Nomads aim to 'bridge the gap' with New Saints

Neil Gibson (right) was appointed Connah's Quay manager in August 2022

Connah’s Quay Nomads manager Neil Gibson says the "challenge" for themselves and other clubs is to get closer to Cymru Premier champions The New Saints.

Nomads caused an upset in the Welsh Cup final with a 2-1 victory which also ended Saints’ hopes of a domestic treble.

Saints finished 33 points ahead of second placed Nomads to secure the Cymru Premier title for a 16th time.

“It takes a little bit of interest in the league if you have one team dominating all the time,” Gibson said.

“Fair play to TNS, they’ve had an excellent season and all credit to their manager and their players.

“But I think it’s a challenge for the rest of us in the league to get closer to them.

“It’s easier to do it in a one-off game than it is to do it over a 32 week league season but that’s up to us to try and bridge the gap.

“Connah’s Quay have done it five or six years ago – they won the league twice and TNS have gone again.

“Maybe it’s up to us and some other clubs to try and do that over the next few years.”

Saints, the league’s only full-time club, have won the Cymru Premier for the last three seasons after Nomads had won back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) this week revealed plans for the biggest shake-up in the competition’s 32-year history.

The FAW had already announced a four-year £6m investment package into the top-flight and plans revealed include more clubs and Friday night games.

“I know that Noel Mooney [FAW chief executive] has set up a bit of a plan for the next three years of how it’s going to look,” Gibson added.

“It sounds great on how they are trying to grow the league because Friday nights ultimately do get more attendances.

“But all our players are semi-professional so they all have jobs and trying to get Friday night from north Wales to south is going to prove a bit of a challenge.

“Let’s see how it goes – we’ll have to embrace it and find a way around it.”

Goals from Harry Franklin and Josh Williams either side of Ashley Baker's equaliser saw Nomads secure a 2-1 victory at Newport’s Rodney Parade.

Victory saw Nomads win the trophy for the first time since 2018, the year Saints last lost a game in the competition.

“This tournament is really prestigious for us,” Gibson told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

“Every season we set out some goals and TNS have run away with the league and they’ve dominated domestic football this season.

“But we had a target at the start of the season to try and finish second, which qualifies us for Europe, and also try and win a trophy.

“So for the players and the staff and all the hard work that’s been put in by Connah’s Quay this season I thought it was just rewards really for all the excellent work.

“It was certainly a fantastic performance by the boys,” Gibson added.

“If we put it into context the bookmakers had us at 8 to 1 in a two horse race final. We definitely had the odds against us.

“However we played TNS only last week in the league and we lost to a couple of injury time goals.

“I think the confidence of taking them so close last week really played into the week’s work that we put together.

“We felt like this could be the weekend we beat them and there was no better place to do it than saving it up for the Welsh Cup final.”