Date Published: Wednesday, 27th September, 2023 - 9:25am by Adam Angerer
Sunday afternoon saw The Nomads overcome a battling Bangor side to move to the summit of the Genero Adran North thanks to goals from Elana Harley, Phoebe Ellis and Polly Wild-McGregor as well as an own goal from Bangor’s Rebecca Elliott.
The Nomads knew it wasn’t going to be an easy outing against a spirited Bangor side who secured promotion to the Adran North after storming to top spot in the NWWFL last season. A tense opening 25 minutes eventually saw Nomads break through the Bangor backline and score the opener. Elana Harley was slotted through on goal and with only the goalkeeper to beat, the striker made no mistake and fired into the roof of the net to make it 1-0. The Nomads were gifted a second just five minutes later as Phoebe Ellis’ corner kick was bizarrely turned into her own net by Bangor goalkeeper Rebecca Elliott.
Manager Jordan Parry knew this was a lead his side simply couldn’t give away and after Nomads came out even stronger in the second half, an in-form Phoebe Ellis struck gold once again to score her sixth goal of the season already and give Nomads a three goal cushion. Nomads continued to dominate possession, not allowing Bangor any sight of goal and Polly Wild-McGregor, who wore the captain’s armband for first time in her Nomads career made sure of a crucial three points, finding the bottom corner with a curling finish. Bangor pulled one back late on through youngster Menna Evans but a ruthless Nomads came away with the victory and now sit at the top of the Genero Adran North table.
Form
The Nomads came into this game with a perfect start to the season. Three wins from three has given manager Jordan Parry a number of positives to reflect on. The Nomads have been rampant in front of goal, scoring 15 goals already prior to today’s kick off with the first victory coming in the Flintshire derby against a young Airbus side where Polly Wild-McGregor and Shannon Hobbs starred in a 5-0 win. A week later, The Nomads kickstarted their Genero Adran Trophy campaign with a 6-0 triumph over NFA in rainy conditions. In their last outing, The Nomads began their defence of the NEWFA Cup in their first home game of the season against Y Felinheli. Aaron Jones-Evans’ side have proven to be a very tough opponent for The Nomads throughout the last few seasons and after the away side went ahead inside 20 minutes, The Nomads were forced to come from a goal down and play some of their best football so far this season, netting four goals including first Nomads goal for the duo of Sophie Hodson and Sophie Adams.
As for Bangor, a frustrating start to the season left them winless in their first three games as they suffered three narrow losses with the first of those coming in a hard fought battle against a new look Rhyl side who went away 1-0 victors. Bangor then faced Y Felinheli in the NWFCA Women’s Cup and after keeping their opponents at bay for almost the whole of the first half, Y Felinheli struck twice in the space of 15 minutes to progress. Bangor’s Adran Trophy campaign began with possibly their toughest fixture of the group, an away trip to 21/22 Adran North champions Llandudno. Bangor put up a fighting challenge but were outdone by a 39th minute Stevie Donougher strike. Bangor finally got their first win of the new season with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Airbus in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup Qualifying Round.
Team News
The Nomads made three changes from last weekend’s NEWFA Cup tie as summer signing Evie Chard came into defence for her Nomads debut, replacing Mel Barlow. First choice captain Kylie Jones’ absence meant Polly Wild-McGregor wore the armband for the first time in her Nomads career. Elana Harley joined up with Alisha Wright and Phoebe Ellis to complete the front three as Sophie Hodson dropped to the bench. Ella Harvey made her 25th appearance in Nomads colours almost a year after she joined the club.
Bangor manager Andrew Wright made just the one change to a team filled with young talent. Bangor’s first goalscorer from last weekend’s meeting with Airbus, Gwen Roberts was absent for this afternoon’s meeting and so 16 year old Cerys Macdonald made her second Adran North appearance.
The First Half
The Nomads found it tricky to create chances in the opening stages of the match, the threat was certainly there but goalkeeper Rebecca Elliott wasn’t forced into action at all. The first slight chance fell to Amber Bailey, who looked to tap home at the front post after Meg Andrews’ cross from the right but Elliott got in front of Bailey just in time to clear and prevent the ball reaching the net.
Shots were a must and Jordan Parry certainly stressed this from the touchline, urging his players to go for goal when given the space to do so. Ella Harvey received the ball on the edge of the box and went for power but her effort flashed wide of the target and the scoreline remained goalless.
Bangor’s main attacking threat was no doubt going to come through a swift counter attack, the forward line of the hosts pressed down Nomads and Menna Evans broke away down the left after intercepting the ball. Evans looked to get into the box onto her right foot but a brilliant sliding challenge from Evie Chard brought the attack to an end.
Somehow, The Nomads were unable to find the back of the net in the 20th minute as Elana Harley’s through ball into Alisha Wright saw the summer signing skip past the goalkeeper but just as Wright was going to tap home, a last ditch block from a Bangor defender on the goalline denied the No.12 of her first competitive Nomads goal.
The Nomads were not to be denied a second time as just five minutes later, Elana Harley opened the scoring to put Nomads ahead. A slick passing move in the final third saw Phoebe Ellis slip in Harley who fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net, making no mistake one-on-one from close range.
The Nomads were gifted a second goal from the hosts just four minutes after Harley’s opener as Phoebe Ellis’ corner was turned into her own het by a devastated Rebbeca Elliott. The goalkeeper tried to clear the ball at the front post but Elliott palmed the ball into her own net, giving Nomads a vital two goal lead.
Bangor nearly halved the deficit towards the end of the first half as Menna Evans’ left footed strike nearly caught out Molly France but luckily for Nomads, Evans was denied by the woodwork.
Another counter attack and another opportunity went begging for Bangor as youngster Alys Davis raced through on goal and although with time to pick her spot, Molly France pulled off an amazing reflex save to keep her clean sheet alive and send Nomads into the interval two goals to the good.
The Second Half
Molly France was forced into another important save at the start of the second half, this one may not have been as tricky as the one at the end of the first half but France still had to be alert to what could have been one of Bangor’s goals of the season already. Awel Ellis spotted France slightly off her line and went for glory from a long way out but France tracked back and caught the ball with ease.
The Nomads added a third goal in the 53rd minute as Phoebe Ellis scored yet again to continue her tremendous start to the new season. Alisha Wright’s pass into Ellis saw the youngster use her pace to get beyond two defenders before sending a thunderous strike past Elliott, a strike not many goalkeepers would be able to keep put. That’s now six goals in the first five opening games of the season for Ellis as her remarkable form continues to send a statement to the rest of the league.
The Nomads then introduced all three substitutes in the space of ten minutes as Amy Clark, Sophie Hodson and Anais Bathily all came on to replace Emily Luke, Alisha Wright and Elana Harley.
Sunday’s captain, Polly Wild-McGregor netted her fourth of the season and a fourth goal for The Nomads who all but confirmed the three points with this cool finish. Meg Andrews found Wild-McGregor inside the area and the forward turned onto her favoured right foot to send a composed finish into the bottom right hand corner.
Bangor bagged themselves a consolation goal just ten minutes from time through Menna Evans. The winger’s finish may have proved to be too little too late but Bangor could still bring away a positive talking point. Evans managed to beat France with a free kick from the left hand side.
The Nomads saw out the last ten minutes and prevented any sort of miraculous comeback from the home side, meaning Jordan Parry’s side move to the summit of the Genero Adran North and maintain their 100% start to the season as the exciting times behind the Connah’s Quay Nomads Women’s project continue.
Next Fixture
Next up for Nomads Women is another away day trip to Rhyl in the second round of fixtures in the Genero Adran Trophy. The Nomads will look to all but confirm their spot in the knockout stages with a crucial three points up for grabs. The match will take place at Belle Vue Stadium on Sunday 1st October with a 2:00pm scheduled kick off time.
Nomads Women’s U19s are also in action for their second league fixture as Bangor U19s make the trip up to The Quay 3G. The match will kick off at 7:30pm on Friday 29th September and all support will be seriously appreciated.
