Saturday afternoon saw gap Connah’s Quay Nomads defeated Cardiff Metropolitan by two goals to nil in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League.

       

• Les Davies scored on his 50th League start just before half time
• Matty Williams scored the second just a minute later
• A second yellow for Emlyn Lewis reduced Cardiff Met to 10 men in the second half
• The Nomads secure first phase two victory

The game was The Nomads’ first fixture at home for over a month, and they were looking for a return to winning ways having not yet won in Phase Two of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League.  They came into the game after a 1-1 draw at Bala Town the previous week.

Ryan Wignall made his first full start for The Nomads, joining the likes of Les Davies and Matty Williams in The Nomads’ attacking line. Cardiff Met started Adam Roscrow, Eliot Evans and Charlie Corsby as they looked to build on a draw at Carmarthen Town.

The Nomads started the game well and were soon pushing to get an early goal.
Les Davies had an effort blocked just seven yards from the Met goal before Jay Owen sent a Wes Baynes throw in over the crossbar.

Ryan Wignall was denied a goal on his home debut when his shot was cleared off the line by Chris Baker. Callum Morris followed up Baker’s clearance with a shot on goal that was well held by goalkeeper Will Fuller.

Cardiff survived The Nomads’ early chances to grow into the game, and were given an ideal opportunity to threaten the Nomads’ goal when after a pass-back an indirect free kick was awarded to Cardiff Met inside the Nomads area.  Roscrow stepped up to take the short range kick, but was denied by a block from the wall.

Les Davies saw a header glance across the Cardiff goal mouth on 31 minutes, but followed up with the opening goal on 40 minutes.  He rose up to head the ball over a Met defender and Fuller who came off his line to try and catch the ball, allowing Davies to powerfully head the ball into an open net.  Davies’ goal came on his 50th Welsh Premier League start for The Nomads.

Just a minute later, The Nomads had their second, when Matty Williams snuck behind the Met defence to strike from around six yards.  The Nomads took their 2-0 lead at half time deservedly, and continued to put a strong performance after the restart.

John Danby reacted well to keep out a long range Met effort which deflected towards his goal on 53 minutes, with Nomads clearing out the subsequent corner.
Cardiff Met were dealt a big blow on the hour mark, when Emlyn Lewis was dismissed after earning a second yellow for a foul on Callum Morris.  With a one man advantage, The Nomads began to take full control of the game.

Changes were soon made by The Nomads, with goal scorers Williams and Davies brought off for Lewis Short and Michael Wilde. Ryan Wignall used his skill and pace to cause problems for Met, but missed out on getting Nomads a third goal despite creating a number of opportunities.

Michael Wilde sent a header just over the Met goal on 79 minutes, with Nomads then holding out with a professional performance for the rest of the game to confirm an ultimately comfortable win at full time.

Nothing makes a weekend like a win, clean sheet and professional performance. @the_nomads players deserve great credit for this weeks work.

— Jay Catton (@JayCatton) March 11, 2017

The result keeps Nomads third and well in the race for automatic European qualification. They now move onto a Dafabet Welsh Premier fixture away to Carmarthen Town on Saturday 18 March for a 2:30pm kick off.

Match report by Will Catterall