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Tuesday 24 April 2018

New Saints Continue Assent - The New Saints vs. Connah's Quay Nomads

Dusk at Park Hall
I was meant to be visiting Berlin this weekend but when that fell through I still wanted to get away from London and so on Friday I set off for my tour around the edges and then into deepest Wales. My first step was Oswestry a short distance from the border for their Welsh Premier Division (I know it's not non-league!) clash between The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads. This match pitted the top two in the division against each other and although The New Saints had already won the league, Connah's Quay wanted to get closer to claiming second place and an automatic place in next year's Europa League. The visitors came into the game in good form having beaten Bangor 6-1 in The Welsh Cup semi-final. This was the sixth time the sides had met this season - three times in the league, once in the League Cup and again in the Welsh Cup. The New Saints had won three, Connah's Quay one and there had been one draw.

Kick Off At Park Hall
Connah's Quay have the ball in and around The New Saints box in the opening moments but after that The New Saints begin to see more of the ball. Having said that, Connah's Quay have the first chance when they get in on the angle but the ball is dragged wide. The home sides first chance comes as The New Saints get in on goal but the Connah's Quay keeper is quickly off his line to smoother the ball. They come close again with a header at the back post following a free kick from wide that goes just the wrong side of the post. Connah's Quay take the lead towards the end of the half to stun the hosts. A long ball forward isn't dealt with by the defence and the forward takes advantage to slot home.

New Saints header goes just wide
Connah's Quay continue where they left off and when The New Saints give the ball away in midfield, they are quick to attack and the home keeper does well to save. The visitors are pressing The New Saints high up the pitch and look to be well on top. That is until The New Saints are awarded a very soft looking penalty. The penalty is duly dispatched and The New Saints don't look back. They take the lead when the forward is able to dance through the defence before lashing a great shot from the edge of the area past the keeper. They complete the scoring in the closing stages via a close range shot following a pull back from the byline.

View along the main stand
It can take a little while to get to Owestry from London - especially when your train is over twenty minutes late. You first need to get a train from Euston to Chester (which is where I fell down) and from there you can the train to Gobowen. Then from just around the corner you can take either the number two bus into town or the 53 which goes close to the ground. Owestry is an extremely pleasant place and worth looking around if you have time. There is also a wide choice of pubs of which I was able to try two. The first one was The Oak Inn which felt like a locals but was friendly and had a selections of ales on. The second one was the excellent The Bailey Head which is the current local CAMRA pub of the year and it isn't hard to see why with the wide selection of ales and beers. The ground is then about a half hour walk from the town - again the 53 bus goes from the town to near the ground. The clubhouse is multi use and includes a bowling alley but the does the job with the usual drinks on offer. It also houses the spectacular league trophy - see below. If you do stay the night then I recommend staying at Laurels which is well worth the money and you won't get a better welcome or level of service. A really great start all round to the weekend away.

Welsh League trophy






TV gantry and dugout side of the ground

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