Harrington nets late winner as Nomads boost European bid

Saturday afternoon saw The Nomads secure a 2-1 victory over Cardiff Met at Deeside Stadium thanks to goals from Ben Nash and Ryan Harrington, who struck late on to earn a vital three points in the race for Europe.

Form
The Nomads come into this game on the back of two draws from their first two fixtures in the Cymru Premier Play Off Championship Conference with the first of those coming against Newtown at Latham park where Mike Wilde’s late goal rescued a point for Nomads. A week later, The Nomads returned to Deeside as they faced Colin Caton’s Bala where Adam Roscrow’s free kick cancelled out Jack Kenny’s first half header.

Cardiff Met came into this game having potentially pulled off one of the best results of the season as they handed league leaders TNS their first loss in the Cymru Premier since March 2022. Last weekend however, The Archers were on the losing side after Rhys Griffiths’ Penybont ran out 2-1 winners.

Team News
The Nomads made just the one change to today’s team as Harry Franklin’s suspension saw the forward trio of Joe Malkin, Jack Kenny and Mike Wilde all start together for the first time this season.

Met made four changes with first choice captain Chris Baker, CJ Craven, Kyle McCarthy and Matthew Chubb all returning to the starting eleven.

The First Half
The first chance of the game fell to Jack Kenny who was found by Ryan Harrington on the left hand side before the striker found the ball at his feet but knew little of it and was just off balance so Met keeper Alex Lang wasn’t troubled.

Five minutes later, Cardiff Met then had their first real chance at goal after a ball played into Harry Owen allowed the Met forward to step into the area and shoot towards the far post but George Horan made a brilliant sliding block to keep things goalless.

Nomads went close to finding the opener in the 25th minute after a long ball was headed down by Ben Nash into the path of Joe Malkin who got a shot away before his marker could intercept but Malkin’s effort was narrowly wide.

Nomads had the ball in the back of the net five minutes later as Malkin set up Kenny who slotted past Lang but the linesman’s flag on the near side was raised for offside.

Moments after that disallowed goal, Nomads hit the front and grabbed a deserved lead through Ben Nash who got on the end of John Disney’s free kick to tap home from close range and score his fourth goal of the season.

As we reached stoppage time at the end of the first half, Harry Owen found himself in a great position just on the edge of the eighteen yard box as he sent a volley towards goal but his pop shot was straight at Andy Firth who collected with ease.

The Second Half
Neither side were able to find a solid sight of goal in the first ten minutes of the second half and it was until the hour mark where we witnessed our first real chance as Ryan Harrington’s cross aimed at the back post was met by Mike Wilde whose header was cleared off the line by Emlyn Lewis.

It was all Nomads and the tempo remained high as this time Dan Roberts posed a threat to the Met backline as the full back got down the byline and cut onto his left foot, looking to find Jack Kenny at the back post but his cross had a tad too much power on it so Kenny was unable to connect fully with the ball.

The Nomads then made two changes in quick succession as Mike Hayes and Paulo Mendes came on to replace Jack Kenny and Joe Malkin.

Andy Firth then made a remarkable save to deny Eliot Evans from distance as a cross was cleared but only as far as the midfielder whose half volley looked destined for the top corner but Firth stretched to get a strong hand to the shot and kept his side ahead.

The Archers drew level five minutes through Lewis Rees as a ball upfield released Rees down the left hand side and the Met Number 9 caught out Firth with an audacious volley which flew past the goalkeeper, off the post and into the back of the net to make it 1-1 with little time left.

Met thought they had rescued a point late on but that was until Ryan Harrington stepped up to spark unbelievable scenes at Deeside with a stoppage time finish which put Nomads back in front. Callum Bratley spotted the full back out wide where Harrington led a counter attack and decided to go alone before sending a curling shot goalwards but a deflection off Emlyn Lewis wrong footed Alex Lang and Nomads were now 2-1 up.

The full time whistle blew and the 'Nomads Never Die' motto was proven yet again at Deeside Stadium with Harrington’s late winner securing an important three points in the race for Europe. The Nomads sit three points clear in 2nd place with seven games left.

Next Fixture
The Nomads now put their focus onto next week’s JD Welsh Cup Semi-Final against Bala which will be the fifth time the two sides have faced each other this season with Nomads seeking revenge for the Nathaniel MG Cup defeat. The match will take place on 3rd March at The Essity Stadium, the home of Flint Town with a 7:45pm scheduled kick off time.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer