Short strike sees Nomads defeat Druids

A Lewis Short goal was enough to give The Nomads a victory over Cefn Druids in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League on Tuesday evening.

The Nomads enjoyed a dominant first half performance following Short’s early goal, but were forced into a scrappy second half in order to secure an important three points which sends them six points clear of second-placed Bala Town, and nine points ahead of fourth placed Bangor City.

Jon Rushton started the game in goal for The Nomads after being recalled from his loan at Holywell Town due John Danby sustaining an injury in the recent cup clash with Goytre United.  The lineup also saw a start for Chris Rimmer, John Disney and Wes Baynes.  Cefn Druids meanwhile started two former Nomads in Kyle Parle and Corey Roper, with Steve Blenkinsop placed up front in order to try and cause problems for the home side at Deeside.

The game began and Nomads immediately took control, with Lewis Short, Wes Baynes and Les Davies all driving forward towards the Cefn Druids goal.  It took just nine minutes for the Deeside crowd to see a goal, with Lewis Short sending a powerful 25 yard effort in to give The Nomads the lead with a potential goal of the month contender.

Following the goal, The Nomads established themselves as the leading side with the majority of the possession, playing some good passing football in the Druids half.  Nathan Woolfe gave Nick Rushton a goalscoring opportunity in the 19th minute, when his low cross just evaded Rushton in the centre of the Druids area.

Druids looked to create chances but they were few and far between in the first half, with Stuart Cook seeing a strong 25 yard effort met by Jon Rushton in the centre of his goal.  In the 25th minute, Les Davies made a run down the left wing and cut into the Druids area, only to have his low effort saved by goalkeeper Michael Jones.  The Nomads continued to attack the Druids end, but went in at the interval with Short’s goal separating the two sides.

In the second half, The Nomads were forced to defend well at various intervals as Druids looked for an equaliser.  Blenkinsop went on a run towards goal, but his header went wide of goal before Lewis Short had another long range effort which went wide in the 51st minute.

As the hour mark approached, The Nomads made a change, bringing on Declan Poole in place of Nick Rushton.  Cefn Druids looked to threaten The Nomads' goal and gradually became more of a threat, with John Rushton saving a 20 yard effort from Fisnik Hajdari.

The Nomads then replaced Nathan Woolfe with Sean Smith, a substitution which came just before Jay Owen sent a low cross towards Davies in the Druids area who missed out on a clinical finish.

With The Nomads leading by just one goal, the last quarter of play saw Druids force a number of deep throw-in’s and corner balls to put pressure on The Nomads.  Their final change of the evening saw Callum Morris go off for Ashley Ruane.

With the likes of Les Davies and Chris Rimmer making big clearances, The Nomads succeeded in defending their lead to the 90th minute, but faced an additional four minutes of play through injury time.

With 92 minutes played Naim Arsan sent a powerful effort towards the bottom left corner of The Nomads' net with Jon Rushton making a fine save to deny him.  The resulting corner ball was then cleared, ending the last real action of the game.

Referee Mark Petch blew his whistle to conclude the game, which will not be remembered as a classic but another vital win for The Nomads on their quest for automatic European qualification.

The Nomads now move onto a significant fixture at home to The New Saints in the Welsh Premier League, which kick off at 5:15pm on Saturday 17 December with a live broadcast on S4C Sgorio.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall