Nomads fall to the champions

A rain soaked Friday night at Deeside brought disappointment for the home side as the visitors TNS ran out 4-0 winners thanks to braces from Michael Wilde and Chris Jones.

A Nomads selection that saw a defensive setup, as Michael Hayes and Simon Everall started on the bench, felt the full force of full timers TNS from the very beginning.  With an ambitious long ball from the TNS midfield looped towards the goalmouth but was put over by the fingertips of Terry Mcormick.

On 18 minutes however, TNS took the lead as Chris Jones displayed some great individual talent by darting through The Nomads' back line before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner with a great touch of finesse. As expected TNS took a strong hold of the game and controlled much of the first half throughout with Michael Wilde scoring the second goal on 40 minutes.

Half time would be a welcome break for a Nomads side run ragged however the champions were not merciful, scoring 2 more goals via Wilde and Jones once again before the referee could signal an interval.

The Nomads faced a huge challenge with the score at 4-0 against them at the break. To regroup, early second half substitutions were made that saw Everall, Hayes and Paul Mooney on replacing Robinson, Craig Jones and Ricky Evans.

The second half was a similar account in terms of  The New Saints controlling the game but The Nomads now seemed to have more fight in their play and looked promising going up the field with Hayes coming close on a couple of occasions.

The score remained the same from the second half and the full time whistle came an honest relief from the home side, that night defeated by a simply stronger team. However Mark Mcgregor will be able to reflect upon his side not letting their heads drop in the second half as they continued to work hard in a tough night for The Nomads.

Director of Football Mark McGregor commented following the game saying "It was a game where we were outplayed by the better team. TNS have got quality all over the pitch and I tried three different systems in the game, and they've got the know-how to cope with anything that is thrown at them.

By the Aberystwyth game, we will have Mike Hayes and Simon Everall back to full fitness - which is why they didn't start the match, and with Paul Mooney missing three weeks due to his ban, he'll be ready after coming on in the second half as well.

We don't want to throw any points away this season, but to be beaten by last season's champions is no embarrassment as they will do this to a number of teams this season.

We will go to Aberystwyth still in good spirits and will be looking for a positive result." The Nomads look to make up for the disappointment of Friday evening away at Aberystwyth Town next Saturday, Nomads next home game is on the 27th September where we welcome old rivals Bangor City FC.

Match Photos