Murray stars as Nomads beat Cambrian to extend winning run

Iwan Murray scored two goals and grabbed an assist to inspire Connah’s Quay Nomads to a 3-0 win over Cambrian United in the Novira Cymru Premier at the Essity Stadium on Friday. 

Callum West opened the scoring early on by receiving Murray’s pass and slotting home at the near post before a defensive error from Cambrian allowed Murray to score his first ever goal for the club. 

The Nomads then ensured some VAR decisions were not the major talking point in the second half as Harry Franklin went on a mazy solo run down the left hand side and squared to Murray, who produced another composed finish to cap off another impressive display as John Disney’s side secured a fourth consecutive Novira Cymru Premier win and third straight clean sheet. 

Team News

John Disney made four changes from last weekend’s 2-0 win at Ammanford as Abdi Sharif, Iwan Murray, Frankie Deane and Rhys Watson returned to replace Conor Partridge, Hussein Mehasseb, Max Woodcock and Freddie Redshaw, who were all on the bench. 

Cambrian United manager Liam Williams had every reason to name his unchanged starting lineup that beat Haverfordwest County 3-0 away from home last weekend. 

First Half

The Nomads made a dream start to the contest and took the lead after just two minutes through Callum West. A slick, pacy attacking move saw Murray receive Franklin’s skillful flick and play through West, who stayed composed inside the area to tease his marker and sit down Kelland Absalom before rolling the ball into the net at the near post for his sixth goal contribution in four games. 

West nearly had a brace to his name by the seventh minute as he met Rhys Watson’s cross and steered towards goal, but this time Absalom was equal to the effort. 

There was another swift attack which almost resulted in a goal as the clock only just ticked past the 10-minute mark. The whole defence and midfield had action on the ball before West played a defence-splitting into Murray, who fired inches wide of the bottom corner. 

Chris Renshaw was on top form to keep his third consecutive clean sheet intact as he made crucial saves to deny Alex Bonthron and Josh Allen from inside the area either side of a great chance for Mikey Stone which saw the attacker bring down Renshaw’s long ball and drift into the area, only to be denied by Absalom from close range. 

The Nomads were ultimately gifted their second goal 10 minutes before half time as a tame header at the back from Cambrian captain Kyle Jones was intercepted by Murray, who seized upon the opportunity by rounding Absalom and tucking away his first goal for the club. 

Second Half

Indonesian international Joe Ferguson put the ball in the back of the net as he headed in from Stone’s cross on 65 minutes, but following a brief VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside. 

Disney then turned to his bench to make four changes as Dan Cowan, Max Woodcock, Freddie Redshaw and Conor Partridge replaced Watson, Stone, Alex Hughes and Frankie Deane. 

Woodcock’s first action saw him deliver a dangerous cross into the box which looped up in the air and allowed Ferguson to head towards goal, but it proved to be a comfortable save for Absalom. 

Cambrian nearly halved the deficit with five minutes of normal time remaining as Dylan Edwards’ shot trickled past Renshaw but was remarkably cleared off the line by Ferguson. 

Moments after Egyptian forward Hussein Mehasseb replaced our first scorer West, the Nomads ensured they claimed all three points as Franklin retrieved the ball from Ferguson’s headed clearance, went on a solo run and skipped past Danny Hillman before squaring for Murray, who slid in and bagged his brace from close range. 

The Nomads have now kept three straight clean sheets for the first time in nearly 18 months and now climb up to third in the table having scored the most league goals out of any team so far (15). 

What’s Next?

Our busy Bank Holiday weekend continues this Monday, 31 August as we contest our first Flintshire derby of the season against Flint Town United at the Essity Stadium (2:30pm). 

The Nomads faced the Silkmen on Bank Holiday Monday last season as we came from two goals down to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory, which was in fact John Disney’s first league win as Connah’s Quay boss. Harry Franklin starred in the reverse fixture as we claimed a 2-0 win on Boxing Day, with the two results of course helping us towards our eventual UEFA Conference League qualification. 

Match Report by Adam Angerer