Nomads fall to Connolly double at the lakeside

A first half double from Mark Connolly saw The Nomads leave Maes Tegid empty handed on Friday night, leaving The Nomads four points behind 10th placed Prestatyn Town.

The Nomads started the game well with Sean Smith, Craig Jones and Michael Burns all combining well to put Smith round the back of the Bala defence only to see his low cross sent behind for a corner.  Moments later, good work down the right wing from Danny Forde saw him flash a cross across the box with Luke Holden denied by an impressive last ditch tackle to turn the ball round the near post, denying Holden a certain tap in.

The resulting corner was confidently punched clear by Ashley Morris who was impressive throughout the evening.  At the other end, a high floated ball was excellently taken by Terry McCormick who took a heavy fall in the process which required some attention from the medical team, but he was soon cleared to continue.

On 18 minutes, Ricky Evans saw a powerful header caught by Ashley Morris who quickly distributed the ball downfield, and less than a minute later, Mark Connolly broke through the centre of The Nomads’ defence and executed a very composed chip over the advancing McCormick to put the home side 1-0 up.

In the next 10 minutes Michael Burns and Jack Rowlands were both booked, Burns seemingly for something he said off the ball, and Rowlands for a tackle from behind, and on 31 minutes, Bala doubled their advantage as McCormick made a great interception of a Bala through ball, only to mis-hit his clearance and have the ball land at the feet of Mark Connolly who needed no invitation, hitting the ball first time beyond the out-of-position McCormick.

The first half fizzled out for The Nomads as Sean Smith also entered the referee’s notebook for smashing the ball away after conceding a throw in.

The Nomads started the second half well with a lot of good possession and on 52 minutes, the impressive Morris turned a Luke Holden volley around his near post, and shortly after The Nomads’ continued the attacking mindset, introducing Gary O’Toole and Mike Hayes who replaced Luke Holden and Danny Forde.

The Nomads continued to have good possession but struggled to find the final ball through the Bala defence, and on a number of occasions Bala broke well and could have scored again as a great run from Ian Sheridan down the left wing saw him pick out Kenny Lunt who sidefooted his shot just over The Nomads’ bar.  At the other end, The Nomads were awarded a free kick around 25 yards out, but Lee McArdle failed to hit the target, stinging the shot just wide.

On 77 minutes, Bala’s Kieran Smith connected with a late tackle on Craig Jones and was shown a second yellow for the offence, giving The Nomads the impetus to attack heavily for the final 13 minutes.  A number of impressive saves from Ashley Morris in the Bala goal saw first Lee McArdle denied a first Nomads’ goal as his left foot volley was saved from point blank range, and minutes later, Craig Jones was denied a second goal in as many games as Morris pulled off another fine save to keep his clean sheet intact.

Match Photos