The Nomads fell to only their second home defeat of the season with a 1-0 loss against Carmarthen Town on Saturday afternoon.

A second half Ceri Morgan goal was enough to take all three points for Carmarthen in a physical and attritional game at Deeside Stadium.

The game was the opening fixture of Phase Two with both The Nomads and Carmarthen securing top six football in advance of the split.  The Nomads came into the game with good form having held Bala to a 0-0 draw and beating Haverfordwest 5-1 in the JD Welsh Cup.  Carmarthen also came to Deeside in high spirits after recent victories over Cardiff Met and Rhyl.

The Nomads lost recent signing Ryan Wignall to injury, starting Les Davies and Michael Wilde with Nathan Woolfe named on the bench.  Carmarthen started a strong lineup with well known names such as Ceri Morgan and Liam Thomas.

The physical nature of the game was obvious with some strong aerial challenges made by both sides in the opening minutes.  Lewis Short threatened Carmarthen with a long throw into the Carmarthen area before Matty Williams made a darting run, but both were dealt with by the Old Gold defence.

In the fifteenth minute Ceri Morgan made an angled run into The Nomads' area, having his shot blocked low by The Nomads’ captain George Horan.

Wes Baynes tried to break down Carmarthen with some well weighted crosses, but goalkeeper Lee Idzi successfully caught them on numerous occasions throughout the game.

Two of the best chances of the first half came within a minute of each other when George Horan had a shot go just wide from a Baynes corner, before Dwaine Bailey had a header saved on the Nomads goal line by John Danby in the 26th minute.

As the half went on, The Nomads got in the Carmarthen area more, but were met by a well organised defence who consistently shut The Nomads out.  In one attack, Lewis Short, Jay Owen and Matty Owen all had shots blocked from inside the area.

The Nomads finished the first half with the majority of possession but no advantage after an even and well contested first 45 minutes.  A change was made during the break, with Nathan Woolfe coming on for Matty Williams.

Woolfe contributed to a lively restart from The Nomads who immediately went on the attack.  Wes Baynes sent a great cross into the Old Gold area for Davies, but it just evaded him around seven yards from the goal.

Nathan Woolfe then made an individual run from inside his own half to the Carmarthen area on 53 minutes only to be denied by an Idzi save from eight yards out.  He continued to cause problems for Carmarthen, sending some dangerous crosses into their area.

However Carmarthen were equally effective in their attacks, nearly scoring just past the hour mark if not for a major challenge and save by George Horan and John Danby respectively.

The Nomads brought on Callum Morris to replace Jay Owen as time began to go against them with the game goalless after 70 minutes.  A 25 yard free kick from Baynes was headed on by Horan only to be saved, with Carmarthen finally breaking the deadlock in the 78th minute.

Ceri Morgan received the ball just inside The Nomads' box and sent a powerful effort into the right hand corner of The Nomads' net.  This impressive goal from Morgan forced The Nomads to dig deep as they now searched to salvage at least a point from the afternoon.

The Nomads came close to equalising two minutes later when Nathan Woolfe saw a shot sail just past Carmarthen’s right post.  The Nomads’ final substitution saw Tom Field came on in place of Matty Owen.

In the final stage of the game, The Nomads forced four corners, but none managed to get past a determined Carmarthen defence with three points within their reach.

Les Davies came closest for The Nomads with a header going just over the crossbar from a Nathan Woolfe cross in the 85th minute.  The Nomads persisted with their attacks throughout the four additional minutes at the end of the game but to no avail with the full time score confirming Carmarthen’s win.

The result was a disappointing one for a Nomads side in previous good form, unable to get a result on a day when little came off for them.

They will now look to bounce back away to Bangor City on Friday 10 February for a 7:45pm kick off.

Match report by Will Catterall