Nomads too strong for Ponty in classy first half display

Saturday afternoon saw The Nomads’ fine run of form continue with a 3-0 victory over Pontypridd at the USW Sports Park. Jordan Davies’ 15th goal of the season, Callum Morris’ penalty and Ben Nash’s close range finish completed an unforgettable afternoon in South Wales.

Just like last season’s encounter at the USW Sports Park, a first half blitz proved to be enough to secure three crucial points against Andrew Stokes’ Pontypridd side. The Nomads went ahead inside just five minutes as Jordan Davies fired home from Ryan Harrington’s cross. Callum Morris doubled our advantage with a calmly converted spot kick before Ben Nash grabbed the third with a close range finish at the back post.

Both sides also participated in a minute of silence just before kick off in a tribute to those lost in the 1966 Pantglas School disaster in Aberfan.

The Nomads’ only two fixtures against Pontypridd both came in The Dragons’ first campaign in the top flight last season. Mike Wilde’s first half header separated the two sides in The Nomads’ 1-0 victory at Deeside Stadium in September. However, a narrow scoreline wasn’t the case at the USW Sports Park in November as a rampant Nomads side stormed to a 5-0 win, a game which saw Nomads legends John Disney, Mike Wilde, Callum Morris and Mike Hayes (x2) find the back of the net.

Form
Back to back draws against Aberystwyth and Bala leaves The Nomads in a mighty chase for top spot with league leaders TNS extending the gap. However, an unbeaten run of ten games in the Cymru Premier gives The Nomads a wonderful chance of finishing in the top six come the end of Phase One. Last weekend, The Nomads progressed into the third round of the JD Welsh Cup with a 4-1 victory over Caernarfon, inspired by Jordan Davies.

Three consecutive losses without even scoring a goal leaves Pontypridd towards the lower end of the table and now, points are needed more than ever if The Dragons were to put up a challenge for a top six spot. Ponty returned to winning ways against Haverfordwest at the beginning of October and those three points were followed up by a comfortable JD Welsh Cup victory over Cymru South side Abertillery Bluebirds last weekend. However, Ponty fell to another league defeat away from home in midweek, this time at the hands of Barry Town.

Team News
First choice captain John Disney returned from his one match ban and slotted back into midfield as Josh Williams dropped to the bench. Dan Roberts replaced the suspended Kai Edwards to partner Ben Nash in the centre of defence. There were also places on the bench for 17-year olds Noah Sumner and Lucas Gregson, who have excelled for our U18s side in recent weeks.

Andrew Stokes made four changes to his Pontypridd side that lost out to Barry Town last Tuesday as Ethan Vaughan, Kurtis Rees, Owen Pritchard and Curtis Jemmett-Hutson were all named amongst the starting eleven, replacing Luke Cummings, Ben Williams-Margetson, Jack Karadogan and Danny Williams. 16-year old Ollie Young was named on the bench for his impressive academy performances.

The First Half
The Nomads made the perfect start just five minutes after the first whistle as Jordan Davies scored his 15th goal of the season. Dan Roberts did extremely well to keep the ball in play and find Ryan Harrington whose cross from the left found its way through to Davies who found the back of the net with a deft finish.

Ponty were eager to respond after falling behind as a flurry of attacks forced The Nomads into some crucial pieces of defending. There was no sign of the recent havoc caused by Storm Babet as the sun shined down on the USW Sports Park.

Ponty were forced into their first change of the afternoon on the 20 minute mark as Joe Hunt could not continue after suffering a nasty injury and so on came Jack Karadogan in his place.

Corey Shephard then played Curtis Jemmett-Hutson through on goal, a heavy first touch meant he had to find his teammate Kieran Lewis making a darting run into the area, Lewis went for goal without taking a touch as he looked to beat Andy Firth who was off his line, however John Disney was there to make a crucial goal line clearance and keep the clean sheet alive.

The Nomads were awarded a penalty midway through the first half as Ryan Harrington’s low ball towards Harry Franklin on the 18 yard line saw Ethan Vaughan trip Franklin and the referee, with no hesitation, pointed to the spot. Callum Morris stepped up and luckily, the ball trickled past George Ratcliffe and into the bottom corner despite the Ponty goalkeeper getting his hands to the ball.

The Nomads continued to turn up the heat and Ponty simply couldn’t deal with the quality that The Nomads were producing as Ben Nash made it 3-0 with ten minutes to go until half time. John Disney’s floated ball into the area was flicked on by Jordan Davies towards the back post where Ben Nash was able to fire through Ratcliffe’s legs and extend his side’s advantage.

Ponty nearly pulled one back just before the interval as a long throw-in fell towards the edge of the area where Corey Shephard’s first touch allowed him to go for goal, however the midfielder’s fierce half volley flew inches past the post.

The Second Half
Jack Kenny came agonisingly close to adding a fourth goal at the start of the second half. Noah Edwards’ delightful cross from the right found an unmarked Kenny whose powerful header forced Ratcliffe into a fingertip save to divert the ball over the top.

Ponty were adamant they should have received a penalty on the hour mark as Kieran Lewis went to ground following a challenge by Ben Nash. There were several appeals from Ponty players and staff but the referee saw nothing in it and continued with play. This ultimately proved to be Kieran Lewis’ last action as he was replaced by Clayton Green in the home side’s first change of the afternoon.

Moments after coming on as a substitute, Green had the ball in the back of the net after heading home from Owen Pritchard’s cross, however to his frustration, Green strayed in an offside position as the ball was played into him and the goal was disallowed.

John Disney caused danger from yet another corner kick as his cross was met by Ben Nash whose low driven strike was caught by Ratcliffe. The Nomads continued to enjoy the majority of possession and a Ponty comeback looked out the window as we neared closer to the final whistle. The Nomads then made their first changes of the afternoon as both Ryan Stratulis and Josh Williams came on for Jack Kenny and Harry Franklin.

Clayton Green was a whisker away from bagging a consolation goal for Ponty as Andy Firth was some distance off his line and his wayward headed clearance saw Green go for an audacious volley which looped over the top.

The 17-year old academy duo of Noah Sumner and Lucas Gregson were both introduced in stoppage time for their first taste of JD Cymru Premier action as they replaced John Disney and Declan Poole. Matty Waters also came on for goalscorer Jordan Davies.

The Nomads saw out the latter stages of the match to earn three very important points and a clean sheet to move six points clear in second place as Neil Gibson’s side continue the charge up towards TNS at the top of the table.

The Nomads are yet to concede a goal against Pontypridd in all three league fixtures played and Neil Gibson will certainly be happy with his side’s first clean sheet since 16th September against Cardiff Met.

Next Fixture
The Nomads return to The Essity Stadium next Friday night to take on Caernarfon in the JD Cymru Premier. The Nomads will be looking for a repeat of their previous meetings with Caernarfon earlier in the season, a 4-0 win at The Oval back in September and a 4-1 win in the JD Welsh Cup two weeks ago. The match will take place on Friday 27th October with a 7:45pm scheduled kick off time.

Match Report by Adam Angerer