A close encounter was on the cards between two of the leading contenders for the title, but Ashby were brushed aside in a 22 minute opening spell that saw the Nomads take a match winning 4-0 lead and Lee Connolly bagging a hat-trick. The match was only 5 minutes old when Lee Connolly latched onto a through ball to open the scoring and 6 minutes later after cutting-in slotted the ball past the keeper from the tightest of angles. The Nomads third arrived on 12 minutes, leading scorer Joe Moran found space and blasted the ball into the net to make his tally 21 for the season. With only 22 minutes on the clock, Joe Moran saw his shot blocked but the ball fell to the feet of Lee Connolly who netted for a quick time hat-trick. The Nomads continued to attack but could not convert their chances into goals, and on 40 minutes Ashby sprang the off-side trap and pulled a goal back. However, on the stroke of half-time, a Jake Duffy corner was headed home by Ashley Morris to regain the four goal cushion. At the start of the second half, Joe Moran’s through ball was touched past the keeper by Lee Connolly to give him a four goal haul and a 6-1 score line. Ashby headed a goal back on 65th minutes, and when the ball lopped over Sean Bowles 10 minutes later, a tight finish became a possibility. But, with Scott James marshalling the defence, and a personal 100% record at stake, the result was never in doubt and the Nomads only added icing to the cake in the final moments. On 82 minutes a Matt Boyles’s header was ran onto by Joe Moran, his pressure created a mix-up between keeper and defender, leaving Joe the simplest task of rolling the ball into the net. Jake Duffy was on hand to prod the ball into the net when a goal mouth scramble resulted on 86 minutes, and with time running out, Matt Boyles completed the Nomads scoring. Rob Morrell |