Hughes and Edwards strike as Nomads book semi-final spot

Connah’s Quay Nomads marched into the JD Welsh Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Caerau Ely at Cwrt Yr Ala Road on Sunday afternoon thanks to goals from Rhys Hughes and Noah Edwards.

With Caerau Ely having already beaten two JD Cymru Premier teams on their journey to the quarter-finals, Billy Paynter’s side knew how tough things were going to be in the surrounding conditions.

However, despite a nervy opening 10 minutes, a moment of brilliance from Hughes eventually calmed things down as our No.17 broke the deadlock with a sweet strike from outside the area.

Edwards then doubled the lead early in the second half and ultimately gave us one foot in the semi-finals with a neat finish into the bottom corner.

Team News
New signing Sam Durrant was handed his first start in Nomads colours, while fellow arrival Olly Wright was named on the bench in his first appearance in the matchday squad. Dan Roberts returned in defence as he replaced the suspended Ben Nash.

Caerau Ely manager Dean Wheeler made two changes from his side’s 4-2 defeat to Llantwit Major in the JD Cymru South last weekend as Jack Turner and Ollie Redhead replaced Clayton Farrah and Drew Banner.

First Half
Caerau Ely had a glorious opportunity to take the lead inside just three minutes as an unmarked Jack Ashford ran onto a low cross, only for the Ely captain to fire into the side netting at the near post when going across goal may have been a better option.

Liam Bishop had the home side’s best chance in their impressive opening 10 minutes as he latched onto Hywel Davies’ low cross, but could only steer the ball wide of the target from close range.

The Nomads eventually settled into the match and opened the scoring through Rhys Hughes just after the half-hour mark. Hughes, a former Cymru U21 international, received a pass from Chris Marriott on the edge of the area, and accepted an invitation to shoot by curling beautifully past Exauce Dimonekene for his 12th goal of the season in all competitions.

Hughes came agonisingly close to scoring his and The Nomads’ second of the afternoon just two minutes later as the attacker twisted and turned inside the area, before his clever effort was denied by the near post.

The Nomads piled the pressure on Ely towards the end of the half as Marriott’s teasing cross narrowly averted Max Woodcock at the back post, while Kenny had a shot blocked inside the area after he latched onto Hughes’ lobbed pass.

Second Half
Billy Paynter made his first change ahead of the restart as Callum Bratley replaced Sam Durrant, who showed impressive signs on his first senior start.

There were no real chances in the early stages of the second half, but when a great one arrived for Noah Edwards, he made it count as The Nomads opened up a two-goal cushion on 56 minutes.

Hughes’ cross into the box was not fully cleared by Ely, and that allowed Edwards to bring down the loose ball and fire low and hard into the bottom corner to make it two.

Edwards was booked just moments after his goal for a foul just outside the area. Bishop stood over the resulting free-kick for Ely, but his effort deflected safely into the hands of George Ratcliffe.

Callum Bratley nearly added a third goal for The Nomads in the 72nd minute, but his fierce volley from close range was saved by Dimonekene.

Ely striker Davies probably should have halved the deficit for his side with four minutes to play as he received a pass from Ollie Redhead, but despite having time and space on his hands, his effort was remarkably saved by George Ratcliffe from just eight yards out.

New signing Olly Wright then came on for his first-team debut as he replaced our first goalscorer Hughes.

Wright showed glimpses of what he is capable of, but The Nomads controlled and saw out four additional minutes of stoppage time to wrap up an impressive victory on the road and reach the semi-finals.

What’s Next?
Stay tuned to our social media pages to find out who The Nomads will face in the JD Welsh Cup semi-finals. The draw will take place on Wednesday, 19 February at 8pm and our potential opponents will be either Llanelli Town, Cambrian United or The New Saints.

Our next fixture sees us back in JD Cymru Premier action as Billy Paynter’s side travel to South Wales again to face Barry Town United on Saturday, 22 February (2:30pm KO) with eyes set on closing the gap at the top of the Play-Off Conference.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer