Nomads survive late Bont fightback to grab seventh straight win

Saturday evening saw The Nomads clinch their seventh successive JD Cymru Premier victory after defeating Penybont 4-2 at The Essity Stadium. Jordan Davies’ double along with goals from Jack Kenny and Ryan Harrington maintains pressure at the top of the table.

The dynamite duo of Jordan Davies and Jack Kenny struck Nomads into a two goal lead midway through the first half and later in the evening, on the hour mark, Davies grabbed his ninth goal of the season to put Nomads three goals to the good. A Chris Venables spot kick and a Dan Jefferies header meant their was hope for the visitors to maybe snatch something from the game but Jordan Davies set up Ryan Harrington in stoppage time to put the game to sleep and give Nomads yet another important three points in the JD Cymru Premier.

Both teams were not known for having a great amount of goals in their previous meetings with last season’s fixtures both ending 1-1 and 0-0. However tonight a Nomads side which has scored 20 goals in their last six games made sure that wasn’t to be the case again.

Form
The Nomads came into this game as the most in-form team in the Cymru Premier, winning their last six consecutive games. The last seven days has seen The Nomads maintain pressure on league leaders TNS. Last Saturday, The Nomads won 3-1 away to Haverfordwest in a game which saw Ryan Stratulis score from the halfway line. This was followed by Tuesday’s epic 2-1 win over Colwyn Bay which saw even more stunning goals as Jordan Davies’ free kick and Callum Bratley’s thunderbolt saw The Nomads remain in second place, just two points behind TNS at the top.

As for Penybont, Europe will for sure be the aim again this season for Rhys Griffiths’ side and three consecutive wins over Caernarfon, Aberystwyth and Barry before today gives them hope for a top six finish come the end of phase one. In midweek, Bont striker entered the Cymru Premier record books, becoming the all-time appearance maker with 537 games to his name.

Team News
Neil Gibson made changes to his side for the first time in six games as an injury to Kai Edwards meant Dan Roberts partnered Ben Nash in the centre of defence. The other change came in midfield where Callum Morris replaced an absent Callum Bratley. There were some returning faces on the Nomads bench with Declan Poole and Eddie Clarke coming back from nasty injury spells.

Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths made just the one change to his side that narrowly overcame Barry Town in midweek as 19 year old Gabriel Kircough replaced Ryan Reynolds in midfield.

The First Half
Jordan Davies thought he had opening the scoring in the 8th minute as he fired home from Harry Franklin’s through ball but the flag on the near side was raised for offside.

Davies was not to be denied a second time as just moments later, he opened the scoring to continue his scintillating form in front of goal. John Disney’s free kick into the box wasn’t fully dealt with by the Bont defence and the ball fell to Davies who took a touch, shaped himself and drove a low effort beyond Alex Pennock and into the bottom corner.

The Nomads got their second midway through the first half as Jack Kenny netted his fourth goal of the season. Mark Little was caught out in defence, Kenny stole the ball off the Bont No.2 and made no mistake one on one against Pennock, slotting home into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Kenny nearly scored his second and Nomads’ third of the evening as he received Noah Edwards’ short pass and looked to beat Pennock at his near post, however the goalscorer could only fire wide from close range.

The final chance of the half fell to Jordan Davies who was found in a pocket of space before he could turn and race into the final third, Davies wasn’t closed down and decided to go for goal from the edge of the area but a diving save from Pennock kept the scoreline at 2-0.

The Second Half
The Nomads were forced into their first change of the evening early in the second half as Aron Williams went down with a nasty injury and after receiving treatment, the best decision was for Williams to exit the field as a precaution. Declan Poole, who returned to the matchday squad, replaced Williams after overcoming a spell on the sidelines which kept him out of action for the majority of September.

Bont nearly pulled one back in the 56th minute as Chris Venables brought down a Keyon Reffell cross before stabbing the ball across the face of goal, the Bont numbers were rushing in on a loose ball but John Disney was there to make a vital clearance.

Jordan Davies added a third on the hour mark and there was simply no stopping him. Bont couldn’t deal with the pace of Davies as Kenny’s header up field saw Davies outmuscle Josh Yorwerth before skipping past Ashley Evans and finding the bottom corner to make it 3-0.

Bont then made a double substitution shortly after Davies grabbed his brace. Ryan Reynolds replaced Mark Little, who was on a yellow card before a forced change saw an injured Alex Pennock make way for Alex Harris in between the sticks.

Tempers started to flare with 20 minutes to go as an off the ball altercation between Jack Kenny and Ash Evans saw players break up a verbal war between the two. As a result, both Kenny and Evans received yellow cards.

Bont were given a lifeline through Chris Venables’ penalty in the 71st minute. Dan Roberts committed a foul on Keyon Reffell inside the area and the referee pointed to the spot. Venables stepped up and sent Rushton the wrong way, firing into the top corner.

The Nomads then made their second change of the evening as Mike Wilde replaced Harry Franklin who had been a workhorse for The Nomads once again.

Dan Roberts then forced Alex Harris into another save as he got in front of his man to meet John Disney’s free kick towards the back post, Roberts did well to get his header on target but Harris remained calm and safely made the claim.

Bont halved the deficit with ten minutes to go and all of a sudden, The Nomads’ lead came under threat. Kane Owen’s floated delivery into the box was headed into the back of the net by Dan Jefferies which would certainly set up a nervy final ten minutes.

The Bont coaching staff were furious with the linesman’s decision to call Keyon Reffell in an offside position after he was slipped through on goal. Declan Poole made a tremendous challenge on Reffell anyway but this certainly didn’t stop the visitors from showing their anger towards the officials. Bont fans were adamant Reffell was also onside but Nomads remained ahead as we reached the latter stages of the match.

The Nomads made their third change of the evening as Eddie Clarke made his first senior appearance for The Nomads as he replaced our second goalscorer Jack Kenny. Before today, Clarke had only featured in a recent U21’s win over Llandudno so this was a moment to savour for the 24 year old after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The Nomads wrapped things up in the first minute of stoppage time as a long ball up towards Jordan Davies saw the striker beat an outcoming Alex Harris to the ball, allowing him to shoot from distance. Davies’ effort looked to be creeping over the line but Ryan Harrington had to make sure of an important fourth goal, tapping home from barely a yard out into an empty net.

The Nomads now remain second in the table, fives point ahead of Newtown in third. The aim will now be to continue this amazing run of form and continue to close the gap on the league leaders TNS.

Next Fixture
The Nomads will travel to Aberystwyth next Friday in the JD Cymru Premier as Neil Gibson’s side eye a staggering eighth consecutive victory. The Nomads will be looking for revenge on Aber after a frustrating 2-1 loss at Park Avenue last season. The match will take place on Friday 6th October with an 8:00pm scheduled kick off time.

Match Report by Adam Angerer