Honours even as Nomads extend clean sheet record

Saturday afternoon saw The Nomads and Haverfordwest play out a goalless draw at Bridge Meadow in the JD Cymru Premier play-off conference.

• Ollie Byrne makes a fantastic first half save to deny Touray Sisay
• Both teams have glorious opportunities early into second half
• Either side were unable to grab a late winner for all three points
• The Nomads maintain their unbeaten run in phase two

The Nomads came into this game on the back of keeping their sixth consecutive league clean sheet. The most recent of those being in a 5-0 win against Cefn druids which ultimately confirmed their relegation as well as a comfortable 2-0 victory against Barry.

As for Haverfordwest, they were also in fantastic form as they had managed to score 12 goals in their last two fixtures which included a 6-1 victory against Cefn Druids and a 6-0 win at Aberystwyth earlier in the month.

The Nomads made one change for today's game as John Disney moved back into the midfield and George Horan came back into the defence. Recent hat-trick hero Mello and Jamie Mullan were both injured and were not a part of the travelling squad.

Haverfordwest also made one change as Nomads loanee Jordan Davies was ineligible to face his parent club and so Danny Williams was named amongst the starting eleven.

Nomads took little time to get into the final third as Ollie Byrne's long ball found Aeron Edwards in space on the left hand side but his volley was wide of the target.

The Nomads were on top throughout the first ten minutes which resulted in Haverfordwest's Corey Shephard receiving a yellow card after halting a dangerous attack.

The Nomads were forced into an early substitution as Craig Curran picked up a hamstring strain and so on came Paulo Mendes who was deemed fully fit after his recent injury.

Mendes was quick to burst onto the scene as he intercepted a pass deep into the final third which saw Mendes race down the byline before pulling back into the centre but Elliot Scotcher was there to poke away the danger.

Haverfordwest had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring as we passed the half hour mark. A cross into the area saw Touray Sisay's close range effort be wonderfully saved onto the post by Ollie Byrne to keep the score level.

Just before half time, Kris Owens' cross deflected into the path of Paulo Mendes whose goal bound shot was instantly blocked and cleared away.

Despite three added minutes, the half time whistle blew as both sides went into the break goalless with the main highlight being Ollie Byrne's point-blanc save from Touray Sisay's effort.

The second half saw Ollie Byrne make another vital save as a ball from the left fell to Ben Fawcett who looked for the top corner but was denied by Byrne's strong hand, keeping it goalless.

Byron Harrison then had a great chance for Nomads as Kris Owens' free kick saw Harrison nod his header towards goal but it was narrowly wide of the near post.

Two minutes later, Haverfordwest failed to clear amid serious Nomads pressure and Paulo Mendes saw himself through on goal but his header was stopped by the body of Lee Idzi.

The Nomads were forced into their second change of the afternoon as this time George Horan went down injured and Craig Harrison took no risks and so on came Ryan Harrington.

Nomads kept up their high amounts of pressure as the tension grew but the Haverfordwest backline remained strong as Kris Owens' low driven cross into Byron Harrison was blocked at a key moment.

With just ten minutes to go, The Nomads made their final substitution as John Ufuah was introduced in place of Declan Poole.

Haverfordwest began to apply pressure of their own as they enjoyed the majority of possession deep into Nomads’ half. However, they were unable to test Ollie Byrne and The Nomads comfortably cleared.

Another yellow card was handed to Haverfordwest captain Dylan Rees and The Nomads had one last chance to cross into the box but Kris Owens' delivery was smashed away.

The final whistle blew and despite some great chances for both teams, either side were able to find the all important opener. Goalkeepers Ollie Byrne and Lee Idzi were the stand out performers as they kept the ball out of the net on multiple occasions.

The Nomads now move out of the relegation zone and overtake Barry on goal difference with our next fixture seeing us return to Deeside Stadium to take on Aberystwyth in the JD Cymru Premier on Friday 1st April with the scheduled kick off being 7:45pm.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer