Nomads strike twice in victory over Met

Goals from Michael Bakare and Jay Owen gave Connah’s Quay Nomads a JD Welsh Premier victory away to Cardiff Met on Sunday afternoon.

• Bakare sent Nomads ahead in first half
• Jay Owen doubled Nomads’ lead in second
• Met reduced to ten men late on
• The win moves Nomads to second in the league

The game saw The Nomads go into their first piece of JD Welsh Premier action in nine days, after they drew 1-1 with Bala Town at Deeside last Thursday in a Facebook Live game.

Andy Morrison named a much unchanged line up from that game, with Andy Owens dropping to the bench and Callum Morris returning from injury.  Michael Bakare, Michael Wilde and Declan Poole led the line for The Nomads with Nathan Woolfe and Ryan Wignall on the bench.

Cardiff Met, who The Nomads had drawn 0-0 with in their last two visits to Cyncoed Campus, started regulars including Adam Roscrow and Charlie Corsby.

The game started off in stalemate fashion, with neither side having any major chances in the opening ten minutes.  In the 12th minute, Chris Baker tried to break through on goal for but Mike Pearson made a vital tackle.

Sean Smith was industrious on the left for The Nomads as he helped push them upfield, looking to send Michael Bakare through with a long throw in into the Met area.

As a heavy shower of sleet and snow came onto the pitch, the encounter saw end to end chances with both The Nomads and Met having header attempts cleared off the line.

With 30 minutes played, The Nomads again went close with Callum Morris having a close range effort cleared off the line before Kai Edwards sent a powerful shot towards goalkeeper Will Fuller, who held the shot.

The Nomads eventually got their goal in the 35th minute, when from a corner taken by Declan Poole, Kai Edwards passed to Jay Owen who assisted Bakare with a short pass allowing him to strike just inside the left post from inside the Met area.

???? PHOTOS: Michael Bakare opens the scoring for The Nomads... he then gets a little carried away with his celebration, accidentally destroying the corner flag resulting in a yellow card #JDWPL pic.twitter.com/PIud9wTt0U

— Connah's Quay Nomads (@the_nomads) February 11, 2018

Bakare's goal had an unfortunate consequence, as his celebration accidentally broke the Met corner flag leading to him being booked by referee Richard Harrington.

The away side held onto their lead until the interval, with Cardiff Met looking to match The Nomads when play got underway, leading to a largely even restart.

Declan Poole looked bright for The Nomads, putting 'keeper Fuller under pressure when he chased a ball down against the keeper. Fuller initially lost possession of the ball but was covered by a defender’s clearance in the 50th minute.

After Met’s Aaron James sent a 22 yard effort wide of goal, Jay Owen pounced on a defensive mistake to double Nomads’ lead in the 59th minute.  When Met’s Bowler slipped, he took the ball and ran at goal to slot coolly under Fuller.  With a 2-0 lead Nomads looked to control the game and limited Met’s chances for the remainder of the encounter.

Declan Poole and Michael Wilde threatened for The Nomads as they looked for a third goal to stave off any chances of a Met comeback.  A change was made in the 75th minute when Declan Poole was replaced by Ryan Wignall.

Wignall made an immediate impact, winning a corner for Nomads before sending a number of dangerous crosses into the Met area.  Wignall’s won corner was taken short by Michael Bakare who ran along the edge of the Met area before having his angled shot attempt blocked.

The Nomads also introduced Nathan Woolfe into the game in place of Bakare.
Woolfe helped keep Nomads high up the pitch as they continued to dominate possession and deal with any breaks from Met.

The Students were dealt a late blow in the 88th minute, when Adam Roscrow was shown a straight red for foul language.  His side kept going deep into the four additional minutes of injury time but were unable to change the outcome as Nomads took all three points home.

The win moves The Nomads up to second in the JD Welsh Premier League and sets up a 2nd versus 4th six pointer away to Bangor City next Friday 16 February for a 7:45pm kick off.

Match Photos

Match Report by Will Catterall