Saturday afternoon saw Connah's Quay Nomads defeat Newtown 3-2 at Latham Park in the JD Cymru Premier.

It was a game which saw Nomads dominate large portions of the game and not quite secure the victory sooner, as Newtown managed to claw back a second half goal when Nomads could have been out of sight, which meant the last ten minutes were a little tighter than Nomads would have liked.

The Nomads came into the game with a number of changes to the starting lineup with Harry Franklin returning from suspension up front and John Disney out injured seeing Dan Roberts come into the lineup. Nomads were also boosted by the fact that Noah Edwards returned to the bench following his freak injury at Cardiff Met just before Christmas which saw him sidelined with an internal injury.

First Half
The Nomads started positively winning a corner inside the first minute which then saw Ben Nash attempt to scramble the ball goalwards, but it was cleared by the Newtown defence. This quick piece of positive defending seemed to provide Newtown with an impotus in the opening minutes and Fumpa Mwandwe would force Andy Firth into a good save just five minutes later as he cut in from the left.

Three minutes later and Zeli Ismael would force another good save out of Firth, but unfortuantely Firth's save would fall just inside the six yard box and to Jason Oswell to tap in to put Newtown 1-0 up inside the first ten minutes.

Newtown looked to build on this early goal as Mwandwe would again come in off the left only this time to see his right footed shot go wide of Firth's goal.

The first real chance for Nomads came in the 20th minute for Jack Kenny who chased a through ball in on goal only to see Newtown goalkeeper Andy Wycherley reach the ball just before him to deny the striker a chance on goal.

Just before the half hour mark though, The Nomads would draw level through Jordan Davies - Ryan Harrington would create a yard of space on the left win before sending a left footed cross into the Newtown box and Jordan Davies would rise highest to head home from close range.

Just after the goal, Aron Williams would receive a blow to the head and just four minutes later was replaced by Eddie Clarke who would come on to play a pivotal role in the proceedings.

The Nomads would continue to find joy down the left wing and this time Harry Franklin reached onto a ball right on the goalline, cutting the ball back into the box to see Declan Poole come plowing into the box to slam the ball beyond Wycherley with a solidly struck sidefoot, but the Assistant Referee adjudged that Franklin had let the ball go out just before he cut it back to Poole and the goal was ruled out.

On the stroke of half time, however, The Nomads would find the net again and this time it would not be ruled out. In what was almost a carbon-copy of the first goal, Eddie Clarke would provide a pinpoint left-footed cross into the box and again Jordan Davies would arrive right on cue to head The Nomads in front with his 17th goal of the season.

Second Half
The second half started well for Nomads as Jordan Davies looked to complete his hat-trick with another header inside the box - his effort was goign wide and it looked as though Jack Kenny might reach the ball to keep the chance alive and was seemingly pulled back but referee Aaron Wyn Jones waved away claims for a penalty.

Just eight minuted into the half, Jack Kenny scored what would turn out to be the winning goal. The move started from an Andy Firth ball up to Jordan Davies on the half way line, who would turn and play a neat through ball to the onrushing Eddie Clarke on the left wing - Clarke would then provide his second assist of the afternoon as he put the ball on a plate for Jack Kenny to simply slot home from seven yards out and give The Nomads a 3-1 lead.

Nomads would immediately look for another as Ryan Harrington flashed a ball into the box only to see Jack Kenny's sliding effort go wide of the near post.

Just before the hour mark, Newtown would pull back another goal, again through Jason Oswell - a free kick wasn't dealt with inside the box and the ball fell to Oswell who struck towards goal, with the ball deflecting off Declan Poole's back and into the net.

The Nomads continued to search for a fourth goal with Ryan Harrington shooting from the edge of the box in the 64th minute only to see his effort drag just wide of the post before he hit a similar effort over the bar just two minutes later.

In the 68th minute, Declan Poole would burst into the Newtown box and as he looked to pick out Jack Kenny, Kieran Mills-Evans would make a last-second block to divert the ball away from goal.

In the 71st minute Ryan Stratulis and the returning Noah Edwards would come on in place of Josh Williams and goalscorer Jack Kenny.

Just a minute later and Eddie Clarke would look to add a goal to his fine performance, beating Newtown goalkeeper Andy Wycherley to the ball on the edge of the box - Clarke would lob the ball towards goal only to see Ryan Sears clear the ball off the line however in the process was clattered by Wycherley drawing shouts for a penalty from Nomads players and staff but they fell on deaf ears as play continued.

10 minutes later and The Nomads would have a key chance to put the game to bed - Jordan Davies latched on to a through ball down the right wing and found Harry Franklin inside the box who unfortuantely dragged his effort wide of goal.

Newtown's last major chance came as Kai Edwards mis-kicked a clearance 30 yards from goal - thi gave Mwandwe the opportunity to sprint towards goal before he passed to Matty Jones but his show was comfortably saved by Andy Firth.

Just as the fourth official was indicating six minutes of injury time, Harry Franklin would send an effort agonisingly wide of Wycherley's goal, but it would prove to be unrequired as after injury time, Aaron Wyn Jones blew the whistle to signify full time and an important three points for The Nomads.

Full Time
The result saw The Nomads extend our gap to Bala Town in third place to thirteen points and take one step closer to European football for the second successive season.

Despite having to watch on from the stands, Neil Gibson spoke at full time to praise his players and staff for overseeing an impressive victory at Latham Park.

REACTION

Despite having to sit the game out up in the stands, @NeilGibson22 was delighted with his team's performance at Latham Park to go 13 points clear in second place pic.twitter.com/uvBQNJq96m

— Connah's Quay Nomads FC (@the_nomads) February 10, 2024

Next Match
The Nomads next match is in the JD Welsh Cup against Buckley Town - a fixture that will take place at The Globe on Saturday 17th February with a 2:00pm kick off.

Match report by Nik Mesney