Match Report by Ray Brown.

In one of the most eventful games ever seen at the Deeside Stadium, the Nomads battled to a highly creditable 3-3 draw against Prestatyn. A last minute equaliser from Rhys Healey lifted Nomads into 6th place, with a place in the WPL top 6 play-offs now a real possibility. 

A game that was always going to be difficult, was made even harder when midfielder Danny Forde received a straight red card in the 29th minute, but 10 man Nomads showed tremendous character and resolve and battled away to get the point they deserved.  The drama heightened in a second half that lasted 75 minutes, when play was stopped for more than 20 minutes for Prestatyn keeper Jonathon Hill-Dunt to receive treatment for a head injury. Referee Lee Evans then played some 10 minutes more than the time allowed for the interruption.      

With skipper Craig Jones suspended, Nomads brought in new signing John Hardiker for his full debut with Ryan Edwards being given a start in place of Rob Jones.

Prestatyn put the home defence under early pressure and John Rushton was forced into his first save of the evening in the 5th minute. The first chance for Nomads came in the 10th minute when Ryan Edwards put Rhys Healey though, but after going past two defenders his shot was saved low down by the keeper. In the 15th minute, Healey had another chance and this time he was on target. The move started with Ricky Evans running at the Prestatyn defence and although fouled, he stayed on his feet and passed to Rhys, who slotted his shot past the advancing keeper. 

Nomads lead was short lived when Prestatyn scored in the 18th minute as Anthony Stephens rose above the Nomads defence to head in from a corner kick. Four minutes later the visitors went 2-1 up after Andy Parkinson’s speculative 30 yard lob shot, deceived John Rushton and went in off the inside of the post. Rushton soon redeemed himself with a couple of good stops, but then Danny Forde was red carded by referee Evans for a late challenge, which probably only deserved a yellow. Referee Evans had sent two Nomads players off in earlier games this season and he was on the wrong side of this incident to have seen it clearly. He seems to relish issuing cards and the Nomads were now down to 10 men with an hour of the game left to play. 

Facing an uphill battle, Nomads appeared to be gifted a chance in the 37th minute when the Prestatyn keeper’s poor goal kick was collected by Ricky Evans. He crossed the ball to Rhys Healey in front of the goal. A goal looked certain but somehow Rhys’s effort from a couple of yards out, hit the crossbar and rebound back into play to be cleared by the defence.

Half time came with Prestatyn 2-1 up and with the Nomads down to 10 men, they faced what looked like an impossible task to get back into the game.

Rob Jones replaced Ryan Edwards as the second half started and Prestatyn almost immediately extended their lead when Mark McGregor was forced to make a goal-line clearance from an Andy Parkinson effort. Then Nomads applied some pressure with four corners in the space of seven minutes and Jamie Petrie had a fierce shot deflected for a corner after collecting a good cross-field pass from Chris Rowntree. 10 man Nomads were not giving up and their effort was rewarded when Chris Rowntree took a pass from Rhys Healey and hit a tremendous 30 yard shot into the top corner of the net, leaving the keeper with no chance to save it.

Prestatyn came back on the offensive and Rushton did well to palm the ball away that floated towards the top of the goal. A couple of minutes later, Prestatyn almost scored from a corner, but the headed effort was blocked on the goal-line by a Nomads defender.

The game continued end to end with Rob Jones and Ricky Evans putting in efforts on goal, but then in the 80th minute Ricky collided with the Prestatyn keeper as they both went for a low cross from Jamie Petrie. It was obvious that Hill-Dunt needed urgent treatment on the field and it was about 20 minutes later that he was able to leave the pitch with Neil Gibson taking over in goal. Hill-Dunt sustained a gash to his forehead as he collided with Ricky’s knee but thankfully, he didn’t appear to be seriously injured. 

When play resumed, both teams were looking for a winner and as the end of normal time neared and it looked as if Prestatyn had it when Andy Parkinson scored his second goal, a tap in from close range from a header from Jason Price. 

Though it looked like the end, Nomads plugged away and kept looking to push forward while expecting the final whistle. But somehow, referee Evans found about 10 additional minutes and the Nomads’ efforts were rewarded, when just 60 seconds from the end, Rhys Healey connected with a corner kick to score his second of the game.

An amazing game with many twists and turns and the 3-3 draw was probably a fair result.  Playing for much of the game with only ten men, the Nomads will be pleased to have got the point which puts them in 6th place and makes the next game away at Bala, an exciting prospect. Prestatyn will probably be wondering how referee Evans found the 10 minutes of additional time which in the end worked to the advantage of the Nomads.