They certainly made their point against title contenders Connah's Quay - but Newtown will be kicking themselves after letting the Nomads off the hook at Latham Park last night.

Nick Rushton's second half penalty levelled the match at 1-1 after Declan Poole had given the visitors an early lead, but it was the Robins who were the only team who looked like winning it after Danny Holmes was sent off for Connah's Quay.

And they were left to rue what might have been after an 88th minute own goal was ruled out for offside.

The high-flying Nomads arrived at Latham Park in high spirits following their Irn-Bru cup victory over Queens Park, and with the knowledge that a win would send them to the top of the league.

And they got off to the best possible start by opening the scoring with the first attack of the game as Poole latched on to a low cross from Callum Morris before firing past Dave Jones to give the visitors the lead.

Newtown struggled to get a foothold in a scrappy and occasionally tetchy first half, and the visitors were unfortunate not to double their advantage when a lightning break saw Jack Kenny go clear, but his low cross evaded the dive of the waiting Morris.

County Times:

The Robins came out on the front foot in the second period and it almost paid off instantly when the livewire Nick Rushton forced visiting keeper Jon Danby into a save low to his right, and on the hour mark the game was turned on its head in the space of a minute.

Former Connah's Quay man Luke Boundford saw his effort crash off the post and, when Joe Kenton was hauled to the ground with the goal at his mercy from the rebound, the referee pointed to the spot to the fury of the visitors.

And after Rushton confidently slotted home the spot kick to level the scores Nomads' tempers boiled over once more, leading to a straight red card for Danny Holmes.

At ten against eleven, Newtown took the game to the visitors and they thought they'd grabbed all three points right at the death when Neil Mitchell's low cross was deflected into the net, but celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag.

There was still time for substitute Ethan Jones to try and win the game after he was sent racing clear by Steve Leslie's through ball, but the former Shrewsbury man fired into the side netting from a tightening angle.

The result edged Newtown three points clear of seventh-placed Caernarfon Town and kept them on the coat tails of the top five, while Connah's Quay went top of the table by a point ahead of TNS.