Nomads see off Citizens

On Wednesday evening, The Nomads were victorious at the Deeside Stadium beating Bangor City 1-0, with the only goal of the game coming from Sean Miller in the 65th minute.

This was a game of great magnitude for both sides - the hosts looking to find their fourth win in five games and knowledgeable that a win would send them eighth. Visitors, Bangor, were also eager to climb out of the relegation zone off the back of a 5-0 defeat to TNS.  A similar starting line up was fielded for The Nomads except for starts for Terry McCormick, back from a weekend leave and Anthony Stanton who replaced the injured John Dillon.

The game began as a settled affair, livening up when Allen latched onto a defensive mistake from The Nomads to have his shot go just wide, hitting McCormick’s post on the way.  It was Bangor who enjoyed the better chances of the first half, with talisman Les Davies being denied by a few inches to the wrong side of the goal.  The Nomads managed well despite Bangor retaining a large amount of the possession. When they did attack, Steve Evans was on hand to dispossess the opposition as he did with a great tackle on Chris Roberts.

One of Nomads few attacks in the first half came from Kevin McIntyre, who, in a good position could only slice his shot.  Anthony Stanton created chances well in the midfield, allowing O’Toole to break free, but the number nine was held by a number of surrounding blue shirts.  Sam Hart then had a long range effort go narrowly out, but as Referee Iwan Griffiths signalled half time there was no disagreement around the ground that the score was fair at 0-0.

Bangor looked the side with confidence when play resumed, playing much of their football in The Nomads' half.  This created a stalemate of play with Bangor passing the ball around but never finding their way past The Nomads' backline. Bangor earned a number of corners and may well have capitalised on it if it wasn’t for a defensive clearance from Gary Roberts.  The great stature of Les Davies also rose up in the box, but his header went over.  It was Sam Hart who got on target for Bangor, his long range strike stretching McCormick to save the shot which was heading into the top right corner.

The breakthrough for The Nomads came against the run of play - a counter attack which was quickly launched.  Roberts retained the ball well in the midfield keeping the ball as he surveyed his options, eventually sending Miller through on goal who, with composure, slotted the ball below Jack Cudworth to send The Nomads 1-0 up in the 65th minute.

This goal brought a wave of confidence over The Nomads - Roberts soon after the goal tried to lob the 'keeper, the effort ending up on the roof of the net.  The Nomads looked the motivated side and were intent on retaining the score line, bringing Stanton off for Giglio whilst former Nomad Jamie Petrie made an appearance for Bangor.

A burst of pace from Ricky Evans forced a superb save from Cudworth, with the resulting corner going out for a goal kick.  By now the game was entering its final few minutes as the Deeside crowd got on the edge of their seats for a tense finish. Tension was indeed rife for the home crowd with The Nomads blocking a number of Bangor shots and taking the ball into the corner flag.  Although the fourth official indicated four minutes of injury time it was in fact 90+6 minutes before the whistle blew and confirmed a significant win for the home team.

This win sends Nomads eighth in the table, the highest they have found themselves this season.  The result also brings history to our record books, as it is the first double The Nomads have completed over Bangor in the Welsh Premier League.  A motivated team now seeks to extend their unbeaten run of 5 games to 6, when they travel to Richmond Park to face Carmarthen Town on Saturday the 15th of November.

Match Photos