Nomads earn hard-fought point against Bluebirds

The Nomads were forced to settle for a point away to Haverfordwest County at Richmond Park on Saturday afternoon.

Both sides had their fair share of chances with Ben Maher seeing his strike crash off the post, while numerous efforts from the Bluebirds were safely dealt with by goalkeeper George Ratcliffe.

The result keeps The Nomads ninth in the table and six points adrift of a place in the top six following other results across the league on Saturday.

Team News
Billy Paynter made just one change from our 3-0 win over Aberystwyth Town last weekend as Ben Maher made his first league start of the season, replacing Fumpa Mwandwe. There was also a return to the bench for Aron Williams, who had been ruled out with injury for the last three matches.

Haverfordwest manager Tony Pennock made two changes from his side’s 2-0 victory away to Bala Town last weekend as Rhys Abbruzzese and Ben Ahmun replaced Owain Jones and Luke Tabone, who was reporting for Malta on international duty.

First Half
The first real chance of the match fell to Ben Maher, who came extremely close to scoring his first JD Cymru Premier goal for the club as his fierce strike from inside the area crashed off the far post.

Haverfordwest instantly launched an attack of their own up the other end of the field, but Ben Fawcett’s deflected strike flew wide of the post.

From the resulting corner, George Ratcliffe came up clutch to produce a fine save from Kyle McCarthy’s header. Bluebirds captain Dylan Rees tried to pick up the pieces, but his shot was immediately cleared off the line.

Ratcliffe was called into action twice more towards the end of the first half, but long range attempts from Corey Shephard and Lee Jenkins proved comfortable for the goalkeeper.

Second Half
Alaric Jones thought he had given Haverfordwest the lead nine minutes into the second half, but his first-time effort flashed across the face of goal, which came to the midfielder’s frustration.

Rhys Hughes had his first sight of goal on the hour mark, but he was unable to hit the target with his curling effort from distance.

A first change for The Nomads arrived in the 62nd minute as Elliott Dugan replaced Jack Kenny, who was on a yellow card.

Dugan nearly made an instant impact as he was played through down the left hand side by Rhys Hughes, but his low drive was a comfortable one for Zac Jones to gather.

Hughes soon made way for Fumpa Mwandwe, and it was also pleasing to see the return of Aron Williams, who overcame a minor injury and came on for Ben Maher.

Ben Fawcett tried his luck from distance for the third time in the match, but once again his effort was tame and George Ratcliffe was able to safely collect.

There was a slight stoppage in play as Bluebirds goalkeeper Zac Jones received treatment. This resulted in five minutes of stoppage time, but neither side were able to find a breakthrough at Richmond Park.

What’s Next?
It is now just three days until The Nomads are back in action as Billy Paynter’s side travel to Maes Tegid to face Bala Town on Tuesday, 15 October.

The Nomads will be eyeing a third consecutive clean sheet and a crucial three points, which would certainly boost hopes of reaching the top six.

Kick off time against the Lakesiders will be at 7:45pm. Match coverage will be available across our social media channels.

Match Report by Adam Angerer