Nomads and Saints play out feisty draw following late drama

Friday night saw The Nomads and TNS play out a 1-1 draw in a Cymru Premier top of the table clash after George Horan’s delightful opener was cancelled out by a late leveller from youngster Gwion Dafydd.

Form
The Nomads came into this game on the back of a narrow 2-1 win over Airbus at the beginning of the month followed by a great start to a busy festive schedule with Harry Franklin and Michael Wilde both on target in The Nomads’ 3-0 win over Aberystwyth just three days ago.

As for TNS, an unbeaten record all season has seen them maintain top spot in the Cymru Premier, although they were held to a draw against Rhys Griffiths’ Penybont, Saints returned to winning ways with an emphatic 11-0 triumph over Aberystwyth.

Team News
Neil Gibson made three changes to his starting eleven with the midfield duo of Callum Morris and Callum Bratley returning to the side. Paulo Mendes made his way back into the attack as he replaced the injured Harry Franklin. There were a number of milestone appearances for The Nomads with Captain George Horan making his 430th club start, Michael Wilde starting his 175th and John Disney achieving his 200th club start.

Craig Harrison made two changes to his side with Ben Clark and Josh Pask coming to replace Leo Smith and Adam Wilson who were both named on the bench.

The First Half
The first chance of the game came for the visitors as Josh Daniels’ cross from the right hand side was tipped away by Andy Firth but only as far as Ben Clark who was unable to acrobatically follow in the rebound from close range.

A short Nomads corner then saw Aron Williams deliver an inviting ball looking for Callum Morris which was cleared by Josh Daniels, Williams then retrieved possession and fired a shot from distance which was narrowly wide of the top corner.

Five minutes later, Adrian Cieslewicz was released through on goal and looked to square the ball across the six yard box but a wicked deflection off Danny Holmes almost sent the ball past Firth but a great diving save from the goalkeeper kept the scoreline goalless.

Ryan Brobbel then had a sight of goal as he drifted into space inside the final third before unleashing a powerful strike from distance which was whiskers wide from nestling inside the bottom corner.

Nomads nearly took the lead in the strangest of ways after Danny Holmes’ wide free kick in search of Aron Williams struck the boot of a Saints defender which almost caught out Connor Roberts and crept into the back of the net.

Paulo Mendes had a glorious opportunity to score the opener as the resulting corner was brought down by Ben Nash and the ball somehow found its way through to Paulo Mendes who was unable to fully connect with his effort from close range.

TNS were reduced to ten men just a few minutes before half time after Danny Redmond’s challenge on Ryan Harrington saw the referee hand Redmond a straight red card for the offence.

Connor Roberts was forced into action again after Callum Bratley’s brilliant work on the edge of the area deflected into the path of Michael Wilde whose half volley saw Roberts produce a strong hand to parry away Wilde’s strike.

The Second Half
During half time, another red card was handed out by referee Bryn Markham-Jones, this time to TNS manager Craig Harrison following dissent.

In the 50th minute, The Nomads took the lead through Captain George Horan on his 430th club start. Danny Holmes’ curling ball on the right hand side wasn’t cleared by Saints, allowing Horan to slide in and fire home to make it 1-0.

Ryan Brobbel came close to finding the leveller after he cut inside onto his left foot and aimed for the bottom right hand corner but a brilliant reaction from Andy Firth saw the goalkeeper deny the Saints attacker.

The Nomads then made a double change with Mike Hayes and Ryan Stratulis coming on for Paulo Mendes and Aron Williams with Neil Gibson providing fresh legs on the pitch as his side looked to hold onto their lead.

Saints continued to push for an equaliser and nearly found themselves with a gilt-edged chance as Jon Routledge’s pass into the feet of Leo Smith gave the substitute time and space to fire goalwards but the flag on the far side was raised for offside and the visitors were denied.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Michael Wilde was next to be shown the red card by the referee after an aerial duel between the striker and Ryan Astles saw Wilde’s arm connect with the head of the Saints defender, seeing the referee hand the striker a red card.

The dying seconds of the game saw TNS clinch a late equaliser after a through ball released Danny Davies through down the left before Davies picked out youngster Gwion Dafydd who slotted past Firth just moments after being brought on as a substitute.

The final whistle blew meaning both sides went away with a point each following late drama. This result also meant the gap at the top of the Cymru Premier was still four points with TNS having a game in hand.

Next Fixture
The busy festive schedule continues for The Nomads as a local derby with Flint Town awaits at Deeside Stadium on Boxing Day where The Nomads will be looking to keep up their 16 game unbeaten streak.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer