Cup Dream Ends In Late Heartbreak

Nomads' bid for a place in the 124th Welsh Cup final was cruelly curtailed at the final hurdle by a late Chris Jones piledriver, as Nev Powell continued his remarkable Welsh Cup record with the Citizens' by defeating his former club.

Jones settled a tight and tentative tie, played under resplendent sunshine throughout, when he lashed a 30-yard screamer beyond the despairing dive of Louis Mackin with seven minutes remaining - a blow that proved too much for Mark McGregor's valiant battlers to recover from.

McGregor went into the tie without his suspended captain Craig Jones and cup-tied duo Adam McGee and James McIntosh, but welcomed skilful midfielder Stuart Scheuber back to the bench alongside the player-manager himself, who opted to retain the X1 that started a resounding 4-0 league win at Rhos Aelwyd seven days previously.

Powell was present to witness Nomads' dangerman Gary O'Toole fire a hat-trick that afternoon and was adamant that his Citizens' defence limited the danger the hot-shot striker posed in order to provide a solid foundation to prove why they are considered by many observers to be the 'cup kings' of Wales.

Roared on by a partisan following at Rhyl's "neutral" Belle Vue ground, the Citizens were quick off the mark in the early stages, testing the Nomads defence with an aerial bombardment, but the first real opportunity fell at the other end when O'Toole combined his physical prowess with some deft touches on the left side of the area to square the ball to an on-running Jamie Petrie, but the tricky winger snatched at his shot and it skewed wide of the post.

That Bangor were chasing their fourth successive final place, having lifted the trophy in each of the previous three showpieces, whilst Nomads were playing only their fourth ever semi-final, did not faze a determined, dogged and sometimes desperate all-white defence - characterised by Ben Alston's quick-thinking goalline clearance from a dangerous Alan Bull cross and, then, by Tommy Baker's excellent sliding block to deny Eddie Jebb's quick-fire half-volley. 

In fact, it was Nomads who were continuing to create the more clear cut chances and Petrie, again, came close when he latched onto Sam McNutt's touch to check inside before launching an ambitious 25-yard chip that dipped narrowly over Paul Smith's crossbar.

Bangor slowly began to carve out chances of their own, predominantly through the use of physical centre forward Les Davies who proved to be a constant handful to the Nomads defence throughout the proceedings.

After Jones had pulled a snap-shot wide when well placed, veteran former Football League defender Dave Morley then headed past the post after meeting a deep corner, before full back Chris Roberts struck a spectacular left-footed volley from just inside the Nomads half which had Mackin scurrying across his goal to hold.

At the other end, Danny Forde and Andy Alston went close with headers from successive McNutt set pieces, but Bangor had the final say of a half that they were beginning to get on top of when Morley struck a curling 30-yard free kick goalbound, which Mackin brilliantly parried over the crossbar.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first, with only half-chances appearing at either end as Morley headed well over and Davies blazed high and wide after a powerful run for Bangor, whilst Ben Collins and O'Toole both fired harmlessly over for Nomads - the ball not dropping quick enough for the former.

With the second half past its midway point, Powell rang the changes in a bid to force his charges to turn the screw - highly-rated attacking duo Sion Edwards and Mark Smyth entering the fray - and Nomads were immediately under the cosh.

Collins performed heroics to head clear an acrobatic Morley effort from under the crossbar with Mackin well beaten, then a series of desperate lunging blocks denied a handful of Bangor strikes in and around the penalty box as the Citizens' deployed a well-worked free kick, before Edwards blazed a pacey cross beyond the far post and into touch.

At the other end, Nomads' composure deserted them when first, McNutt, then O'Toole, failed to bring the ball out from under their feet after racing towards the Bangor area.

With a quarter of an hour remaining Collins became embroiled in a scramble with Bangor's former Nomads stopper Smith on the left touchline - the impressive winger following the ball and the Citizens' custodian over the touchline, prompting a retaliating lash by Smith whose yellow card was deemed too lenient a punishment by the nearby observers.

After near misses by Petrie - following a tremendous cross-field ball by the industrious Rob Jones - and Bull at either end, the deadlock was finally broken in the 83rd minute when Jones was left in plenty of space to unleash a powerful drive from distance that flew past Mackin and into the top corner.

McGregor took the bull by the horns, replacing Baker, as Nomads tried to salvage a shot at extra time but the final moments petered out amid tiring legs to hand Bangor yet another place in yet another Welsh Cup final, leaving the dejected Nomads players holding out for a league reunion next season.

NOMADS: Louis Mackin, Ben Alston, Ben Collins, Tom Baker (Mark McGregor 84'), Andy Alston, Rob Jones, Jamie Petrie, Alan Hooley, Gary O'Toole, Danny Forde, Sam McNutt.

Substitutes not used: Stuart Scheuber, Dean Thurston, George Baxter, Jamie Wynne.

Booked: Forde (66'), O'Toole (84'), Jones (88').

Attendance: 877
Referee: Mark Whitby (Swansea)