Debut goal for Simpson not enough for three points as Flint salvage derby day draw

Tuesday evening saw Flint salvage a late draw as Connor Simpson's first half header could only see the two sides settle for a point.

• Connah's Quay Nomads faced Flint Town in the Deeside Derby in a rescheduled fixture in the JD Cymru Premier
• The Nomads took the lead through a debut goal from Connor Simpson
• Tense end-to-end action evident for both teams throughout the second half
• A late Flint equalizer through Cal Bratley earned them a point and left Nomads heartbroken again in the league

The Nomads come into this fixture with their latest game being their first defeat in an impressive 12 matches after their great run of form was ended by league leaders TNS last Friday night as they were 3-1 winners. The most recent Nomads victory includes a 1-0 victory at Haverfordwest thanks to Paulo Mendes' calm finish.

Derby opponents Flint Town come into this game with their most recent fixture being a 1-0 away win against Barry Town. However, before restrictions were put in place by the Welsh Government, they fell to two consecutive losses as Caernarfon beat them in a 4-3 thriller and Newtown defeated them 2-0.

The match began with Nomads looking dangerous straight from the off as Ryan Harrington won the ball back well after being under pressure by Conor Harwood and Nomads would eventually win a series of free kicks which resulted in Ollie Byrne sending a long one into the area which Flint cleared.

Nomads continued this pressure as Ben Nash almost sent a defensive header into his own net but Flint keeper Ryan Woods was able to catch and stop the danger.

Nomads then came even closer to making the keeper work as John Disney sent a sublime ball into the box, looking for Connor Simpson but the referee spotted a foul and Flint had possession back.

Flint then had their own counter attack as Ollie Nugent found space through the centre and let fly from 20 yards but George Horan was there to make a crucial block and keep the score at 0-0.

Flint then continued to attack in the final third as Jack Kenny latched onto a through ball but he could not connect with the pacey pass and Nomads had seen the danger out. Shortly after, Ben Maher had won the ball down the right which saw him deliver a great ball across the six yard box but George Horan used his defensive ability to stop the attack.

Nomads full backs Ryan Harrington and Kris Owens put in outstanding crosses which were aimed for both Connor Simpson and Paulo Mendes but both of their headers could not be kept down and Flint earned themselves a goal kick.

Nomads continued to dominate as the game reached the half hour mark as Connor Simpson pounced on a defensive mistake but he dragged his shot narrowly wide of the near post. This was followed by another Kris Owens cross aimed for George Horan but his header was too high to reach and the scoreline remained 0-0.

Then came the breakthrough for Nomads and it came from full debutant Connor Simspon who leaped onto a cracking cross delivered by Jamie Mullan and beat Flint keeper Ryan Woods to place his header into the back of the net and put Nomads 1-0 up in the derby.

After Nomads took the lead, the pressure didn’t stop as Jamie Mullan won a long ball but as he took it down, referee Tom Owen deemed Mullan to have handled the ball and the attack was halted.

Just before the half time whistle blew, Flint had a chance through Conor Harwood after a corner fell to his feet but Ollie Byrne was there to dive down at the near post to prevent the ball reaching the back of the net.

Referee Tom Owen's whistle then blew and Nomads had secured a 1-0 half time lead thanks to Connor Simpson's delightful header.

As the second half got underway, Connor Simpson was among the action in the 50th minute as his header was powered towards goal from Kris Owens' corner but Ryan Woods denied him of Nomads’ second and his second.

Ten minutes later, Connor Simpson found himself get past the Flint defence after a pass back went past the intended man and Simpson looked to take it around Woods but his eventual chipped effort was stopped by the keeper.

The first sub of the evening for Nomads came in the 60th minute and saw the introduction of Jamie Insall coming on for Aron Williams.

Flint winger Conor Harwood then found space on the right but what was presumably about to be a shot on goal, the whistle went as Harwood was deemed to have fouled Danny Holmes.

The 70th minute saw Nomads attack through Insall and Mendes where Mendes eventually found Mullan who subsequently went down after a challenge but the penalty shouts were ultimately dismissed.

The next Nomads substitution of the evening saw Jamie Mullan be taken off in place of Aeron Edwards. This was followed by a Flint substitution which saw Ollie Nugent come off for their new signing Jack Higgins.

Kris Owens then used his wand of a left foot yet again to, this time, find Jamie Insall making a arting run into the area but his header was narrowly wide of the far corner.

As we were nearing the 90 minute mark, Ben Maher got down the right for Flint and delivered a great cross into the six yard area but Sam Hart somehow got the wrong connection and the ball bobbled wide of the post, keeping the score 1-0.

A controversial event occurred in the 90th minute as Ryan Harrington burst down the right hand touchline and as he felt the contact, he went down but the referee waved it off and play was continued leaving Nomads frustrated. The referee gave Harrrington a yellow card as he deemed him to have dived when going down in the area.

Flint were awarded a dubious corner with what was nearing the last kick of the game. The corner eventually fell back out to Callum Bratley who took the ball down and floated a shot into the right hand corner resulting in Nomads being heartbroken late on yet again in the league.

The referee blew his whistle straight after the game restarted and this was a similar situation to what happened against Haverfordwest and Cardiff Met. The Nomads stay 5th in the league on 28 points and continue to push for that all important top six position.

Nomads' next fixture sees them return to Deeside Stadium to take on Barry Town in a game where The Nomads will be looking to bounce back from this late draw and get those all important three points they need. The Game takes place on Saturday 29th January with a 2:30pm kick off.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer