Nomads lose out in Deeside Derby

The Nomads narrowly lost to Airbus by three goals to two on the first day of 2016.

Ian Kearney opened the scoring in the first minute, with The Nomads equalising via Parry in the 36th.  In the second half Linwood sent The Nomads ahead in the 49th minute before Murphy and Gray sealed victory for Airbus in the 82nd and 89th minutes respectively.

The game was a vital one in the race for top six Dafabet Welsh Premier League football, which at the start of the game saw eight points separate seven different teams in the league.

A good crowd were immediately rewarded for their attendance with a goal just 50 seconds into the game.  From a free kick which curled into The Nomads' box from around 20 yards, Ian Kearney cleanly slotted the ball into the net past Danby.  Yet from the goal, The Nomads responded to create an even game in the first half, pushing Airbus onto their back foot at some points.

Robbie Parry went forward into the Airbus area and had his shot blocked from seven yards out.  Wes Baynes then tested the nerves of the home defence with a 30 yard free kick which bounced off the crossbar before being cleared.

The Nomads continued to pressure Airbus via chances from Smith and Miller, but only broke the Airbus defence in the 37th minute when in a busy Airbus area Robbie Parry sent a powerful shot into the goal to equalise.

In the one added minute of injury time Crowther saw a header go over the Airbus goal, but 1-1 reflected an even first half at the Airfield.

In the second half it was now The Nomads' turn to start brightly, taking the lead via a header from Paul Linwood in the 49th minute.

After this goal, Airbus applied all of their strength on The Nomads’ goal, coming close to scoring if not for a terrific save from Danby who tipped a close range header above his crossbar and out for a corner.  Airbus did manage to get the ball in the net in the 58th minute, but were ruled offside.

The game had an end to end feel to it, with Coates saving a Davies effort before Danby again did well to keep out an Airbus free kick which headed straight towards goal.

In the 73rd minute Les Davies went into the Airbus area and went down, but referee Kevin Parry waved away appeals for a penalty kick.  A substitution then saw Thomas Bibby replace Sean Miller for The Nomads.

In the 83rd minute Airbus found their equaliser which had been threatening to arrive for sometime, the goalscorer Murphy who nodded the ball into the net from around eight yards out.

With just one minute of normal time to go, Airbus scored a smash and grab winner via the league's top scorer, Tony Gray.  Despite three minutes of injury time and the introduction of Ashley Ruane in place of Callum Morris, The Nomads ended the game with a disappointing result in light of how well they had played.

This subsequent result leaves The Nomads fifth in the table, with multiple clubs around them having a game in hand.  Their quest for top six football will now become more challenging when they face The New Saints on Saturday 16 January for a 5:15pm kick off.

Match Photos