European hopes still positive despite Saints defeat

The Nomads were beaten 5-1 by The New Saints on Friday night, but Neil Gibson’s side still have a great chance of qualifying for back-to-back European campaigns.

Saints, who were crowned JD Cymru Premier champions last weekend, showed their quality in attack with four clinical first half goals.

Jack Kenny gave Nomads a slight lifeline when he volleyed home from Jordan Davies’ low cross, but Saints substitute Declan McManus added a fifth before full time to seal the win for his side.

It was a frustrating defeat for The Nomads, but Bala Town failed to close the gap on second place following their 1-1 draw with Caernarfon Town, also on Friday night. The Nomads are still nine points clear of The Lakesiders with five Championship Conference games remaining.

Team News
Neil Gibson made two changes to his Nomads side that lost out 1-0 to Bala last week as Callum Bratley and Jack Kenny returned from injury and suspension respectively to replace Josh Williams and Dan Roberts, who were both named on the bench.

Academy stars Luca Hogan, Lucas Gregson and Jack Burman were also amongst the substitutes.

The First Half
The Nomads fell behind inside the first five minutes as Saints captain Chris Marriott delivered an accurate free kick into the area, which was nodded home into the bottom corner by Josh Daniels.

Buoyed by a quick breakthrough, Saints enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening period and doubled their lead in the 21st minute through Ben Clark.

Clark controlled the ball inside the area and found the top left hand corner with a curling effort, which Andy Firth simply couldn’t reach due to the number of bodies reducing his vision.

Moments after Firth made a stunning save to deny Josh Daniels’ header, the visitors were forced into an early change as a slight knock to Ryan Brobbel meant he couldn’t continue with play, and so he was replaced by Adrian Cieslewicz.

The Nomads had their best chance of the half in the 32nd minute as Declan Poole’s low cross into the path of Jack Kenny saw the striker look to beat Connor Roberts on the turn from close range, but the Saints goalkeeper was able to get down low and make the stop.

Danny Davies added a third for Saints four minutes later as his one-two pass and move with Ben Clark allowed the former Nomads defender to slot beyond Firth and into the far corner.

Jordan Williams made it four for Craig Harrison’s side just before the break as he latched onto Josh Pask’s through ball and tucked a low drive into the bottom corner.

The Second Half
The Nomads restored slim hopes of a comeback just 20 seconds into the second half as Jordan Davies’ cross from the right was superbly steered home by Jack Kenny, whose volley looped over Connor Roberts and saw the striker claim his 14th goal of the season.

Eddie Clarke came ever so close to scoring his first Nomads goal in the 65th minute as he ran onto Kenny’s low ball, which at first, averted Davies, but travelled through to Clarke, who unleashed a powerful effort, but Saints defender Josh Pask was there to make a goal-saving block.

The Nomads then had two attempts cleared off the line in what could have made the game very interesting if one of the chances found the net.

Jordan Davies nodded the ball back across goal, which perfectly set up Declan Poole to volley goalwards, but his effort saw Danny Davies make a last-ditch block on the line, which was followed by another block, this time from Pask, who quickly shut out Kenny’s strike.

The Nomads showed superb character and created great chances despite trailing to a heavy scoreline, but they were hit with a sucker punch in the 86th minute as Saints substitute Declan McManus added a fifth to restore the four-goal cushion.

Brad Young’s driven ball across the face of goal found his fellow strike partner, who controlled the ball before poking into the top corner.

It was a frustrating evening for The Nomads, but there are still high hopes of securing a place in Europe, which will hopefully be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Next Fixture
It’s another Friday night fixture for The Nomads next week as we travel down to The Oval to face Caernarfon Town in Matchday 28 of the JD Cymru Premier with Neil Gibson’s side hoping for a crucial victory, which would need them requiring just two more points to seal second place.

The match will take place on 15th March with a scheduled 7:45pm kick off time.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer