Ruane to the rescue in derby draw

The Nomads drew 1-1 against Airbus UK Broughton FC in the first of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League festive fixtures.

Tony Gray scored for Airbus in the 18th minute, with Ashley Ruane equalising in the 80th.

The Nomads faced difficulties before the game had even begun, with Les Davies, Robbie Parry and John Danby all unavailable.

With this, 19-year-old George Deniz made his Welsh Premier League debut in goal for The Nomads while Chris Rimmer, Danny Harrison and Jamie Crowther also all started for the home side.

The wet and windy conditions meant the game was subject to inspections, which the pitch passed both at 9:00am and 11:30am.

The game began with Ruane pressing immediately towards the Airbus goal, resulting in an early corner for The Nomads.  Ruane again had a chance when Rushton sent a cross into the Airbus area, with Ruane unable to connect
with it.

Wes Baynes sent a throw in into the Airbus area, where keeper Coates did well to handle the ball low at his right post.  With the first 15 minutes of the game played The Nomads were comfortable, pressing towards the Airbus goal but with no end result.

Airbus then turned the heat on The Nomads, with a stray throw in bouncing alongside The Nomads’ goal line only for no Wingmaker to attack the
ball.  On 18 minutes, Tony Gray opened the scoring with a fine goal, sending a half volley straight into the top left corner of the net.

Boosted by their goal, Airbus were then dominant for the rest of the half. Tom Field immediately sent a dangerous cross into the box which Deniz dealt with well.

In the 27th minute Gray then had a great chance to double his sides lead and bag a brace, when he sent a header from a corner over The Nomads’ crossbar at close range.

The Nomads remained well in the game, with a flurry of chances fiercely defended by Airbus. In the 35th minute, they had two chances blocked in succession before an effort from Crowther went wide.

With the interval approaching, Miller sent a ball into the Airbus area but Rushton couldn’t reach it to send a shot towards goal.  This was typical of the first half which saw The Nomads build up play well, but never achieve a breakthrough.

After half time, The Nomads came out and looked to change the game in their
favour, firstly by the introduction of McIntyre for Harrison, who was injured during the first half.

Airbus also made changes, with the goalscorer Gray taken off for Wayne Riley. The first major chance of the second half came in the 53rd minute, when a me-lee of chances came for The Nomads in the Airbus box only for the away defence to scrape the ball away from danger.

Crowther had an attempt on goal blocked on the hour, which at this point felt like the umpteenth occasion, The Nomads had been denied by Airbus.

Sean Miller had a wonderful opportunity to equalise, finding himself centre in the Airbus area with space to shoot, but the heavy ground meant he was unable to get his shot away.

With The Nomads having no luck upfront, they were bolstered by Chris Rimmer
pushing forward after Crowther was substituted for Linwood.

Ruane launched an attack on the Airbus final third with just over 20 minutes left, but the effort was again saved by a disciplined Airbus defence.

Not deterred by his chances going amiss, Ruane again attacked and this time had an effort saved at point blanc by Coates who pushed the ball out for a corner kick. From the corner kick, a melee in the box occurred where Ruane sent the ball into the net from just yards out.

With ten minutes to go and both sides level, the tension increased at the Deeside stadium.  Ryan Wade ran clear onto The Nomads’ goal where Deniz made a vital low save.

The pressure stayed on The Nomads' goalmouth where four attackers came at
goal, with Deniz saving well once again for the ball to be then cleared from danger.

The tables had been turned with Airbus now unable to get a late goal despite a flurry of attacks.  The Nomads' final substitution saw Sean Smith go off for Thomas Bibby, who helped The Nomads keep the ball in their opponent's half for the last minutes of the game.

This was a deserved draw which saw both sides exert their qualities.  The Nomads can come away from the game happy with a point considering the
conditions and absenteeism of key players, but now focus on a significant New Year’s Day fixture at Airbus, for a 2:30pm kick