Nomads frustrated in Druids deadlock

The Nomads recorded a goalless draw against Cefn Druids on Wednesday evening in a match played at The New Saints’ Park Hall stadium.

Relocated as Druids’ home fixture due to the installation of a 3G pitch at The Rock, the game brought together The Nomads and Druids for the first time since early 2015, with Druids promoted back into the top flight at the end of last season.

Druids named a strong squad which included Aaron Bowen and Mike Pritchard, with new loan signing from The Nomads, Ashley Ruane, unavailable against his parent club.  The Nomads started a line up that reintroduced Danny Harrison following suspension along with Matty Williams and Michael Wilde.

The Nomads opened the game with dominance, Michael Wilde testing 'keeper Michael Jones twice within the first minute of the game, with a volley which forced a corner and a subsequent header from the same set piece.

Nathan Woolfe, Les Davies and Matty Williams all enjoyed chances but were unable to take advantage of The Nomads’ hold on the game, which soon decreased as the half went on.

Cefn Druids thought they had taken the lead in the 16th minute from a header assisted by a Jake Phillips free kick, but referee Kevin Parry had already whistled for a foul on John Disney.

Both teams made claims for a penalty, with The Nomads claiming a hand ball had been committed in the area by a Cefn Druids defender, while the 'home' side were unhappy with a Les Davies challenge in The Nomads’ area.

Lewis Short was effective with both his darting runs down the wing and long throws into the box which influenced The Nomads’ attacks regularly.  Despite this, Nomads could not break the deadlock before the interval which was a justified reflection of what had grown to be an evenly contested game.

This continued into the second half, which started with a substitution that brought Callum Morris on in place of Nathan Woolfe.  Jordan Barrow sent a well took cross into The Nomads' area on 49 minutes, but without any Druid striker to send the ball goalwards.

The Nomads’ second and final substitution saw Matty Owen replace Tom Field who had been captaining the side with the absence of George Horan through injury.  As time began to run out, The Nomads increased their attacks on the Druids goal mouth but to little effect, with almost every long throw or cross being cleared by a well organised defence.

The best chance of the game went to Druids, when near the 80th minute mark Barrow sent a low cross across an open Nomads goal mouth, which would almost certainly have led to a goal if a Druids shirt would have been available to get a touch on the ball.

With ten minutes to go, The Nomads went all out to try and snatch a victory with many long throws from Lewis Short entering the area, but after two Nomads unsuccessful corners deep within the five minutes of injury time, both sides were forced to settle with a point.

The result leaves Andy Morrison’s men frustrated to have not been able to clinch a win after an impressive start to the game, but their clean sheet brings their amount of time without conceding a goal in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League to 582 minutes.

They now head to Deeside where they will play Bala Town in a live S4C sgorio game for a 5:15pm kick off.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall