Connah’s Quay Nomads exited the Nathaniel MG Cup at the semi final stage on Saturday afternoon after a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff Met FC at Deeside.

A solitary Adam Roscrow goal in the 35th minute was enough to knock Nomads out of the league cup competition.

• Nomads enjoyed strong start to game
• Defensive mistakes saw Roscrow send Met ahead
• Nomads pushed for an equaliser in the second half
• Full time saw Met progress to the final versus Cambrian & Clydach

The game was Nomads’ third in eight days, following their 2-1 victory over Queen’s Park FC at Hampden Park in the Irn Bru Cup quarter final, and a 1-1 draw at Newtown AFC in the JD Welsh Premier League.

It was also Nomads’ fourth consecutive Nathaniel MG Cup semi final, and their seventh semi final in all competitions during the past four seasons.

They were looking to end a run of losses at the semi final stage of the cup, having been defeated by Denbigh Town and The New Saints previously.

Andy Morrison made three changes to his line up, bringing in Michael Bakare, captain George Horan and Jack Kenny, with Michael Wilde and Danny Holmes out through suspension.

Cardiff Met announced a side with including the likes of Adam Roscrow, Eliot Evans, and captain Bradley Woolridge.

The game began and Nomads attacked the visitor’s end, with Jack Kenny contesting for a long ball sent up by Michael Bakare in the second minute.

Two minutes later, Bakare sent a low cross into the Cardiff area, but goalkeeper Alex Lang collected it.

The Nomads’ attacking line began to pick up the pace, as in the 9th Callum Morris sending a threatening cross in which evaded both Kenny and Horan.

With 10 minutes played, the Nomads were on top and continued to look for a way past the Student’s defensive line with some good passing across the field.

In the 17th minute, Cardiff Met won a throw in deep in the Nomads’ half, but their long throw attempt was headed away by Horan.

One of the chances of the half came in the 19th, when a long throw in from Laurence Wilson was half volleyed towards goal by Michael Parker from eight yards out, but his shot was blocked.

Ryan Wignall was a threat for Nomads on the right wing, as he ran into the Met area to send a tight angled effort towards goal from six yards, with Lang pushing it out for a corner.

With 30 minutes the game was in deadlock, and although neither side looked likely to score with few clear chances in the semi final so far.

But in the 35th minute, Met pounced on an opportunity to score after a defensive mistake from Nomads.

When Michael Parker sent a short pass back towards John Danby, it was chased up by Baker, with Danby’s attempted clearance deflecting off the Met man to go to Adam Roscrow, who was able to slot the ball into an open Nomads goal at close range.

The Nomads were 0-1 down and actively looking to level the score before the break, seeing a penalty claim dismissed by referee Kevin Parry when Jay Owen went down in the area on 42 minutes.

Despite being on top for large parts of the first half, the Nomads trailed at the break.
Andy Morrison rung the changes at half time, replacing Kenny and Parker with Rob Hughes and Jonny Spittle, who went into the Nomads’ defensive line allowing Horan to go upfront and provide Nomads with more strength and height in their quest for an equaliser.

Horan’s impact was immediately felt, as he narrowly missed out on heading a cross from Wignall towards the visitor’s goal at close range on 46 minutes.

The Nomads proceeded to dominate the opening stage of the second half, winning set pieces in the Cardiff half to try and unlock Christian Edwards’ side with long throw in’s into the area from Laurence Wilson.

But Met hit back, with a good move seeing Eliot Evans hit the post from seven yards out in the 56th minute before he returned 60 seconds later to send a 25 yard effort wide.

Rob Hughes then sent a shot curling wide of the Met goal from the edge of the area as Nomads’ equaliser attempts continued to go begging.

With an hour played, Michael Bakare followed up on a deflected shot from Wignall to send a half volley at goal, but his effort was blocked by a stubborn Cardiff defence.

Nomads final change came near 70 minutes, with Jay Owen replaced by Declan Poole as Nomads sought an attacking edge to finally find an equaliser.

They had a fright in the 78th minute, when a pass from Wilson was intercepted by Evans, who ran towards goal before having a tame 12 yard effort collected by Danby.

As the game entered its final 10 minutes, the Nomads needed at least one goal to take the cup tie into extra time, and were pushing hard via the likes of Wignall and Bakare.

In the 85th minute, Horan went close to making it 1-1 when he sent  header from a John Danby free kick wide of Lang’s goal.

As the game neared the 90 minute mark Nomads were packed into the Met area,  but couldn’t find a clinical finish.

After four additional minutes of injury time, full time confirmed that Cardiff Met will face Cambrian & Clydach in the Nathaniel MG Cup final in January 2019.

Connah’s Quay’s attentions return to JD Welsh Premier League, as they welcome Llandudno FC to Deeside on Saturday 1 December for a 2:30pm kick off.

Match report by Will Catterall