Nomads secure away victory at Llandudno

The Nomads recorded their second consecutive away victory with a win at Llandudno on Sunday afternoon.  First half goals from Nick Rushton and Nathan Woolfe were enough to give The Nomads all three points at Llandudno’s Giant Hospitality stadium.

The game saw The Nomads hope to build on their away form, after a 3-1 win at Aberystwyth which had followed a 3-0 loss at The New Saints in late October.  With Michael Wilde unavailable, Nick Rushton started alongside Les Davies with Jay Owen and John Disney standing in as The Nomads’ centre backs owing to injuries.

Llandudno were also missing a key player in Dafabet Welsh Premier Player of the Year Marc Williams, but fielded the likes of Tom Dix, Leo Riley and Lewis Buckley. Following a close 1-1 draw with the Seasiders at Deeside earlier in the season, the game was expected to be a competitive encounter.

The game began and was largely even for the opening ten minutes, with The Nomads getting up the pitch to try and establish themselves in the game.  This was achieved in no less than ten minutes, when Nick Rushton sent The Nomads ahead with a shot just yards from the Llandudno goal.

In a busy area, the ball fell to Rushton who got to the ball before Llandudno 'keeper Robers, sending the ball into the net under the onrushing goalkeeper.  With their 1-0 lead The Nomads continued to attack, with Jay Owen and Nick Rushton going close in what was a great opening 20 minutes for Andy Morrison’s side.

Despite The Nomads’ strong start, Llandudno remained in the game, with John Owen enjoying a good individual performance for his team.  In the 20th minute he sent a shot towards the bottom left corner of Nomads’ net from seven yards, but Wes Baynes was on hand to block the effort.

The Nomads made it 2-0 in the 26th minute, when they were awarded a free kick just outside the Llandudno area after a handball.  Nathan Woolfe stepped up to score a perfect free kick, his strike going over the wall and into the top corner.

In the 32nd minute, The Nomads had a chance to further their lead, when Les Davies challenged goalkeeper Roberts in the air with the ball to falling to Matty Williams, whose strike bounced off an unaware Roberts to deny Nomads a third goal.

As half time neared, Llandudno had more possession in The Nomads’ half, leading to a chance for Buckley who missed an opportunity to shoot in a good position inside The Nomads' area, with the offside flag also going up to rule out the chance.

Leo Riley had two free kicks saved by Danby in the 42nd and 45th minute, with the latter save injuring Danby and ruling out any actual action for the one minute of additional time given at the end of the half.  Thankfully Danby recovered to complete the full 90 minutes.

In the second half, Llandudno played more of their game in The Nomads’
half, but were prevented from having any major goalscoring opportunities.  John Owen made a good run into The Nomads' area in the 50th minute, forcing The Nomads to concede a throw in which came to nothing.

Nathan Woolfe looked to get on the scoresheet for the second time, having a 15 yard effort saved by Dave Roberts in the 55th minute.  Leo Riley then found himself with the ball inside The Nomads' area, but was not able to get a shot away owing to the surrounding Nomads defenders blocking his path.

With over an hour played, Callum Morris replaced Matty Williams to make his return from a spell on the sidelines with an injury.  He helped The Nomads dig deep as Llandudno felt time running out to get something from the fixture.

Numerous passes and crosses into The Nomads' area were attempted, but an organised Nomads side coped well with the pressure from Llandudno.  John Owen was again in on the action in the 75th minute, sending a strike just over John Danby’s crossbar.

Nathan Woolfe then came off for Sean Smith, with a communicative mix-up meaning Woolfe re-entered the field for a 30-second phase of play before being booked and leaving the field.

Although The Nomads had ten minutes to defend their lead away from home, they did so relatively comfortably, with a final blow to Llandudno being a delayed red card for Danny Hughes in the 91st minute after two previous yellow cards.

The red card meant the game ended on a sour note for Llandudno, but one of celebration for The Nomads who had achieved an excellent away win against an ever-strong Seasiders outfit.

The Nomads will now look onto their next game on Tuesday; a significant semi final clash with The New Saints at Deeside in the Nathaniel MG Cup for a 7:45pm kick off.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall