Simpson seals victory at Old Gold

Connah’s Quay Nomads sealed a 2-1 victory away to Carmarthen Town in a JD Welsh Premier League fixture on Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Wignall sent The Nomads ahead in the first half, before a dramatic late winner from debutant Melford Simpson cancelled out a Liam Griffiths penalty.

• Nomads dominated for much of the 90 minutes
• The impressive Wignall scored for Nomads
• A controversial penalty brought Carmarthen level
• An 87th minute Melford Simpson goal secured the win

The Nomads went into the game after a hard fought midweek fixture in which they drew 2-2 to rivals The New Saints. Andy Morrison’s side were looking for their fourth consecutive game unbeaten after positive results against the likes of Newtown and Bangor in recent games.

Carmarthen were meanwhile bottom of the table and eyeing a victory over Nomads to kick start their season.

Andy Morrison started a much unchanged line up to Nomads’ previous XI, with the likes of Callum Morris and Jay Owen in the midfield, with Nathan Woolfe returning to the starting line up after a minor injury.  Melford Simpson made his first appearance in the match day squad since signing for Nomads, being named as a substitute.

The game started in robust fashion as both sides looked to stamp their authority on proceedings. Nomads quickly took control of possession, seeing an early chance in the fourth minute when after a run from Callum Morris, Wilde headed a Wignall cross wide.

Nomads’ early attacks on the Carmarthen end continued, with Kearney narrowly missing out on an opportunity to head Nomads into the lead when he couldn’t connect with a Nathan Woolfe cross.

The Nomads’ pressure paid dividends as they began to dominate play, restricting Carmarthen to virtually no chances in the away side’s area.
Wignall and Woolfe used their skill to cause issues on the wing, sending in a number of crosses to threaten Lee Idzi’s goal.

Carmarthen won a free kick in the 24th minute, but it failed to create a goalscoring opportunity as the effort sailed out for a Nomads’ goal kick. Ian Kearney would again go close for Nomads, as a Nathan Woolfe cross evaded him as he was poised to head the ball from around eight yards.

Nomads’ long sought after goal arrived in the 31st minute, when from a good move Woolfe delivered a low cross to Wignall who converted to score from around 10 yards out.

Boosted by their goal, Nomads continued to attack the Carmarthen end in hope of doubling their lead before the interval with two crosses from Callum Morris being caught by Old Gold goalkeeper Lee Idzi.

Similar to the first half, Nomads looked the brighter side after the interval as they continued to create chances. Woolfe pounced on a defensive error to run at the Carmarthen goal, passing to Wignall who sent a cross into the box only for Woolfe to head it wide.

The duo of Woolfe and Wignall were again in the centre of the action on
55 minutes, as Wignall nearly sent a low shot into the goal from a corner kick taken by Woolfe.

With an hour played the Nomads had cemented their position as the dominant side, enjoying long spells of possession in the Carmarthen half whilst a defence led by captain George Horan muted any Carmarthen attacks.

After 70 minutes the home side looked unlikely to get back into the game, but that would all change after Ceri Morgan broke free in the Nomads area only to send his shot skywards.

Although there were no appeals from anyone in the ground, referee Bryn Markham-Jones pointed to the spot to award Carmarthen a penalty after an alleged foul from Danny Harrison. Liam Thomas stepped up and scored to make it 1-1 with 15 minutes to go.

Nomads, who felt hard done by the penalty decision and to have conceded after dominating the game for so long, forced two consecutive corners taken by Woolfe which were both cleared. Andy Morrison then made his first change, taking off Jay Owen who was replaced by Mathias Bakare.

The game entered its final few minutes and Morrison made an inspired substitution, handing a debut to Melford Simpson who replaced Nathan Woolfe with just four minutes of normal time to go.

Just two minutes into his Nomads playing career, the towering striker got off to a dream start by getting inside the Carmarthen area to send a low Ryan Wignall cross past Lee Idzi to send Nomads 2-1 up.

After three minutes of additional time, Nomads’ dramatic late victory was confirmed to send the side up to third in the JD Welsh Premier League table.

The Nomads move onto a live S4C Sgorio fixture against Llandudno FC at the Deeside Stadium next Saturday 21st October.

Match Report by Will Catterall