Connah’s Quay didn’t manage a single league victory in their four meetings with The New Saints last season, but the Nomads have landed an early blow on the Saints’ latest title defence.
The New Saints are undoubtedly the undisputed champions of the JD Welsh Premier League and it’s highly unlikely they will relinquish that title any time soon, but with the league sorely needing a genuine challenger to their crown, the Nomads have preserved the faintest of hopes that their era of dominance could perhaps be finally under-threat.
A single goal from Andy Owen, early in the second-half, proved to be enough for Connah’s Quay as The New Saints struggled to generate chances at the Deeside Stadium.
After hitting newly promoted Llanelli for seven on the opening weekend of the season, the manner of this Connah’s Quay victory was an altogether different affair, bearing the hallmarks of a typically resolute Andy Morrison outfit.
“When people work hard and they are honest and they do what I ask them to do, they get into their positions when out of possession with the ball, nobody will break us down,” claimed Morrison following the game.
“It’s not just about not conceding a goal – teams are not even getting a shot against us, which we showed in the second-half. They were fantastic.
“You never know what you’re going to get from the players this early in the season, but the first game was about flair and creativity and today was about us dominating the game, in the first-half. We got our noses in front and it’s just natural to go back and try and defend that and we defended admirably.”
The New Saints lacked the spark that we have come to expect and surprisingly, manager Scott Ruscoe made just one change from the side that played in Denmark against FC Midtjylland on Thursday night.
Ruscoe failed to cite tiredness from the club’s four-day trip to Denmark as the reason for defeat.
“We’re not looking for excuses, we knew we had to play on a Sunday and that’s not a problem,” he said,
“I just think sometimes you can read into tiredness and things like that too much – we’re not making excuses, it is what it is.
“I didn’t think we played great today and it wasn’t a good game football – it rarely is a good game of football here
“I don’t think we dealt with minute after half-time very well.
“In the first-half, I thought we stood up and coped very well but to come out and concede a goal 80 seconds after the re-start is very frustrating.”
TALKING POINTS
Cardiff Met remain without a handful of first-team regulars including most notably, striker Adam Roscrow, but have still taken maximum points in their first two games. Home to Caernarfon next and then away to Carmarthen, the Students could well be the season’s early pace-setters.
Andy Hill saw his Llanelli side deliver the perfect response after sinking without trace last week – the Reds fought back from 2-0 with Chris Jones’ 90+4th minute penalty clinching an impressive 3-2 win at Cefn Druids. Friday night’s all-South Wales clash with Barry Town promises to be a cracker.
The New Saints’ Greg Draper could only manage a place on the bench against Connah’s Quay, that is despite his brace against Barry Town on the opening weekend. Saints host Carmarthen this weekend and unless Scott Ruscoe changes his system, Draper and Dean Ebbe will be vying once again for the no.9 spot.
JD Welsh Premier League results
Aberystwyth 1 Cardiff Met 4, Newtown 2 Caernarfon 0, Cefn Druids 2 Llanelli 3, Carmarthen 0 Llandudno 0, Barry Town 3 Bala Town 2, Connah’s Quay 1 The New Saints 0.