Record Deeside crowd sees Nomads head to play offs

A record breaking crowd at Deeside Stadium say The Nomads defeat Prestatyn Town 3-1 on the final day of the league season, dramatically securing their place in the Europa League play offs.

Before kick off, there was plenty of activity at Deeside Stadium with our Academy sides taking on the cross bar challenge, before the Club named a new Vice President, in the form of Bill Dudley - a supporter since day one, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

The 763 strong crowd saw The Nomads led out to the field by mascot for the day, Cameron Rowley, who is currently undergoing treatment for Demoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour, and no doubt, Cameron gave the team the inspiration needed for their big win.

The game started off with good attacking play from both sides, with Prestatyn seeing an early free kick sail over The Nomads bar.  Shortly after, a nice interchange between Sean Miller and Jack Riley down The Nomads' right saw the latter's cross easily gathered at the front post by Scott Williams, denying Cortez Belle an early chance.  A minute later and Belle was in the action again, as he was brought down inside the box by a loose challenge, but referee Kevin Parry waved away any claims for a penalty.

At the other end, Andy Parkinson created an opportunity, as he met a cross from the left wing, heading up into the air, meeting his own header first with a left footed volley, but blazing the ball high over The Nomads' bar.  Sean Miller soon looked test Prestatyn, but a tame shot went wide for a a Prestatyn goal kick.  It appeared as though The Nomads were starting to get on top as Cortez Belle was once again denied by Scott Williams in the Prestatyn goal, and a mere 20 seconds later, Andy Parkinson cut in from the lef and struck under Terry McCormick to put the visitors 1-0 up in the 23rd minute against the run of play.

The Nomads were quickly back in the game however - Ryan Fraughan floated a wonderful outside of the foot cross into Cortez Belle at the back post, who headed back towards the penalty spot, picking out an unmarked Alan Bull who slammed home a volley to draw the game level.  The Nomads looked to continue their attacking, and another Ryan Fraughan ball into the box seemed to be meeting Steve Evans' head before a fantastic defensive header from Dave Hayes put the ball out for a Nomads corner.  Shortly after, George Horan seemed certain to score as the ball dropped under the Prestatyn bar, but a combination of defenders and goalkeeper Scott Williams denied The Nomads' captain just before half time.

At half time, The Nomads Academy took to the field to receive their end of season awards including Player's Player and Supporters Player of the Season awards for all teams.  Also at half time, the official attendance of the game was announced as 763, a new record for The Nomads at Deeside Stadium - the previous best being set over 15 years prior as Barry Town visited.

The second half saw the visitors start quickly as Jordan Davies got behind The Nomads' backline, but delayed too long in taking his shot as he went through one-on-one with Terry McCormick, allowing the recovering George Horan to make a fantastic last ditch tackle.  This was to prove vital, as a mere three minutes later, Alan Bull neatly shifted the ball at the edge of the box, giving himself enough space to hit a left footed strike beyond Williams in the Prestatyn goal to put The Nomads 2-1 up.

The Nomads continued to attack with Fraughan at the centre of the majority of The Nomads' attacks, and his 57th minute free kick edged narrowly wide of the Prestatyn goal.  On 64 minutes, The Nomads' stopper, Terry McCormick made perhaps the save of the season as Jack Lewis unleashed a thumping volley from the edge of the box, the ball arrowing into the top left corner of the net, only to see McCormick leap to his left making a phenomenal single handed save to give Prestatyn a corner.  At the other end of the field, Jay Crowther forced his was into the box, and was swiped down by Dave Hayes, but again, Kevin Parry waved away strong penalty claims from the home fans and players.

On the 68th minute, another Ryan Fraughan free kick was met by Steve Evans, but his towering header was denied by a great Scott Williams save high above his head.  The Nomads weren't to be denied however, and shortly after, Ryan Fraughan sent a wonderful lob over Scott Williams to give The Nomads a 3-1 victory.  A few minutes later and Sean Miller broke down the left wing, firing marginally wide, where the scores could so easily have been made 4-1.

With minutes to go, word started to filter through that Bangor City were making a come back at Rhyl, meaning that The Nomads needed two more goals, so the players and supporters were urging the side forwards, until a huge cheer went up among the home support, hearing that Bangor had dramatically taken a 4-3 lead against Rhyl following a late Sam Hart penalty.  The match finished at Deeside Stadium with hearts in mouths as the Press Association hadn't caught up with the Bangor and Rhyl Twitter accounts, so we weren't 100% that the 4-3 was correct, but shortly later, Bangor's 4-3 victory was confirmed, meaning that The Nomads were secured the seventh place, and the Europa League play off place.

Although currently unconfirmed, we believe that we will face Aberystwyth Town at Park Avenue on Saturday 9th May in the first Europa League play off game.  Make sure you stay tuned to our official website, as we will confirm this as soon as the information is confirmed by the FAW.

Overall, the game was a phenomenal way to end the League campaign - a Club record attendance, a new Vice President announcement, being led out by a very special mascot, and a number of great results on the day seeing The Nomads secure a play off place!

Match Photos