No shame for Nomads in Welsh Cup defeat

The Nomads' Welsh Cup campaign of 2014/15 ended on Saturday afternoon, when they lost 1-0 to The New Saints.  TNS progressed to the semi finals of the competition via a Scott Quigley goal on 28 minutes.

Coming up against The New Saints, who ahead of the game were unbeaten in all competitions this season, The Nomads knew of their underdog status going into the quarter final.  Additionally, they were without Alan Bull, Rob Jones and David Forbes who were all cup-tied.  Steve Evans and Ryan Fraughan could not play against their parent club, whilst George Horan was injured.

Positively this gave the U19’s in the squad a chance to shine with Anthony Stanton and Kieran Gaul starting.  Joining them was Jack Chambers who made his first start for The Nomads that afternoon.  The New Saints brought goal scoring potential in abundance, starting Adrian Cieslewicz and Jamie Reed.

The game began with Cieslewicz shooting wide of The Nomads' goal with a venomous volley.  After this, Ukuno had an ambitious effort for The Nomads go over for a goal kick.  Scott Quigley then sent a cross into his opponent’s area, but his execution sent the ball out of play with no real danger posed for The Nomads.

Play was shortly paused for Apai Ukuno to receive treatment after a knock following an aerial challenge.  On the resumption of play, Gaul sent a long ball up field which TNS 'keeper Paul Harrison was able to catch.

The New Saints created a number of chances throughout the game in front of The Nomads' goal, which the home side were able to deal with in a controlled manner.  This was seen when Riley did well to block a TNS shot, resulting in a corner which McCormick punched clear.

The Nomads saw action at the other end of the pitch too, with a long throw from Riley reaching Ukuno, who headed the ball onto Stanton - The Nomads number 38 heading wide of the goal.  Minutes later, Scott Quigley broke the deadlock for The New Saints when his cross-turned-shot from 9 yards out rolled across the turf, going past McCormick and settling in the bottom right corner of the net.

Jamie Reed looked to double his side's lead, but McCormick ran out to sweep and dispossess him in the area.  After Chris Sargeant’s free kick went wide and Kai Edwards saw his header miss the target, the half time score stood at The Nomads 0-1 TNS.

5 minutes into the second half, Quigley searched for his brace, running in on the left wing, where McCormick ran out to meet and successfully tackle him.  The Nomads again pushed, first through Chambers attempting to link up Ukuno in front of goal, followed by Miller and Gaul, who had their efforts on goal blocked by the Saints' defence.

The Nomads grew into the game more and more, and were playing great football with around 70 minutes on the clock.  Russell Courtney stood staunch in defence, and made a great challenge on the left wing to maintain Nomads' possession in the midfield.  The odd break from the away side was always well defended, including when Reed ran out in a one on one scenario, his shot sailing straight into the hands of McCormick.

Introductions were made which saw Tom Bibby and Mark Bainbridge on the pitch for The Nomads, with Crowther coming back from injury to replace Stanton earlier in the game.  With minutes left on the clock an ‘all or nothing’ attitude seemed to grip the home side, with The Nomads pressing TNS to the end of the tie.  Mark Bainbridge came closest to equalising as his volley sailed over the bar with minutes remaining, and despite earning a corner, and then a free kick which went wide of the goal via McIntyre, The Nomads could not find the equaliser before referee Mark Petch blew his whistle for full time.

Despite a defeat, The Nomads can look back positively on a great performance against the still unbeaten league leaders and theWord Cup champions, TNS.  The younger players in the side coped excellently against their professional opponents, with the inclusion of the recovering Crowther also a promising sign for the red and blacks.  The Nomads can also take pride in being the only team beaten by the narrow margin of 1-0 by TNS so far this season.

The Nomads' attention now turns fully on the league, in which they play Prestatyn Town on Friday the 13th March at Bastion Gardens, for a 7:30pm kick off.

Match Photos