Toner at the double for Saints

A goal in each half from John Toner gave The New Saints a winning start to their Loosemores League Cup campaign in a 2-0 success at gap Connah's Quay.

In a game which never rose above the ordinary on a bumpy Deeside Stadium surface, Toner beat the offside trap and keeper Chris Maxwell on 25 minutes with a 15-yarder following a through ball from industrious ex-Wrexham midfielder Alex Darlington.

And the striker reacted fastest two minutes after the break to steer the ball into the net after the Nomads had failed to clear a right-wing corner.

Toner had nearly opened his account early on, just failing to get on the end of a Darlington cross, but Saints were nearly caught napping on 21 minutes when Duane Courtney inexplicably passed straight to Sam McNutt, whose fierce shot was well beaten away by veteran keeper Lee Williams.

Darlington's lob just before the break went over the bar and the same player was narrowly wide in the second half, while Toner was denied a hat-trick late on by the inside of an upright with Maxwell stranded.

Report and stats courtesy of welsh-premier.com