Nomads reach last eight with convincing derby day win

An Anthony Stephens own goal as well as second half strikes from Jack Kenny and Kai Edwards saw The Nomads defeat local rivals Flint Town 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the JD Welsh Cup.

Neil Gibson named an unchanged starting eleven, and he had every reason to do so following The Nomads’ 7-0 victory over Barry Town last weekend.

The First Half
It was a battling performance throughout from both sides in tough weather conditions at The Essity Stadium, but The Nomads hit the front inside just five minutes.

Ryan Harrington delivered a dangerous ball into the six yard box and although the cross averted Jack Kenny, the ball was steered into his own net by Flint defender Anthony Stephens to give Nomads the perfect start to derby day.

The Nomads’ top goalscorer Jordan Davies had a magnificent chance to double the lead shortly after the own goal. Noah Edwards’ pinpoint delivery reached Davies at the back post, but the striker’s low driven effort was saved by Flint goalkeeper Josh Tibbetts.

The amount of chances died down, and the game became more of a tactical battle with tremendous quality still on show. Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro was released through on goal in a swift attacking move, but ultimately ended up wasting the opportunity by firing wide of the target from close range.

Harry Franklin went close to adding a second for The Nomads on the stroke of half time. The attacker, who had scored three goals in his last three games cut inside onto his left foot and looked to catch out Tibbetts by finishing at the near post, however he could only drag his shot wide.

After Ben Nash did extremely well to deny Akpa-Akpro on the counter attack, the resulting corner saw The Silkmen come a whisker away from levelling the scoreline. The ball fell out to Danny Harrison on the edge of the area, the former Nomads midfielder’s strike took a slight deflection on its way through and luckily the ball flew narrowly past the post.

The Second Half
Flint’s Number 10 Elliott Reeves came agonizingly close five minutes after the restart as his curling effort from the right hand side of the area sailed a few inches over the bar.

Nerves were calmed when Jack Kenny made it 2-0 on the hour mark. The Nomads worked the ball well to eventually find Declan Poole in acres of space and his low ball across the face of goal was turned home by Kenny despite Tibbetts getting a hand to the ball. The goal also means Declan Poole grabbed his sixth assist in three consecutive games for the club.

Goalscorer Kenny was brought off ten minutes later as Michael Wilde took his place up front. The home side also made two changes of their own as Josh Jones and Morgan Roberts were both introduced in place of Joe Williams and Elliott Reeves.

Moments after coming on as a substitute, Michael Wilde nearly grabbed a third with another one of his trademark headers. A delightful ball into the box saw Wilde leap highest to connect, but he could only divert the ball wide of the bottom corner.

Centre half Kai Edwards finally got the third of the evening as he scored his first goal since he rejoined the club in the summer. Wilde’s flick-on was left alone by Nash, allowing Edwards to fire into the far corner with a real poacher’s finish.

With a three-goal advantage, The Nomads looked to see out the rest of the match with fresh legs. A triple substitution saw Josh Williams, Aron Williams and Dan Roberts replace Callum Morris, Noah Edwards and Jordan Davies.

A small amount of injury time meant there was no time for a dramatic cup comeback from Flint as The Nomads convincingly booked their place in the last eight JD Welsh Cup and the club now await the Quarter-Final draw taking place on Wednesday 13th December.

Next Fixture
The Nomads will be looking to build on their two recent clean-sheet victories over Barry Town and Flint Town against Pontypridd United in the JD Cymru Premier next Saturday.

With a top six place already confirmed, Neil Gibson and his side will have their eyes set on doing all they can to catch league leaders The New Saints.

The match against Pontypridd will take place at The Essity Stadium with a scheduled 2:30pm kick off time. For those of you who can’t make the trip to The Essity, we will provide live match updates on our Twitter page.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer