Heartbreak late on for Nomads again in the league

Saturday afternoon saw The Nomads denied all three points late on at Cardiff Met.

• The Nomads traveled to face Cardiff Met University in the 10th round of fixtures in the JD Welsh Cymru Premier League
• A 16th minute Jamie Insall finish gave The Nomads a well deserved 1-0 lead
• A red card for Met's McCarthy gave The Nomads an advantage going into the last 20 minutes
• A scrappy corner led to Brandon Roberts firing in past Byrne to give Cardiff a point in a 1-1 draw

This game saw The Nomads take on Cardiff Met University at the Cyncoed Campus in the JD Welsh Cymru Premier League. The Nomads come into this game on the back of a 2-0 dominant win against rivals Flint Town in the JD Welsh Cup.

The Nomads last league game however resulted in a 2-0 loss to the hands of Newtown, so The Nomads look to step up their league form and get back into a title challenging position. Met came into this game with their last league game being a 1-0 away victory at Barry Town.

As we have seen throughout most of the season, The Nomads got off to an impressive start as they enjoyed possession through the middle resulting in an early yellow card for Kyle McCarthy in the 3rd minute as he brought down Nomads captain Callum Morris.

The next 10 minutes saw possession being back and forth between both teams as both looked to achieve the long ball tactic but both sides' defence stayed strong throughout this period and the game was very settled.

In the 16th minute came The Nomads best spell of the game as a long ball all the way from keeper Oliie Byrne went through everybody only to fall to Jamie Insall who lobbed the outcoming Lang in Cardiff goal to continue his impressive goalscoring form for The Nomads.

In the 24th minute, the game had a minor pause due to a knee injury to Kris Owens. After consultation with physios and the management, he could not continue as the substitution was official in the 26th minute and so on came Jamie Mullan who looked to make back to back goals after scoring against Flint in the Welsh Cup.

Met then had a decent spell of possession in the final third as they received free kicks and corners but their efforts were way wide. Although some of the attempts were cleared brilliantly by the likes of Ryan Harrington and John Disney.

As we reached the 39h minute, there were no real efforts that troubled Ollie Byrne in The Nomads goal and so The Nomads looked to have one step towards victory but the team knew they had to seal it. Nomads almost grabbed a second as Harrington played an exquisite through ball to Jamie Insall but the linesman's flag had gone up for offside.

This was the last action for the first half and The Nomads went into the break with a 1-0 lead over Cardiff. It was safe to say, Nomads had truly deserved this lead but still had work to do in the second half.

The first ten minutes of the second half were controlled by The Nomads as they cancelled out any possible threat posed by Cardiff. However, Cardiff did successfully control a long ball into the area but their shot was blocked by Danny Holmes. This led to serious shouts for a penalty and Cardiff manager Christian Edwards received a yellow card for dissent as referee Richard Harrington did not give the penalty, so The Nomads were still 1-0 up.

In the 61st minute, Craig Harrison used his second substitute as Aron Williams, who started on the left today after a long period out, came off for Paulo Mendes who made his first appearance since being subbed late on against Haverfordwest at the start of the month.

Mendes nearly had an instant impact as he combined well with Eardley but the spell was halted due to Mendes being in an offside position. Cardiff then enjoyed this possession but were still yet to test Ollie Byrne.

In the 72nd minute came a vital moment for the shape of the match as Kyle McCarthy received a second yellow card after he deliberately brought down Declan Poole as he looked to fly down the right hand side. The Nomads now looked to use the extra men as an advantage and secure the 3 points they needed to boost their position in the league table.

Fantastic creativity and build play was evident from The Nomads in the 79th minute as Eardley showed his attacking prowess as he drove into the final third finding Insall, who laid the ball off to a bursting Jamie Mullan but Roscrow was there to make a vital tackle to stop The Nomads scoring a second.

In the 84th minute, Cardiff started their surge for the equaliser and substitute Warman collected the ball down the left and his cross was an awkward one for Byrne who had to watch closely the movement of the ball. The cross went onto the top of the net and so it was a goal kick for The Nomads.

The 88th minute saw Harry Owen for Cardiff have a hit on the edge of the box but was blocked by John Disney which led to even more handball shouts from Cardiff but nothing was given.

In the 93rd minute, The Nomads suffered heartbreak yet again on the road as Cardiff had a corner which was scrappy and had to just be whacked clear by The Nomads but Cardiff won the ball and it fell to Brandon Roberts who came on as a sub for a short amount time, fired a low drive into the bottom corner resulting in a equaliser for Met.

So the game finished 1-1 at full time and The Nomads conceded a late equaliser just like they did at Haverfordwest a few weeks ago. The Nomads now sit 10th in the table with 10 points and Cardiff are 5th on 15 points. Little points gaps in the league can help The Nomads if they manage to find an all important 3 points.

The Nomads' next fixture comes against Holywell Town in the Welsh League Cup at Deeside stadium on Tuesday night. If The Nomads can win this quarter final, they will be in the semi-finals and remain in both domestic cups. This may give The Nomads a chance of a place in Europe yet again if they can get their hands on a trophy this season.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer