Nomads close gap at the top with impressive win over Seasiders

Tuesday evening saw The Nomads close the gap to four points at the top of the JD Cymru Premier after a 3-0 victory over Aberystwyth in a rearranged fixture.

Following extreme weather conditions and a recent postponement, tonight The Nomads and Aberystwyth finally got to battle it out on the pitch. Harry Franklin’s 7th Minute goal put Nomads in front before a late Michael Wilde brace secured all three points for Neil Gibson and his side.

Form
The Nomads came into this game on the back of a narrow 2-1 over bottom of the table Airbus which continued an ongoing unbeaten run which has lasted since September with tonight’s visitors Aberystwyth being the last side to defeat Neil Gibson’s side. The Nomads have also reached their third consecutive Nathaniel MG Cup final in recent weeks with a 2-0 win over Taffs Well booking a date with Bala Town on 28th January.

As for Aberystwyth, a key 2-1 victory over Pontypridd meant Anthony Williams’ side found themselves six points above the drop zone. However, in their next Cymru Premier fixture, Aberystwyth travelled to Park Hall to take on TNS in which was a tough afternoon for The Seasiders after the league leaders secured an astonishing 11-0 win.

Team News
Neil Gibson made three changes from that win over Airbus at the start of the month with Aeron Edwards and Captain George Horan returning to the side along with Danny Holmes who made his 135th competitive start for The Nomads, U19 stars Jordan Pownall and Jonathan Sodhi were named amongst the substitutes.

Anthony Williams made five changes from their loss at the hands of TNS with goalkeeper Lewis Webb, Louis Bradford, John Owen, Sam Phillips and Charley Edge all coming into the starting eleven.

The First Half
The Nomads made the perfect start after just seven minutes as Danny Holmes’ inviting cross from the right hand side was met by Harry Franklin who headed beyond Lewis Webb to score against his former team and put Nomads a goal to the good.

Two minutes later, Nomads almost found their second through the skipper George Horan. An inswinging corner found the captain in the penalty area, however Horan’s header was crucially cleared off the line.

In the same phase of play, Harry Franklin retrieved the ball on the right and spotted Ben Nash unmarked at the back post where the defender’s volley ended up flying into the path of Horan who was this time denied by goalkeeper Webb.

There was a stoppage in play midway through the first half after goalscorer Franklin went down with what looked like a nasty injury. The attacker was unable to continue and was unfortunately stretchered off, seeing Mike Hayes take his place up front.

Lewis Webb was forced into action again after a superb run from Josh Williams saw the midfielder slip in Aeron Edwards where Webb rushed off his line to safely collect and deny Edwards a glorious chance at goal.

Michael Wilde was once again the target man inside the penalty area as he managed to control the ball down for Mike Hayes despite being crowded by three Aberystwyth defenders, Hayes then fired goalwards but had his shot blocked, keeping the scoreline at 1-0 with Nomads dominating possession.

The Second Half
The visitors had two chances to test Andy Firth just moments into the second half with both of those chances coming through Niall Flint, The Number 10 drifted into the final third and looked to finesse the ball into the bottom corner but Flint’s shot was off target, untroubling Firth.

A corner from the left was scrambled away but only as far as Flint who shot from distance again but was unable to find the target a second time after his shot flew over the bar, keeping Nomads in the lead.

The Nomads nearly doubled their lead after a clipped ball towards Aeron Edwards allowed the midfielder to test Webb but the flag on the far side was raised for offside and the attack was halted.

Yet another Nomads long ball this time saw Mike Hayes through on goal, the substitute tried to poke the ball past Webb but a strong hand from the goalkeeper kept Nomads at bay.

Both sides made double substitutions with Nomads introducing Paulo Mendes and Aron Williams in place of Aeron Edwards and Ryan Harrington. The away side brought on Alex Darlington and Jamie Jones for the duo of Charley Edge and Jack Rimmer.

On the 90 minute mark, Nomads finally grabbed their second of the evening to ultimately seal victory. Danny Holmes’ cross from the right saw Michael Wilde leap highest to nod home into the back of the net to make it 3-0.

Wilde and Nomads were not done yet as the striker clinched a late brace, taking his Cymru Premier tally up to seven for the season. Mike Hayes teased his marker and found space for a cross which left Wilde with a great chance which he took, making it 3-0 in the last minute of stoppage time.

Next Fixture
It’s the festive season and the games continue to come thick and fast as Neil Gibson and The Nomads look ahead to this Friday night as they take on the league leaders TNS where a win for The Nomads could light up the Cymru Premier title race.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer