Wilde nets landmark winner as Nomads overcome Bay in five-goal thriller

Michael Wilde’s 90th competitive Nomads goal proved decisive as The Nomads returned to winning ways with a 3-2 victory over Colwyn Bay in the JD Cymru Premier.

Jamie Cumming’s free kick was quickly canceled out by Jordan Davies’ 12th goal of the season before Harry Franklin headed The Nomads in front.

Bay piled on the pressure and got their reward through Udoyen Akpan, who converted his penalty to make it 2-2.

Substitute Michael Wilde came up clutch for The Nomads as he rose highest inside the area to head home from Declan Poole’s third assist of the game and hand Nomads all three points on a perfect away day for Neil Gibson’s side.

There was just the one change to report for The Nomads as Harry Franklin returned from suspension to replace Josh Williams in attacking midfield.

The First Half
Both sides were quick to create opportunities in the early stages of the match. Jordan Davies and Kai Edwards had powerful efforts saved by Joe Smith before a Bay counter attack, led by Udoyen Akpan and Matty Hill would have threatened Firth if it wasn’t for Akpan’s heavy touch, allowing the goalkeeper to safely collect.

Bay were frustrating The Nomads and probably should have found the target. After Noah Edwards received a yellow card for persistent fouling, another Akpan and Hill link up saw Akpan look to find his teammate with a low ball across the face of goal, but his tame pass was easily intercepted by Kai Edwards at the back post.

Just seconds after goalkeeper Andy Firth made a brilliant sliding challenge to deny Matty Hill of an open goal, Bay took the lead in the same passage of play through Jamie Cumming.

As the ball trickled out towards the edge of the area, a foul committed by Ben Nash saw the referee award Bay a free kick around 20 yards out. Cumming stepped up and fired low and hard into the bottom corner to put the hosts a goal to the good.

A roaring Bay crowd were quickly silenced when Jordan Davies bagged his 12th league goal of the season to pull Nomads level. Declan Poole’s accurate cross from the right was steered home by Davies as the striker ran away, pointing to his ears in his trademark celebration.

The Second Half
The Nomads began the second half just like how they finished the first as Harry Franklin made it 2-1. Declan Poole hung the ball up towards the back post and Franklin was able to nod home from close range after making a darting run to connect with the ball.

The Nomads then made their first change of the evening as Michael Wilde replaced Jack Kenny in attack.

Kai Edwards nearly found a third for The Nomads in bizarre fashion. Jordan Davies retrieved a loose ball on the right hand side and delivered towards Edwards at the back post, the centre half jumped high to get his header away and although it wasn’t the connection he wanted, the ball still looped up in the air and Bay goalkeeper Joe Smith had to be alert. Luckily for Smith, the crossbar came to his rescue.

Colwyn Bay equalised in the 75th minute as Udoyen Akpan converted from the penalty spot. Franklin’s foul on Nick Rushton gave Akpan the chance to score in his third successive league game. He stepped up and found the top corner to send the Bay fans into raptures.

However, the stadium was silenced once again when Michael Wilde restored The Nomads’ lead just three minutes later. Wilde rose above three Bay defenders to powerfully divert his header into the far corner and secure his 90th competitive Nomads goal from Declan Poole’s third assist of the match.

The Nomads made another change with Aron Williams coming on for goalscorer Harry Franklin as Neil Gibson looked to provide fresh legs to see out a nervy final ten minutes.

Williams’ fresh pace helped stop a series of Bay attacks, the defence did their job from set pieces and Nomads made the most of their breakaways by holding the ball up in Bay’s half to eventually see the match out until the final whistle in what has to be seen as one of the games of the season so far.

It was a very wet and windy night in Colwyn Bay but it’s nothing The Nomads aren’t used to. Michael Wilde’s trademark header made the difference as Nomads remain in second place and massively boost their hopes of a top six finish.

Post match reaction
Following the conclusion to Wednesday night's exciting encounter, Neil Gibson spoke to Nik Mesney.

????@NeilGibson22 reacts to a very entertaining game of football as The Nomads came out on top at Colwyn Bay pic.twitter.com/pXQPbI1UAA

— Connah's Quay Nomads FC (@the_nomads) November 29, 2023

Next Fixture
The Nomads face another tough challenge in the JD Cymru Premier this coming Saturday as Barry Town United make the long journey up to The Essity Stadium.

The Nomads will be looking to replicate their 4-1 over Barry in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

The match will take place on Saturday 2nd December with a scheduled 2:30pm kick off time. For those of you who can’t make it to The Essity, we will provide live match updates on our Twitter page and Instagram story.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer