Saturday afternoon saw The Nomads and Penybont share the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the JD Cymru Premier with Kris Owens’ horrific knee injury unfortunately overshadowing the result.

Ben Nash’s superb header from Kris Owens’ corner gave Nomads the breakthrough just after the hour mark but ten minutes from time, Penybont captain Kane Owen converted a penalty to draw his side level which would earn both sides a point meaning the race for Europe still hangs in the balance.

Form
The Nomads come into this game on the back of a heartbreaking Welsh Cup semi final defeat to Bala Town last Friday after Chris Venables’ late goal. However, an unbeaten start to Phase Two has The Nomads in a great position heading into the run-in for European football. Ryan Harrington’s late winner against Cardiff Met and two draws against both Bala and Newtown has Nomads in second place with three possible spots for Europe available as of now.

As for Rhys Griffiths’ Penybont, they were also on the losing side in their Welsh Cup semi final as current holders TNS ran out 2-0 winners courtesy of a Josh Daniels brace. Just like Nomads, Bont are also unbeaten in Phase Two with a late victory against Cardiff Met, a goalless draw with Bala and a hard earned point against runaway league leaders TNS.

Team News
The Nomads made three changes from their cup defeat to Bala as Mike Wilde, Mike Hayes and Paulo Mendes were all named in the starting eleven, replacing the trio of Dan Roberts, Callum Bratley and Harry Franklin.

Penybont made two changes to their starting eleven with Sam Snaith and Lewis Harling coming into the side to replace Keyon Reffell and Kai Whitmore.

The First Half
The first ten minutes proved to be a case of both sides showing their defensive qualities. A series of crosses delivered into the box were dealt with at both ends of the pitch with one occasion seeing The Nomads appeal for a penalty following a potential handball but referee Aaron Wyn Jones instantly dismissed the claims and play continued.

Ben Nash then suffered a slight injury in which he had to receive treatment, temporarily putting Nomads down to ten men for the time being and the hosts nearly made the most of the extra man, acting quickly to threaten The Nomads box but it was defended well once again.

As we reached the midway stage in the first half, Andy Firth was called into action for the first time as he made a vital interception to prevent Nathan Wood getting on the end of a dangerous cross from out wide.

Wood then did test Firth but the goalkeeper wasn’t fazed by what was a tame effort from Penybont’s star striker who was looking like Penybont’s most dangerous man inside the final third.

The hosts then had the best chance of the game just a few minutes later as a Bont corner was swung in and fell to Lewis Harling inside the area who sent a wicked volley goalwards but the Penybont man was denied by the crossbar.

Harling then broke free and caused trouble again as Nathan Wood’s pass into his teammate allowed the midfielder to race through inside the area but just before Harling could pull the trigger, George Horan made a magnificent sliding tackle to keep the clean sheet alive.

The Second Half
The Nomads made their first change at the start of the second half as Kris Owens was introduced in place of Mike Hayes.

The Nomads then started to grow more into the game as an inswinging corner was met by George Horan who leaped highest to send a header on target but Bont keeper Kelland Absalom was alert and made the stop.

Lewis Harling had his third chance of the game on the hour mark as he ran through down the right and looked to beat Firth at his near post but the goalkeeper quickly reacted to Harling’s powerful attempt to tip it away for a corner.

The Nomads made the breakthrough in the 66th minute as Kris Owens’ delightful corner found an unmarked Ben Nash who sent a bullet header into the back of the net to score his 5th goal of the season, leaving Absalom no chance.

Penybont then made a double substitution with the duo of Kai Whitmore and Lewis Clutton coming on for Nathan Wood and Shaun MacDonald. The Nomads also made a change with Ryan Stratulis replacing Josh Williams in midfield.

In the 80th minute, Penybont were awarded a penalty by the referee after Lewis Harling was brought down by Ben Nash inside the area giving Bont skipper Kane Owen the chance to level from the spot. Owen stepped up and fired his penalty into the top left hand corner to make it 1-1 with ten minutes to play.

There was a glorious opportunity for Bont to snatch a late winner as Kai Whitmore’s curling effort was tipped away by Firth but only as far as Sam Snaith who was left with a free header on the rebound but the striker was unable to find the target from close range.

The game was then overshadowed following a horrific injury suffered by Kris Owens who went down holding his leg. Physios quickly rushed on to attend to Owens who stayed down for a lengthy amount of time. The referee abandoned the game for just over 5 minutes and waited until Owens could be stretchered off safely before continuing with play.

Some spectators were bemused that the game was going to resume following what had just occurred and the mood in the crowd turned flat after witnessing a very painful injury. We still had three minutes of stoppage time to play and neither side were able to find a dramatic late winner so at full time, it finished 1-1 as The Nomads remained in second place, three points clear of Penybont in third with the race for Europe still hanging in the balance.

Next Fixture
The Nomads now return to Deeside Stadium next Friday night where Neil Gibson’s side face league leaders TNS and for those of you who won’t be able to make the trip down to Deeside, the game will be broadcast live in front of the Sgorio cameras. The match will take place on Friday 17th March with a 7:45pm evening kick off.

Match report by Adam Angerer