy down their left hand side as Mwandwe looked to dribble past Eardley but Eardley managed to block the eventual cross. The resulting corner from Newtown resulted in a Nomads counter attack led by Jamie Mullan and as the ball came over to the right, Eardley and Poole managed to cause more pressure for Newtown but no signs of an equaliser were present.

In the 35th minute, The Nomads were denied an equaliser by the woodwork as Callum Morris' header smashed the post and Newtown eventually cleared the ball. The danger signs for Newtown were beginning to show as The Nomads kept knocking on the door through joy down the wings.

Cross after cross was not enough for a good 10 minutes but The Nomads did find a way to create a chance through a sublime pass and go between Jamie Mullan and Declan Poole which left Poole with one task which was to score but his shot was comfortable for Dave Jones.

On his first Nomads start, Neal Eardley picked up a yellow card as he fouled Neil Rushton on the halfway line. Seconds after, Newtown played the free kick wide and the cross was troubling and Danny Holmes directed the ball into his own net to give Newtown a 2 goal lead. This was a real turning point in the game as now The Nomads were left with an even harder task in the second half.

In the 50th minute, Jordan Davies produced some majestic footwork down the byline and he looked to square for Jamie Insall but Newtown keeper Dave Jones produced a wonderful save to stop the danger.

Newtown then got a yellow card as Craig Williams fouled Declan Poole on the edge of the box which was in a dangerous shooting position. The woodwork again saved Newtown as Neal Eardley stepped up and his free kick smacked the crossbar and Newtown managed to clear yet again.

Fumpa Mwandwe then looked to counter for Newtown and Nomads captain Callum Morris picked up a yellow card for a trip on Mwandwe. Newtown made nothing of the free kick and straight away The Nomads came again as Insall was played through and looked to find the bottom corner but his shot fizzed wide of the target.

In the 68th minute, the first substitution of the night for The Nomads came as Jamie Mullan came off for Aron Williams who plays his first game since picking up his nasty injury at the start of the season.

More and more corners came The Nomads' way and they looked to deliver some beautiful crosses but Dave Jones and the Newtown defence were able to get rid and keep their clean sheet safe for the time being.

Neal Eardley's attacking ability was evidently present again and Mwandwe was booked for his troubles of tripping up Eardley down the right hand side. Pressure was being put on by The Nomads and this was shown by a mis-kick produced by Dave Jones in the Newtown goal as he scuffed his clearance to hand The Nomads another corner.

Both managers then looked towards their bench and made substitutions. Fumpa Mwandwe came off for James Rowland and Neil Rushton came off for Ryan Edwards. As for The Nomads, Craig Harrison looked to change his tactics as we were nearing the closing stages of the game and so John Disney was replaced by Byron Harrison.

With the attacking ability on the field, it was not enough to give The Nomads a result or a goal and so Newtown came away with a 2-0 victory and all three points which put them third in the table.

The Nomads slip down to ninth and our next fixture is a huge clash away to local rivals Flint Town United in the 4th round of the JD Welsh Cup. This will be a tough game for both sides but let's hope The Nomads can secure their place in the next round.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer