Disney goal enough to send Nomads through to last eight

The Nomads booked their place in the JD Welsh Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Mold Alexandra at the Essity Stadium on Saturday evening thanks to captain John Disney’s close-range finish.

With The Nomads piling on the pressure, a breakthrough seemed imminent, but it took until the 70th minute for the deadlock to be broken as Mold failed to clear Callum Bratley’s cross, which allowed Disney to latch onto the loose ball and tap home with ease.

Mold certainly did not give up the fight as they created numerous opportunities in the dying stages of the match. However, The Nomads got the job done and the earlier goal from Disney was enough to seal a spot in the quarter-finals.

Team News
Billy Paynter made just one change from our 1-1 draw with Caernarfon Town in the JD Cymru Premier at the beginning of December as Ben Maher replaced the suspended Ben Nash.

Mold boss Barry Owen made four changes from his side’s recent 3-1 loss to Llandudno in the JD Cymru North as Matt Lewis, Taylor Edwards, Charlie Davies and Aidan Farren made way for Ryan Coney, Morgan Roberts, Dom Doherty and James Davies. Henry Nash, the younger brother of Ben, captained the Alex.

First Half
The Nomads instantly posed an attacking threat with two wide crosses from Rhys Hughes narrowly averting both Ben Maher and Jack Kenny respectively in quick succession.

Kenny then had the first major chance of the match as his close-range header from Disney’s dinked cross trickled inches wide of the bottom corner.

A flurry of crosses came into the Mold area from both the left and right hand sides, but the visitors continued to cause frustration by doing their job in defence. Pacy Mold forward Fabrizio Murtas led a rare counter-attack for the Alex, but his tame effort from the edge of the area was safely collected by George Ratcliffe.

Unfortunately for teenager Murtas, that was to be his last action of the match as he exited the field with injury and was replaced by Matt Lewis.

Lewis almost made an instant impact for the away side as he slid in on Emmanuel Lawal’s cross, but the substitute did not get the contact he wanted on the ball, which allowed Ratcliffe to collect.

Declan Poole had his first sight of goal shortly before the interval as he cut inside onto his left foot and sent a low drive towards the bottom corner, which forced Mold goalkeeper Joe Smith into a diving save.

The Nomads edged even closer to the opening goal in first-half stoppage time as Disney’s sweetly struck attempt from just inside the area sailed a whisker wide of the top corner.

Second Half
Lawal was at the heart of another Mold attack early in the second-half as he burst forward down the left hand side and eventually found space to get his shot away, but Ratcliffe was equal to the attempt at the near post.

Paynter then made a double substitution just after the hour mark as Ben Maher and Dan Roberts came off for Aron Williams and Tyler Berry, who was making his first senior appearance since October.

Mold probably should have taken the lead on 68 minutes when Lewis was left unmarked from a corner, only for his downwards header to bounce straight into the hands of Ratcliffe.

Lewis’ miss proved costly as The Nomads opened the scoring two minutes later through Disney. Bratley’s teasing cross led to a goalmouth scramble inside the six-yard box, and the ball fell kindly to Disney, who tapped home from just a yard out to grab his third goal of the season.

Owen Cordiner and Aidan Farren both had chances to get Mold back on level terms in the final 10 minutes, but both efforts were comfortable for Ratcliffe.

The Nomads were then able to see out four additional minutes to secure victory and a spot in the quarter-finals.

What’s Next?
The Nomads are back in action on Boxing Day as we face Flint Town United in the Flintshire derby at the Essity Stadium with a 2:30pm scheduled kick-off time.

The Christmas break will give us time to refresh ahead of a busy end to Phase One of the JD Cymru Premier, where we will look to earn key points in our bid for a spot in the top six.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer