Nomads toppled by late Prestatyn winner

The beginning of the Welsh Premier Season left The Nomads with a sour taste in their mouths at the end, as goals from Lewis, Parker and Parkinson for Prestatyn gave the hosts three points despite The Nomads twice leading through O’Toole and Holden.

The Nomads will be left disappointed with the 3-2 end result having entered the game positive from the pre-season wins over Airbus UK Broughton and a spirited performance against Rhyl in theWord Cup earlier on in the week.  New signings George Horan, Sean Miller and Kevin McIntyre all started their Welsh Premier League debuts with The Nomads on Friday evening.

The game kicked off with an air of caution around both sides as they began to piece together their first movements of the real season, bringing their practice from the training ground onto the real pitch. This almost paid off for Miller who couldn’t quite connect with a through ball from Craig Jones who sent his teammate sprinting towards the area.  As the game warmed up more chances came about, with Nomads hitting the post in a goalmouth scramble but for it to deemed a void chance by the offside flag.

The opening goal of the eventual five-goal exchange at Bastions was to Nomads favour, when Gary O Toole scored by striking in space near the inside of the box to send the ball low into the bottom right corner, where Craig Jones had narrowly missed putting the ball just minutes earlier.  O’Toole's lead soon slipped away however, when just 7 minutes later Jack Lewis was unmarked for a corner and rose up to head the ball simply over the defensive Nomads and into the net.  Just before the break John Dillon may have gained the advantage back for The Nomads if it wasn’t for a great save from Prestatyn keeper Wolland, keeping out Dillon’s curling shot.

The second half of the game started in explosive fashion with Luke Holden striking a superb volley, lobbing the Prestatyn 'keeper to send The Nomads 2-1 up in style. Holden controlled the ball before striking upwards, with enough power to allow the ball to dip cleanly over Wolland and into the net.

Yet again, the home side did not allow The Nomads to enjoy the lead for long, with Michael Parker quickly equalising through a header six yards from The Nomads' goal after he had received the ball from Pritchard.  It was this goal that led to a period that saw the home side perform well and take a large majority of control in the game.

This was clear from the crossbar, hit twice by Stephens and Pritchard as The Nomads struggled to find the balanced stance they had on the game in the first half. Jamie Rainford was introduced into his Welsh Premier debut as he replaced Luke Holden.  Rainford did well upfront in holding his opponents but could never really find the breakthrough that Nomads needed.

Craig Jones picked up the ball 20 yards out for The Nomads, ran into the box and hit a promising shot that was deflected, meaning the ball safely went into Wolland’s grip.  With a couple of additional minutes to play it was then when Prestatyn struck, with Pritchard hitting the post from a close range, before Parkinson stepped up to score on the rebound and seal victory for Prestatyn.

The Nomads will have found this a disappointing start to the season having played well for large parts of the game and took the lead against their opponents twice.  As it is the annual Welsh Premier League double header, The Nomads get straight back to action on Monday against Carmarthen Town at the Deeside Stadium for a 2:30pm kick off, with admission for all spectators free of charge.

Match Photos