Nomads beaten in Welsh Cup final despite valiant effort

Connah’s Quay Nomads came agonisingly close to retaining the JD Welsh Cup and earning a spot in Europe after a narrow 2-1 defeat to The New Saints at Rodney Parade.

The Nomads were hoping for a repeat of last year’s cup triumph over the Saints, and things seemed to be going to plan after Declan Poole gave us the lead from close range.

However, Rory Holden’s free-kick saw Saints produce an immediate reply, before Jordan Williams’ early second half header completed the turnaround for Craig Harrison’s side.

The Nomads dominated proceedings for the remaining half hour, and unfortunately saw a goal from Jack Kenny ruled out, but we were unable to find an all-important equaliser.

Team News
Despite injuries in our final JD Cymru Premier fixture away to Aberystwyth Town, Declan Poole, Chris Marriott and Max Woodcock were all fit to start with Aron Williams on the bench. However, Kai Edwards was absent due to his slight knock.

TNS boss Craig Harrison made just the one change from his side’s win at Haverfordwest County a fortnight ago as Jordan Williams returned to the team to replace Zack Clarke, who dropped to the bench.

First Half
The Nomads got off to a dream start at Rodney Parade as Declan Poole opened the scoring inside seven minutes. Some neat work down the byline from Rhys Hughes allowed the forward to pull the ball back to Poole, who calmly slotted into the far corner to score his first goal of the season.

Saints thought they had found their leveller through Adam Wilson in the 12th minute, but his strike into the bottom corner was disallowed after his foul on Kris Owens leading up to the finish.

However, Saints did draw level in the 18th minute thanks to Rory Holden. The Irishman played a short free-kick with Ryan Brobbel and whipped the ball into the top corner.

Dan Williams went close to putting Saints ahead shortly before half time as his strike from Danny Redmond’s cross forced a crucial diving save from George Ratcliffe.

Second Half
TNS hit the front just eight minutes into the second half at Rodney Parade as Jordan Williams was left unmarked from Redmond’s cross, allowing the forward to head home into the bottom corner.

The Nomads showed great character after going behind and immediately turned things up a gear in search of an equaliser.

The first of the major opportunities fell to Woodcock, whose dipping effort from outside the area sailed narrowly over the bar.

Two changes then arrived for Nomads as pacy duo Sam Durrant and Fumpa Mwandwe replaced Kris Owens and Woodcock.

Poole was then denied two more sights of goal as we neared the closing stages in Newport.

Our scorer looked destined to meet Fumpa’s low cross but was tackled at the last second, just moments before he was denied a headed opportunity at the back post from Hughes’ cross as Saints skipper Redmond made a flying interception.

Kenny had the ball in the back of the net for the Nomads in stoppage time when he bundled home a loose ball, but the striker was deemed to have fouled Saints goalkeeper Connor Roberts when rising for Hughes’ initial cross, and therefore the goal was ruled out.

A series of long balls were sent forward in search of the leveller, but Saints did their job in defence to deny us a late leveller. One long ball nearly fell kindly to Fumpa just outside the area, but a sliding challenge from Redmond averted the danger, and ultimately gave Saints the chance to see out the game.

The final whistle blew and the Nomads fell to defeat, but it was certainly a performance to be proud of and we were glad we could leave Rodney Parade with our heads held high.

Our aim is always to qualify for Europe, so we will look to put things right next season.

What’s Next?
As our 2024/25 season concludes, our group will now spend time with their families and friends before returning to training in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned to our social media channels for announcements regarding our management structure, pre-season information and summer community events.

Match Photos

Match Report by Adam Angerer