Newtown 0 Connah's Quay Nomads 0

NEWTOWN were treated with a standing ovation after claiming a richly deserved point at home to Connah's Quay Nomads this afternoon.

The return of Lifumpa Mwandwe on loan from Canadian Premier League side Halifax Wanderers swelled local interest with more than 300 supporters welcoming the terrace favourite back to Latham Park.

Mwandwe would have to be content with a place on the bench as manager Chris Hughes kept the faith with the team which secured a place in the championship with two games to spare.

The first-half was played under a torrent of heavy rain with the home side starting the brighter and cheered on by vocal crowd which played its part in creating an atmosphere and setting the tempo on the pitch.

Aaron Williams steered home Nigel Aris' left wing cross only to be immediately ruled offside while the Robins had an escape at the other end when Josh Williams' ninth minute free-kick found the bar.

 

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Newtown came close to breaking the deadlock five minutes later with Loius Robles breaking clear from midfield and beating goalkeeper Andy Firth only for Jon Disney to pull off a miraculous goalline block to save the day.

Robles continued to be lively and 10 minutes later his right wing cross was headed goalward by Nick Rushton but failed to test Firth.

Nomads enjoyed pressure of their own with goalkeeper Dave Jones called upon to push away Ben Nash's 37th minute header as the first-half ended goalless.

Nomads began the second-half on top but found the home defence resolute and restricted them to distant efforts with Aeron Edwards firing over after 51 minutes.

Jones was called upon to deny George Horan from close range on the hour and moments later Newtown came close at the other end with Jake Walker meeting Aris' cross only for his powerful shot to be turned away by Firth.

With 13 minutes remaining Jones was called upon again to gather Luca Hogan's deflected effort while the home goal also survived a scare when Disney's deflected effort called the Newtown No1 into action.

The arrival of Mwandwe raised the greatest cheer of the afternoon and the loan signing almost delivered a late winner after a twisting run on the edge of the area only to fire agonisingly wide.#

NEWTOWN: D Jones, Roberts, Sears, Mills-Evans, Sutton, Rushton (Cowans 82), Robles, Aris (Mwandwe 69), A Williams, Hughes, Walker. Subs: Taylor, M Jones, C Williams

NOMADS: Firth, Disney, Harrington, Horan, Morris, Malkin (Mendes 57), Bratley, Hayes (Hogan 70), Nash, Edwards, J Williams. Subs: Rushton, Roberts, A Williams, Pownall, Sodhi.