Wilde wins it for Nomads

The Nomads secured a 1-0 victory in their first home game of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League season.  A goal from Michael Wilde in the 69th minute was enough to take all three points in a tight affair.

The Nomads entered the game in high spirits, with an undefeated record so far in the league, drawing to Carmarthen and beating Bangor 2-0.  Newtown matched this as they also had four points in the league from a draw to Bala and win over Carmarthen Town.

Both sides were looking to retain their positive form, but knew it would be difficult with strong lineups on either side of the pitch.  The Nomads welcomed Ian Kearney back into the lineup following a suspension, who was captain for the day with George Horan out injured following his knock against Bangor last week.

Newtown started formidable names such as Oswell and Sutton, with new signing Craig Williams also in their first eleven.

The game began and the first real chance of the game came in the seventh minute, when two shots towards The Nomads’ goal were blocked by Danby.
Newtown continued to attack, with a header from Tom Goodwin going just wide minutes later.

After a high tempo opening to the game, the intensity of play dropped but not without both sides trying to create.  Tom Field went on a run towards goal only to be intercepted, before sending a tricky corner ball into the Newtown area which was ruled out by a foul on a Robins defender.

Newtown maintained a steady pace of attacks on The Nomads' goalmouth, which whilst tricky, were well dealt with by The Nomads' back line of Kearney, Disney, Short and Baynes.

Before half time, both sides had chances to sneak a goal when Jason Oswell went yards from The Nomads' goal only to tackled by John Disney at the last second.  A 44th minute corner for The Nomads was swung in by Woolfe for there to be claims that the ball had crossed the line by The Nomads, but referee Dean John waved them away and soon whistled for half time.

The second half began and The Nomads had two significant chances go amiss within the first five minutes.  A powerful effort from Jay Owen was stopped by David Jones from 10 yards out, before the Nomads missed out on a penalty.

Jay Owen was brought down in the box, forcing Dean John to award a penalty to The Nomads.  Callum Morris stepped up and hit a powerful shot which unfortunately bounced off the crossbar to deny The Nomads a goal and keep the game goalless.

Shortly after, The Nomads made a change which saw Morris leave the field with Les Davies coming on, in an effort for The Nomads to get ahead with around 25 minutes left to play.

This much-sought after goal came in the 69th minute, when from a deft Wes Baynes cross, Michael Wilde slotted the ball in at close range near at the back post.

Despite their lead, The Nomads were up against it from Newtown at times following this goal, seen when Ryan Kershaw edged a shot wide from 12 yards. Nomads saw a possible game-winning chance go amiss when Les Davies headed another Baynes cross just above the goal on 76 minutes.

The Nomads then made another substitution which saw Matty Owen come on for Tom Field to face his old club.  A tough ten minutes followed for Nomads as they held onto the lead. Newtown were awarded a free kick around 25 yards from goal, but John Danby rose up to catch the effort.

Following three minutes of injury time during which Nomads used the experience of Les Davies to hold up the ball, full time was confirmed handing Nomads a well earned victory.

This result is The Nomads’ second consecutive Dafabet Welsh Premier League victory and brings their amount of time without conceding in the league to
500 minutes.  They will seek a third victory in a row on Wednesday night versus Cefn Druids, in a game played at The New Saints’ Park Hall stadium for a 7:45pm kick off.

Match Photos