Saints sink Nomads in Semi-Final

The Nomads bowed out of the JD Welsh Cup at the semi final stages on Saturday afternoon.

Goals from Jamie Mullan, Matthew Williams and a Scott Quigley hat-trick secured The New Saints' place in the 2015/16 final.

The game was part of a double header semi final, which saw Airbus UK reach the finals for the first time in their history with a 7-0 win over Port Talbot Town.

The Nomads arrived at Paveaways Latham Park with confidence having previously beaten Llandudno 2-1 and The New Saints themselves a fortnight ago.

The New Saints came into the game off the back of relatively poor form, having not tasted victory in their past three Dafabet Welsh Premier League games.

The fixture kicked off and looked even with both sides enjoying good chances within the first quarter of play.  The deadlock was however broken in the 22nd minute when an attack on The Nomads' goal saw the ball hit the post, and Scott Quigley pounced to send the ball across the line at close range.

The Nomads were given no chance to recover when in the following minute, Matty Williams sent a stunning strike from around 20 yards out into the bottom right corner of The Nomads' net.  Two goals in two minutes from the Saints sent a reasonably even game into a one dominated by the Champions, who looked determined in their retention of the Cup.

The New Saints, sensing their dominance of the game, then all but sealed the tie within 40 minutes when Jamie Mullan ran at The Nomads’ goal from a tight angle off the left wing and chipped the ball over Danby to score.

There was drama at the death of the half, when Callum Morris sent a shot towards goal from around 10 yards only for the ball to be accidentally blocked on the line by a Nomads player, Nathan Woolfe.

At the start of the second half, The Nomads had a mountain to climb, and although they enjoyed a good amount of possession in the TNS half, any chance of a dramatic comeback was killed off by the Saints' fourth goal of the day.

This goal was from a Scott Quigley brace, yet his assist from Brobbel was equally impressive with a cutting pass allowing Quigley to run straight into the Nomads’ area and strike low into the bottom right corner.

Nomads looked for a consolation goal via Nick Rushton who replaced Ashley Ruane, but his half volley hit the side netting.  A good day for Scott Quigley got even better on 66 minutes when he completed his hat trick by dribbling into The Nomads' area, beating three defenders and coolly finishing into the net.

With the JD Welsh Cup final place all but confirmed, the remaining minutes of play passed with little incident, with Nomads substituting Sean Miller and Chris Rimmer on in place of Jamie Crowther and Paul Linwood.

Sean Miller had a great opportunity to get a goal back for The Nomads when he got in a good position around 10 yards from goal, but his shot was dealt with by Paul Harrison in goal.

Referee Dean John blew his whistle for full time after one minute of additional play, confirming The New Saints to play Airbus in the JD Welsh Cup final.

The Nomads will look to bounce back from this defeat at next week’s Flintshire Derby at the Deeside Stadium, for a 7:30pm kick off on Friday
8 April.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall