The Nomads booked their place in the Nathaniel MG Cup semi finals with a 2-1 victory over Rhyl on Tuesday evening.  Les Davies and Shelton Payne sent The Nomads ahead in the first half before an own goal was scored by Wes Baynes.

The game was a highly anticipated quarter final with The Nomads meeting close rivals Rhyl at Deeside Stadium to fight for a place in the semi finals against either Bangor City or The New Saints.

The Nomads announced a strong lineup, with Shelton Payne and Michael Wilde in the side for The Nomads whilst defender Chris Rimmer returned from injury to start for the first time since April.  Rhyl meanwhile started a side including Rob Hughes, Jamie Brewerton and prolific goalscorer Porya Ahmadi.

The game began and it was The Nomads who established themselves as the team on top.  Les Davies sent a powerful 20 yard effort over the Rhyl goal, before Nick Rushton had a low shot saved by an in-form Will Evans in the 11th minute.

Michael Wilde then just missed out on a flicked assist from Shelton Payne as The Nomads continued to dominate play.  Their efforts eventually paid off in the 18th minute, when Les Davies poked a Sean Smith cross in after Evans had failed to deal with the cross.

The Nomads were comfortable in their lead, and dealt with any pressure from Rhyl well dealt with by the home defence.  The second goal of the game came in the 38th minute when Shelton Payne converted a penalty.  After being brought down after a run into the Rhyl area, Payne stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the net, handing his side a comfortable lead at half time.

In the second half, The Nomads were dealt an early blow, when a wicked cross from Rob Hughes deflected off Wes Baynes, who was unfortunate to beat Danby and put the ball in his own net.

Boosted by their goal, Rhyl again threatened when Lewis Buckley initially beat John Disney on a run towards The Nomads' area before the caretaker centre back made a vital tackle to clear.

After Chris Rimmer was replaced by Lewis Short, The Nomads saw a goalmouth scramble with Jay Owen, Michael Wilde and Les Davies all having shots blocked in a situation that looked like a certain goal for The Nomads.

More changes were made to help The Nomads consolidate their lead, with Shelton Payne and Nick Rushton coming off for Matty Williams and Tom Field.  With 20 minutes to go, The Nomads once again were controlling the game well but could not find a third goal, making for a tense closing period of the quarter final.

Both teams saw chances in the final 10 minutes with Wes Baynes having a free kick on the edge of the Rhyl area blocked by the wall and Les Davies sending a 20 yard effort over the crossbar.

Rhyl were awarded two dangerous free kicks as full time edged closer, prompting goalkeeper Will Evans to venture into The Nomads' area to try and help his side clinch an equaliser.

After three minutes of injury time The Nomads’ victory was confirmed, with a
2-0 victory by TNS over Bangor sets up a Nathaniel MG Cup semi final against the champions, with the official draw to decide the venue being made on Friday.

The New Saints are also The Nomads’ next opponents in the Dafabet Welsh Premier league, as they face them at Park Hall on Sunday 30 October for a 3:00pm kick off.

Match report by Will Catterall