Nomads rue missed chances in Archers defeat

The Nomads were on the losing side for the first in twelve games following a frustrating 3-1 defeat to Cardiff Met at Cyncoed Campus.

Joe Evans and Sam Jones capitalised on some defensive mistakes to put Met two goals to the good before Tom Price’s red card handed Nomads a lifeline heading into the second half but a number of missed opportunities proved to be costly when CJ Craven added a third for the hosts on the counter attack. The Nomads pulled one back through a returning Callum Bratley but ultimately, the damage was already done. The afternoon went from bad to worse when Harry Franklin received a second yellow card with ten minutes to go, leaving Nomads with their head in hands as their unbeaten run came to an end.

Form
The Nomads came into this game with their sights set increasing the gap between themselves and the teams below them as we near ever closer to the end of Phase One. The Nomads prevailed in a second v third clash last weekend as Harry Franklin four-goal haul helped The Nomads to an astonishing 6-1 victory over Caernarfon. The Nomads would also like to congratulate Neil Gibson and Ben Nash who have both been nominated for their respective JD Cymru Leagues monthly awards following a sensational run of form in October.

As for Cardiff Met, a disappointing loss to Caernarfon required a response from Ryan Jenkins’ side against Pontypridd and The Archers dug out three points with a 3-1 victory to boost their chances of a top six finish.

Team News
Neil Gibson named an unchanged starting eleven and had every reason too after a dominant 6-1 win against Caernarfon eight days ago. Nomads were pleased to see returns to the squad for Callum Bratley and Aron Williams, who were both named on the bench.

Ryan Jenkins made three changes to his side that overcame Pontypridd last weekend as CJ craven, Sam Jones and Joe Evans replaced the suspended Emlyn Lewis, Barnaby Soady and Callum Jenkins.

The First Half
Nomads started well in the first ten minutes and forced Alex Lang into making two crucial saves to prevent his side going behind with the first of those coming from Jack Kenny’s thunderous shot on the edge of the area. Top scorer Jordan Davies then probably should have put Nomads ahead in the 10th minute as Ryan Harrington spotted the run of the No.10 and nobody picked him up, however Davies was denied by Lang from point blank range and things remained goalless.

The hosts found the breakthrough midway through the first half courtesy of Joe Evans' curling finish. Noah Edwards’ loose pass in midfield was picked up by Dixon Kabongo who spotted Joe Evans. The midfielder took a touch and then curled into the bottom corner despite Andy Firth getting a touch to the ball.

Met doubled their lead five minutes later after Nomads were caught out at the back once again. Andy Firth stalled in his own area with the ball at his feet and misjudged the press from Tom Vincent and once Vincent retrieved possession, Sam Jones found the back of an empty net, leaving Nomads with serious work to do.

Nomads knew they would have to utilise the wide areas in order to break down the Met backline. Declan Poole found space on the right hand side and delivered towards the front post in search of Jordan Davies. The striker slid in and knew any sort of contact would steer the ball home but Evan Cadwallader tracked the run well to distract Davies whose effort flew over.

The home side were reduced to ten men on the stroke of half time as Tom Price revived a straight red card for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Noah Edwards’ pass ricocheted into the path of Harry Franklin who probably would’ve pulled one back for The Nomads but he was tripped by Price, and the referee, with no hesitation went straight for his pocket and dismissed the Met midfielder.

The Second Half
As expected, The Nomads piled the pressure onto the Met defence with the extra-man advantage but they also their finishing ability had to be there. The combination of Harry Franklin and Jack Kenny has helped The Nomads to success in recent weeks and the partnership almost struck again as Franklin’s low ball into Kenny forced Lang to get down low and make the stop.

The Nomads had the ball in the back of the net through Jordan Davies in the 63rd minute, however prior to his finish, the referee deemed Franklin to have dived in the area after going to ground following a challenge from Cadwallader. Franklin eventually received a yellow card.

With Nomads dominating possession in the final third, Met knew their only way to increase their advantage would be through counter attacks and they almost found a third through Tom Vincent. The tall forward received the ball on the halfway line and immediately drove forward. With one glance up, Vincent spotted Firth some distance off his line but the ball curled the wrong side of the post.

In the first of many goalmouth scrambles, The Nomads were frustrated to not half the deficit as a number of opportunists went begging. John Disney’s low ball fell back out to Davies whose low drive was blocked on the line by CJ Craven. The Met man made another goal-saving block to deny Harry Franklin’s header from around five yards out. Dan Roberts then looked to turn home the rebound but his shot deflected behind.

The Nomads' lack of quality in the final came back to haunt them as Met added a third on the counter attack. A three-on-three scenario saw CJ Craven curl into the far corner from inside the area, a very similar goal to which his teammate Sam Jones scored earlier in the match.

Harry Franklin was shown a second yellow card in the 79th minute for dissent towards the referee, with the previous yellow for simulation meaning Nomads would go on play the rest of the game with ten men, just like their opponents. Franklin will now serve a one match suspension and will miss The Nomads’ clash with Haverfordwest on 19th November.

Callum Bratley and Josh Williams both entered the field for the final few minutes as they both replaced Noah Edwards and Declan Poole.

Bratley sprung into life straight away as he pulled a goal back in extraordinary fashion. With space on the right hand side, the substitute saw an opportunity to open himself up onto his left foot and fired superbly into the top corner and with Lang’s view restricted, the goalkeeper had no chance and The Nomads now had a lifeline.

Despite an additional seven minutes of stoppage time and a flurry of attacks, The Nomads fell to their first defeat since August in what has to be seen as a bad day at the office but like we have seen many times before, this club will for sure bounce back to winning ways and try their best to secure a top six finish.

Next Fixture
The Nomads now focus on their upcoming JD Welsh Cup round three tie with Neil Gibson’s former club Prestatyn Town. The match will take place on Friday 10th November with a 7:45pm scheduled kick off time. Let’s get behind these lads as they look to recover from Saturday's frustrating loss.

Match Report by Adam Angerer