Connah's Quay Nomads V Caernarfon Town FC
Tuesday 03 December, 19:45
Cofis Fight Back For Point.
Connahs Quay Nomads 1 – 1 Caernarfon.
Caernarfon fought back in a classic match of two halves at the Essity Stadium tonight.
Richard Davies’ charges have not played in three weeks and it showed in a difficult first half and they could thank goalkeeper Stephen McMullan for keeping them in touch with an excellent display between before the break.
The fist opportunity of the evening fell t Zack Clarke, who sped into the home box in the third area and his powerful strike looked destined for the top left hand corner of the net until George Ratcliffe flew his torso and left hand to claw the ball past his upright.
The reminder of the half belonged to the hosts, who pressed Town into their own half for long periods.
McMullan pulled off his first save in the twenty second minute when he got to a Callum Bratley bullet and pushed the ball away from his net with an acrobatic stop. A long clearance from Ratcliffe beat the Caernarfon defence and former Town striker Jack Kenny went through but screwed his low effort wide of the far upright.
A Poole volley was blocked by Gruff John in the twenty eighth minute but the hosts finally made the breakthrough four minutes later, courtesy of a penalty, after Noah Edwards fell in the penalty area. Rhys Hughes slotted in to put Nomads ahead.
Paulo Mendes was inches away from getting an equaliser for the visitors six minutes from half time when Nomads failed to deal with a cross into their box and the Portuguese midfielder effort from an acute angle looked to be in until a defender hooked the ball off his goal-line.
Whilst the first period had belonged to the hosts, the second was a very different affair as Caernarfon tweaked their shape a little after the break and it certainly seemed to work. Morgan Owen played a more central role after the restart and he seemed to see a lot more f the ball and began pulling the strings as he pushed his side forward from deep.
Zack Clarke was denied again by Ratcliffe in the forty ninth minute when the keeper tipped the ball over his bar whilst, from the ensuing corner, the hosts failed to adequately deal with the delivery and the ball fell to Sam Downey, who saw his low effort blocked by Ratcliffe.
McMullan was forced into a smart save two minutes later when he denied Kenny with a point blank save at the far post. Morgan Owen was disappointed to see his effort from twenty yards sail over the target whilst Adam Davies missed the target from twelve yards when put through on goal by Clarke.
A minute later it was Clarke who missed the target with his header from six yards but there was a feeling that Caernarfon were getting nearer to an equaliser and it arrived just before the hour mark.
Following a neat move from the Cofis Phil Mooney crossed into the far post and Adam Davies made no mistake with his header, heading the ball down and not the ground as it headed into the far corner of the Nomads net.
From here on in there was very little goalmouth action, and the nearest Caernarfon got to a winner was in the sixty eighth minute when Clarke struck the ball inches wide from a corner.
Mooney was shown the red card with three minutes remaining but the Cofis were in no mood to let go of their hard earned point.
Tyn Lon Volvo Garage Man of the Match: Stephen McMullan and Paulo Mendes (joint).
Team: Stephen McMullan, Gruff John, Matty Jones, Morgan Owen, Ryan Sears, Phil Mooney, Paulo Mendes, Sam Downey, Adam Davies, Louis Lloyd, Zack Clarke.
Subs (not used): Hari Thomas, Osian Evans, Matty Hill, Joe Faux, Stef Edwards.