Nomads on top at Townfield

A disciplined performance from a new look Nomads side saw them claim a 4-1 victory at Barnton, in the opening friendly game of the pre season campaign.

This game was the first time that a host of The Nomad's summer signings were on show, and the starting XI included a range of them in Ruane, Wilson, Morris and Rimmer. They were to be entertained by Barnton of the North West Counties League Division One, who are sponsored by gap personnel and recently earned national exposure by their striker and ex-Nomad Colin Quirk's Budweiser Dream Goal award.

The game opened with The Nomads enjoying the majority of the games possession, from which chances were created via the likes of Ruane and Rushton, however the home defence stood firm and responded, with a Barnton chance going just over the Nomads goal on around 15 minutes.

Shortly after, The Nomads did gain the advantage as a short corner saw Jay Crowther break into the box, whose shot on target took a deflection beyond the goalkeeper, sending The Nomads 1-0 up. Chris Rimmer then attempted to get his name on the score sheet, with a header which went wide. It was then back to Ruane who went clear in front of goal but had the ball swept from his feet by the goalkeeper.

After such pressure, The Nomads second goal eventually came via Callum Morris, who stepped up on the edge of the penalty area to strike well and hit the target. At 2-0 up, The Nomads looked comfortable, but could not afford to relax against a Barnton side who continued to push The Nomads to work for their chances throughout the game.

The Nomads again found the goal just before half time through George Horan, who rose up and scored through a header thanks to a free kick floated into the area by Michael Wilson.

During the second half, The Nomads saw a host of changes which ensured all members of the squad experienced game time. Aron Williams was one of these changes and certainly made an impression on the right wing, testing the 'keeper with an effort on goal resulting in a corner.

After this, Barnton saw one of their best chances of the game when after a pinball situation inside The Nomads' penalty area, the ball was directed towards goal and rebounded off the post. Victory was then certainly sealed for The Nomads thanks to an own goal where a Nick Rushton effort was saved by the Barnton goalkeeper, only to see his parry rebound off one of his own defenders into the net.

The final action of the game came right on the 90th minute mark, when George Deniz, who had replaced John Danby in goal, swept at the feet of an oncoming striker, who went down, resulting in a penalty to the home side.

Barnton earned their consolation goal with a Kevin Towey strike to the left of the goal, which was immediately followed by the full time whistle.

This was a positive display from Nomads who know this game was just a beginning of a host of pre season friendlies in which they aim to prepare for the upcoming Welsh Premier League season. Nomads next game sees them travel to Conwy Borough FC's Y Morfa Stadium on Saturday the 18th July, for a 12:00pm kick off.

Following the game, Manager, Allan Bickerstaff said "It was a good start, they've settled in well, they've trained well all week and they've put it into practice today - it's not about the score, it's about how they approach it and how we get them to play and they've certainly bought into that."

You can hear Bickerstaff's full post match interview using the Audioboom player below;