Fine margins see valiant Nomads lose out to Saints

Friday evening saw Nomads suffer a narrow 2-1 loss against TNS in the third round of fixtures in the JD Cymru Premier.

Michael Wilde’s first half opener was cancelled out instantly by Declan McManus before Jon Routledge’s curling effort in the second gave Saints all three points.

Form
The Nomads come into this game on the back of a frustrating start to the league having lost to Cardiff Met on the opening day. However, last Friday saw Nomads overcome newly promoted Airbus after Michael Wilde’s header was enough for all three points in a 1-0 win.

As for Saints, their goalless draw against Newtown also gave former Nomads manager Craig Harrison signs of frustration in his new reign at Park Hall. Just like Nomads, Saints did pick up their first three points of the new season as a late Ryan Brobbel header saw off Penybont.

Team News
Neil Gibson made three changes from the starting eleven that prevailed against Airbus as Paulo Mendes made his return to the side, replacing Josh Williams in midfield. George Horan also dropped to the bench as Ben Nash dropped into the back four meanwhile Ryan Stratulis was handed his first Nomads start in place of Callum Morris.

TNS named an unchanged side from their triumph over Penybont as Jordan Williams’ minor injury saw the forward on the bench for tonight’s meeting. Ryan Brobbel also remained on the bench with Josh Daniels and Adrian Cieslewicz keeping their places amongst the starting eleven.

The First Half
As we got underway at Park Hall, Saints took control of possession in the early stages as the duo of Josh Daniels and Ashley Baker combined well down the right hand side with both of them firing low balls across the face of goal but the Nomads backline were able to clear the danger.

Last season’s Cymru Premier top scorer Declan McManus came close to giving the hosts an early breakthrough but his close range effort was superbly blocked and launched clear.

Nomads’ first sign of goal came when Michael Wilde latched onto Danny Holmes’ long ball which was pulled back towards Paulo Mendes whose looping header was inches away from giving Nomads the lead.

Mendes continued to make an impact on his Nomads return as Aron Williams’ delivery found Mendes whose header was narrowly wide of the far post.

Adrian Cieslewicz went agonisingly close for Saints as his shot from just inside the box took a wicked deflection off Ben Nash and sailed towards the bottom corner but Nomads goalkeeper Andy Firth was quick to react and made the diving save.

Nomads took the lead five minutes before half time as Ryan Stratulis’ great cross wasn’t cleared by Saints and Michael Wilde was there to steer his effort into the back of the net from close range to put Nomads 1-0 up.

Moments later, Saints found an equaliser almost straight away as a corner from the right hand side found it’s way through to Declan McManus who fired in off the crossbar to level the scoreline going into half time.

The Second Half
Five minutes into the second half, Nomads had a glorious opportunity to retake the lead on the counter attack as Aron Williams found Paulo Mendes, who then laid off to Ryan Harrington but his curling effort went just over the crossbar.

Saints had a great chance of their own just seconds later as Ben Clark skipped past Danny Holmes but Clark’s low drive was fantastically saved by Andy Firth to keep it all square.

Nomads came extremely close yet again, this time through Callum Bratley as he released a thunderous effort following Ben Nash’s headed pass but Bratley’s strike flashed wide of the post.

Nomads introduced Callum Morris and George Horan onto the field meanwhile Saints introduced Ryan Brobbel and Jordan Williams. Nomads were eager to launch a series of counter attacks but were halted by both Ben Clark and Danny Davies who received yellow cards for fouls on Ryan Harrington.

TNS found their second of the evening as Ryan Brobbel’s shot deflected into the path of Jon Routledge who curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner to make it 2-1.

With Nomads on a quest for an equaliser, Andy Firth surprisingly came up for a Nomads corner with stoppage time yet to be confirmed by the fourth official. The corner was swung in and Saints managed to clear and were quick to launch forward as they aimed for the empty net but the Nomads backline rushed back in time to stop the attack.

An additional five minutes was the call from the fourth official and Nomads got numbers forward, leading a good counter attack as Harry Franklin found Michael Wilde but the goalscorer did not get the contact he had hoped for with his header, sailing wide of Connor Roberts’ goal.

Saints left attackers up the field as they looked for their third goal. Ryan Brobbel was played in through the centre but Andy Firth made an outstanding save with his feet to give Nomads hope with little time left.

Stoppage time was up and referee Robert Jenkins blew his full time whistle and despite a valiant effort and an inspired performance from Nomads, the champions showed their quality and took all three points after Jon Routledge’s second half finish sealed a 2-1 victory for Saints.

Nomads now look to their next Cymru Premier fixture where Bala will travel to Deeside on Tuesday 30th August with a 7:45pm kick off to be scheduled.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer