Following on from the shock results on Friday evening involving Rhyl and The New Saints, the visit to the Deeside Stadium should have offered the Reds hope of joining the former at the top of the table whilst increasing the points advantage over the latter.
However, in the words of the immortal Jimmy Greaves it's a funny old game, and after a first half during which they took the lead, a combination of missed chances and some inspired goalkeeping from Chris Maxwell meant that the single goal was never enough, and the visitors paid the price after the break.
A turning point in the contest came with a quarter of an hour left with the home side a goal ahead, but the normally deadly Rhys Griffiths saw his spot kick kept out by Maxwell and this had a major effect on the outcome, as if this had gone in and the hosts down to ten men following the dismissal of Andy Alston for the original handling offence,
Craig Morris was called into early action, pushing over a Liam Loughlin attempt while Ben Alston headed a Craig Jones corner just off target.
A Stuart Jones header from an Andy Legg throw in was caught at the second attempt by Maxwell, and he was in the right spot to safely gather a far post header by Lee Phillips after Andrew Mumford sent over a corner.
The Reds should then have gone ahead when Legg found Griffiths who in turn knocked the ball down for Mark Pritchard to turn and strike from ten yards, but he was off target with only the goalkeeper to beat.
They did eventually go into the lead on 18 minutes when a Legg corner curled into the goalmouth and led to Maxwell and Phil Clarke both attempting to clear, but succeeding only sending the ball into the net via the underside of the bar.
Griffiths was desperately unlucky with his header which came back off the bar from another Legg corner, and the visitors continued to push forward in an attempt to get a second, only to come up against Maxwell who denied Mumford when he met a cut back by Pritchard, and Stephen Evans could only fire into the side netting from the rebound.
Morris did well to fingertip over from Loughlin when a Peter Doran free kick was only partially cleared to him, and the half ended with the home side on the offensive, with a melee in front of the Reds goal following a corner, while the defensive wall did its job to keep out a free kick when it was met by Adam Dickinson.
Jordan Follows came on in place of Legg for the second half, but it was the visitors goal which came under threat with Morris bringing off a fine save to push over a superb strike on target from Aden Shannon when he met a throw in by Dickinson.
From the resulting corner, the Nomads drew level when Andy Alston rose well to power a header over Morris after 52 minutes, and before the Reds had time to recover from this setback they found themselves trailing three minutes later when Keiran Quinn slipped a pass infield to Peter Doran who rifled home an unstoppable 25 yard drive which gave Morris no chance.
To their credit, the Reds went on the offensive and when Mumford was played in by Jason Bowen he went down in the area under a challenge, but nothing was given, but on 75 minutes they were thrown a lifeline when Follows chased a ball into the box, got around Maxwell and chipped goalwards only for the hand of Andy Alson to prevent a certain goal, leading to a red card and the award of a penalty.
Griffiths took the kick, but Maxwell guessed correctly, throwing himself to his right to keep it out, and he excelled himself again shortly after, this time preventing Stuart Jones from finding the back of the net.
With the Reds pushing forward, gaps were appearing at the back, and Michael Cronshaw should have done better when he was put clear on goal, rounding Morris only for his weak finish to be safely shepherded to safety by Nicky Holland.
With just three minutes remaining, Cronshaw made amends when he settled matters by netting the third, with Jones setting up the chance with a ball infield which allowed his colleague the simple task of finding a vacant net to send the Reds home pointless and regretting the chances afforded them which could have led to a different outcome.
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i was at this game :) pretty good game for cei connah :)
jordyt141414 2 years ago
Hows Bowen doing at Llanelli these days?
trema006 3 years ago