Resilient Nomads continue survival hopes thanks to Morris penalty

Friday night saw The Nomads clinch a 1-0 victory over Aberystwyth in the JD Cymru Premier play off conference thanks to a Callum Morris penalty.

• Aberystwyth's Jamie Veale had a long range effort denied by the crossbar
• Nomads have a dominant spell full of chances early in second half
• Callum Morris' converted penalty ensures Nomads close the gap to Aberystwyth
• The Nomads set a new club record of eight consecutive clean sheets

The Nomads come into this fixture on the back of a tense goalless draw against Haverfordwest last saturday, in a game which saw them keep their sixth consecutive clean sheet in the league. The Nomads have also picked up crucial wins over Barry Town and Cefn Druids which has seen The Nomads battle back from an 18-point deduction and reignite the relegation battle.

As for Aberystwyth, they picked up a vital 2-1 victory over Barry last friday night which saw them move five points clear of the bottom two. However, recent losses to Haverfordwest and Cardiff Met means the fight to stay up is still truly upon us.

The Nomads made two changes for this evening's encounter as Paulo Mendes made his first league start since late february as he came in for Aeron Edwards, who grabbed a brace whilst on international duty for the Cymru C side against England C during midweek. Nomads' other change saw Jamie Insall return to the starting eleven, replacing the injured Craig Curran up front.

Aberystwyth also made two changes from their win against Barry as Jack Rimmer and John Owen both missed out and so Lee Jenkins and Alex Darlington were handed first team starts.

The first action of the half saw Aberystwyth go close to the opener as Jamie Veale broke free in the final third before unleashing a 25-yard strike which smashed off the crossbar and Nomads were able to clear the danger.

Aberystwyth then failed to clear amid Nomads pressure as a wayward clearance saw Gregor Zabret face an aerial duel with Jamie Insall but the referee deemed Insall to have fouled Zabret.

The 20th minute saw a slight scare for Nomads as Ollie Byrne went down after taking a goal kick. However, he was deemed fine to carry on and so play resumed.

A yellow card was then handed to Aberystwyth's Steffan Davies as referee Huw Jones deemed Davies to have dived inside the area. Shouts from Aberystwyth players and staff were not enough to make the referee's mind change and so Davies went into the book.

Aberystwyth continued to pile on the pressure as Harry Franklin got his shot past Ollie Byrne but Declan Poole was there to block the goal bound effort and make the goal line clearance to keep our clean sheet record intact.

Just before half time, a Nomads corner found an unmarked George Horan but his header was narrowly wide of the top corner and Aberystwyth survived.

Nomads had another glorious opportunity in the final few moments of the first half as another long ball fell into the path of Callum Morris who set his sights on the top corner but lashed his volley over the crossbar.

With no side being able to make the breakthrough in the first half, the second half saw The Nomads continue to apply early spells of pressure as Ollie Byrne's long ball was nodded on towards Jamie Insall who looked to be through on goal but was denied by the poke of an Aberystwyth boot.

George Horan saw himself involved in another goalmouth scramble as Gregor Zabret spilled his catch from Declan Poole's corner but Horan's shot towards goal was blocked on the line.

The Nomads were denied by another goal line clearance just minutes later as a ball up towards Jamie Insall saw Insall's looping header go beyond Zabret but at the vital moment, Lee Jenkins was able to stop the ball going over the line and headed out for a corner.

The Nomads were nearly caught off guard by a short Aberystwyth corner which saw Ben Wynne line up a fierce strike looking for the top corner but his shot was high and wide and Aberystwyth had rued a big chance to open the scoring.

Nomads were then awarded a penalty by referee Huw Jones after Byron Harrison raced onto a long ball which saw Aberystwyth’s Lee Jenkins bring down Harrison resulting in a spot kick for Nomads as well as a yellow card for Jenkins.

Callum Morris stepped up and made no mistake from twelve yards out as he sent Zabret the wrong way, calmly placing his penalty into the bottom right hand corner.

As Aberystwyth made their next change with Owain Jones replacing Alex Darlington, Paulo Mendes found space in the final third before racing down the byline, looking to catch out Zabret at his near post but his rifled shot smashed against the side netting.

With only an additional four minutes remaining, Aberystwyth did have one last chance to equalise as Cameron Allen headed towards goal after a cross from the right hand side but Allen's header was just over the top and Nomads were now one step closer to another important three points.

The Nomads were able to maintain possession after defensive clearances from the duo of George Horan and Danny Holmes saw Huw Jones blow his final whistle and The Nomads had another three points to their name and now close the gap to Aberystwyth to just two points.

This victory also saw The Nomads set an outstanding new club record after successfully keeping eight consecutive league clean sheets in the JD Cymru Premier.

The Nomads now look to continue their staggering form as well as maintain their clean sheet record as they travel to Cefn Druids in midweek action. This fixture takes place at The Rock on Tuesday 5th April with a scheduled kick off time of 7:45pm.

The last meeting between these two sides saw Mello Corbellini produce a stunning hat-trick along with impressive goals from Byron Harrison and Declan Poole which confirmed Druids' relegation from the JD Cymru Premier.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer