Nomads maintain pressure on league leaders with Newtown victory

Friday night saw The Nomads keep up the pressure on league leaders TNS after goals from Callum Morris, Mike Wilde and Mike Hayes secured a 3-1 over Newtown in the JD Cymru Premier.

Form
The Nomads came into this game in great form with eight straight wins in all competitions. Recent Cymru Premier victories over European challengers Cardiff Met and Penybont has seen Neil Gibson and his side keep up the pressure on league leaders TNS. Nomads also progressed to the Semi Finals of the Nathaniel MG Cup as Anderson Pinto scored his first Nomads goals in a 2-0 victory over Ruthin Town.

Newtown came into this game with a disappointing run of results, leaving them tenth in the Cymru Premier. Newtown have suffered three league losses in their last four fixtures and a win over Pontypridd gave Chris Hughes a number of positives to look back on, however his side were left frustrated the following weekend yet again as Cardiff Met ran out 1-0 victors.

Team News
Neil Gibson made two changes from the eventful 1-0 win over Penybont as Callum Bratley came in to replace the suspended John Disney. Last week’s winning goalscorer Mike Hayes was also brought back into the side with Aron Williams having to sit out due to a concussion.

Chris Hughes welcomed back former Nomads player Callum Roberts to his side as he replaced Brett Taylor in defence. Nick Rushton and Shane Sutton also returned to the starting eleven in place of Louis Robles and Matty Jones.

The First Half
Nomads went close to taking the lead inside the first ten minutes after a cross from the right, aimed for George Horan almost found the Captain at the back post, however Dave Jones was alert to the danger and made a vital catch.

Jones was forced into action again as Ryan Stratulis’ cross turned shot curled over everyone inside the area but Jones made another important claim to prevent the ball from flying in the top corner.

Nomads were awarded a penalty midway through the first half after Danny Holmes’ long throw-in somewhat led to a goalmouth scramble which saw both Callum Bratley and George Horan go down inside the area. Referee Alex McInch pointed to the penalty spot and Nomads had the chance to go 1-0 up.

Callum Morris stepped and made no mistake from twelve yards out, calmly converting his penalty into the bottom right hand corner and beyond Dave Jones despite the Newtown goalkeeper guessing the right way.

Ryan Stratulis nearly doubled Nomads’ lead after the midfielder retrieved possession from a Newtown defensive error. Stratulis found Mike Hayes whose cross was blocked but only as far as Stratulis who had time and space to pick his spot but his powerful strike was again blocked by the Newtown backline.

The away side had their first real chance of the half as a wide free kick was swung in towards defender Shane Sutton who connected well with his header but could not keep his effort on target with the header sailing over Andy Firth.

Nomads made it 2-0 on the stroke of half time as Ryan Harrington’s inviting cross from the left caused confusion amongst the Newtown defence, allowing Mike Wilde to sneak in and head home on his landmark 125th league start for the club.

The Second Half
Newtown had a glorious opportunity just moments into the second half as Zeli Ismail tried to tease Ryan Harrington by cutting inside onto his favoured right foot, however his shot was always rising over the bar and Firth was untroubled.

Kieran Mills-Evans also had a chance to half the deficit for the visitors after getting the perfect connection with a volley inside the box but the Newtown Captain was unable to keep his shot down on target, blasting over the top.

Dave Jones denied Nomads two times in quick succession with Ryan Harrington having his long range shot tipped away by Jones. Danny Holmes then crossed into Mike Wilde who headed goalwards but another superb diving save from Jones kept it at 2-0.

Mike Hayes sent Nomads on their way to all three points after following up on last week’s winner against Penybont by scoring Nomads’ third. Hayes won a long ball and was denied at first but not at the second time of asking as he slotted into the bottom corner.

Ryan Stratulis then went for glory from the edge of the box as Nomads looked to be rampant in front of goal. Stratulis skipped past his man and sent a curling effort towards the corner which was inches off target.

Nomads made a double substitution with around 15 minutes to go as Paulo Mendes and Anderson Pinto were brought on for goalscorer Mike Hayes and Ryan Stratulis. Aaron Williams pulled a goal back for the visitors after Andy Firth made a great save at first but Williams was on point to finish the rebound and score the first league goal that Nomads have conceded at Deeside this season.

Mike Wilde almost made it a brace late on as substitute Paulo Mendes played in the striker who looked to curl the ball over Dave Jones but the Newtown keeper was forced into making yet another save.

Alex McInch blew his full time whistle and Nomads had secured another three points in the JD Cymru Premier, closing the gap to just four points on league leaders TNS. Nomads also continued their staggering record at Deeside Stadium as they are without a league loss in nine months of action.

Next Fixture
The Nomads now focus on their next fixture which sees them make the long trip down to South Wales to take on newly promoted Pontypridd at the USW Sport Park. The game will take place on Sunday 6th November with a 2:00pm scheduled kick off time.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer