Nomads bow out of Europe at first hurdle as KA progress

Thursday night saw The Nomads exit the UEFA Europa Conference League after suffering a 2-0 home defeat (4-0 on aggregate) to KA Akureyri in the First Qualifying Round.

The Nomads came into Thursday's game trailing after last weeks trip to Reykjavik ended in a 2-0 defeat as KA Akureyri's Hallgrimur Mar Steingrimsson and Daniel Hafsteinsson both scored to give the Icelandic side a crucial advantage, leaving Nomads with a mighty task to overcome ahead of the second leg.

KA proved to be strong on the night and stopped any potential Nomads comeback as goals from Daniel Hafsteinsson and Elfar Adalsteinsson secured KA Akureyri's spot in the next round of the competition. Many would say the scoreline certainly didn't reflect the course of the tie as Nomads had a number of chances against KA across the two legs but no doubt this club will be back fighting for a European spot in the upcoming domestic season.

Team News
The Nomads made two changes from the first leg in Reykjavik as Callum Morris and Jack Kenny made their way into the starting eleven, replacing the duo of Ryan Harrington and Josh Williams. John Disney captained the side again as Kenny joined Harry Franklin and Jordan Davies in attack. The Nomads also named a full strength bench as George Horan, Ryan Stratulis, Luca Hogan, Joe Lawlor and Matty Waters, who were all absent from the first leg, returned to the squad to give Nomads fresh legs in all departments.

KA Akureyri made three changes to their side from last week’s first leg as Birgir Baldvinsson, Bjarni Adalsteinsson and Pætur Petersen were all named in the starting eleven, replacing Andri Stefansson, Jakob Arnason and Porri Porrison.

The First Half
The Nomads started on the front foot in the early stages of the match, pinning KA back into their own half, in search of an early opener. Birgir Baldvinsson was shown the first yellow card of the evening after dragging down Noah Edwards on the counter attack. The visitors then did enough to clear a number of long balls and crosses into the box as the scoreline remained goalless after ten minutes.

KA began to grow more and more into the game and then in the 14th minute, they found the breakthrough as a corner was met by defender Ivar Arnason whose header towards the back post was stabbed home from close range by Number 7 Daniel Hafsteinsson.

The away side almost had a spell of fortune five minutes later as KA Captain Asgeir Sigurgeirsson went for goal from around 25 yards out. The striker retrieved the ball deep into the Nomads half before his attempt took a slight deflection which Andy Firth had to watch all the way to avoid being caught out.

Both sides then almost stunned spectators with two glorious efforts, both coming extremely close to the top corner. Harry Franklin won the ball back following a good spell of pressure from The Nomads before dribbling his way into the box and aiming for the top corner but his strike was always rising and KA survived. Just moments later, Steingrimsson’s audacious looping volley from 25 yards out nearly dipped into the top corner but luckily it swerved wide and it remained 1-0.

The two teams were certainly creating chances and looked sharp going forward as we approached the half time whistle but key moments inside the final third were misjudged or wasted as Harry Franklin’s trickery to get inside the area left him with no choice but to send a tame pass into the box which fell just behind Jack Kenny. Then a scramble on the edge of the Nomads area fell kindly to Bjarni Adalsteinsson who had options left and right but decided to shoot from distance and after lashing at his attempt, the ball flashed wide of the post.

The Second Half
The Nomads had their best chance of the game ten minutes into the second half after a burst of pace from Noah Edwards saw him beat his man down the left hand side before delivering a pinpoint ball into the box which fell perfectly at the feet of Callum Morris and the midfielder connected sweetly with his low driven volley but KA goalkeeper Jajalo denied him.

Both sides then made their first changes of the game as The Nomads introduced Mike Wilde in place of Jack Kenny up front and we then saw the introduction of KA’s Jakob Arnason who replaced Paetur Petersen in attack.

Jajalo was forced into making another diving stop as we passed the hour mark at Park Hall as Noah Edwards’ powerful shot was tipped away by Jajalo, Harry Franklin retrieved the ball back deep into the KA half but The Nomads could produce nothing from it.

Jakob Arnason then had KA’s best chance of the second half so far as a through ball into the path of the substitute allowed to sprint through on goal with only Firth to beat but Arnason dragged his attempt wide of the target.

KA were not wasteful with their next attack as The Nomads fell further behind in the tie. A low ball from the right was steered home into the bottom corner by Elfar Adalsteinsson, who had only been on the pitch for eight minutes. The Nomads’ task ahead now was a mighty one as Neil Gibson’s side now needed a minimum of four goals in the last 15 minutes to get themselves back into this one.

The Nomads thought they had pulled one back in the 82nd minute through substitute Mike Wilde after he beat Jajalo to a long ball and headed home but the goal was disallowed by the referee for a questionable foul on Jajalo, meaning The Nomads still trailed by two goals on the night and four in the tie.

The Nomads introduced the trio of Josh Williams, Paulo Mendes and Aron Williams but there was no time left for Nomads to find a miraculous comeback as the full time whistle blew at Park Hall with The Nomads’ European journey coming to an end.

Neil Gibson and The Nomads will go again in the upcoming domestic season and this time next year will hope to be back in Europe once again, representing Wales and the town of Connah’s Quay.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer