Nomads taste victory at Talbot

The Nomads ended their winless streak on Saturday afternoon against Port Talbot Town, clinching a win late on with two goals from Lee Healey, after Jason Bertorelli hade put the home side in front on 72 minutes.

The Nomads had a challenge on their hands for the journey down south, with a limited side through illness and injury, with Michael Hayes and Gary O'Toole not making the trip down along with Gary Roberts unavailable to play. The Nomads' game against Prestatyn on Tuesday night ended 1-1 and with that result on their backs, The Nomads had to push for a bigger amount of points against seventh place favourites Port Talbot, who themselves were looking to continue on a recent great run of wins.

The game kicked off in a lively manner as both teams showed their need for a win - Luke Holden linking up with Michael Jukes but the offside flag being raised before an advantage could be taken. At the other end, well known Welsh Premier face Rhys Griffiths had a clear shot that flew over the crossbar and to safety for The Nomads.

Port Talbot looked to assert their dominance as the home side, but The Nomads found themselves managing their attacking force competently with chances from the likes of Griffiths tame.

In a half with no major chances as both sides tried to break each other down, one notable point was when Port Talbot's Martin Rose broke through on goal only to be closed down by Jack Rowland's who made an excellent tackle to stop the offence.

The referee blew up for half time at 0-0 with the game all to play for.  The Nomads holding up the physical and fast Port Talbot outfit sufficiently and creating chances for themselves, however more was to be needed from both teams for there to be a winner in the match.

The first major chance of a goal came at the start of the second half, Luke Holden getting his head on a cross, only to see his effort bounce off the left post and eventfully be cleared from the box.  Moments later Holden would have another shot, forcing another corner thanks to a great save by Steven Hall.

There were plenty of opportunities for Port Talbot also, who may have certainly gained the advantage if not for Terry McCormick, who sent a ball to safety that was dangerously edging  over his head and into the net.

With time running out as the last half hour of the game began, the introduction of Ricky Evans in the place of Michael Jukes was engineered to give the team a boost to inspire a win. Unfortunately for The Nomads soon after this the opposite occurred when, after McCormick had punched the ball out it was picked up by Bertorelli just outside the box, who sent the ball over the defence and into the net to send the Port Talbot 1-0 up.

After the goal, the stage for a Port Talbot win looked set, their confidence high after the goal, their passing of the ball comfortable in front of a chasing Nomads' side, who hadn't yet given up.

Lee McCardle sent a rocketing free kick into the path of Hall who had to force it out for a corner, before Lee Healey picked up the ball on the counter, and sent the ball rolling into the net as the Port Talbot keeper ran out and was off his line. This goal salvaged the result for The Nomads but with minutes still to play the job was not yet over.

Port Talbot may have won the game when a seemingly offside striker was not flagged, going on in front of The Nomads' goal in a golden chance, but his effort rolled tamely past the goal and out for a goal kick.

In the last minute or so of play, Nomads launched an attack with Evans, Burns and Healey all playing part, passing the ball neatly inside the Talbot box until it fell to Lee Healey in space, who made no mistake smashing the ball into the net and securing the win for The Nomads.

This was a inspired win by a Nomads' side who had not seen three points since October and with a limited selection (only 3 players on the bench). Their challenge will now be to continue this momentum, with no game scheduled for next weekend.