Bangor City manager Kevin Nicholson has labelled his side’s Welsh Cup defeat as embarrassing after they capitulated against Connah’s Quay Nomads in the JD Welsh Cup semi-final.
Connah’s Quay thumped Bangor 6-1 last Saturday as the Citizens were unceremoniously dumped out of the Welsh Cup. The two sides meet again this weekend in a crucial league fixture as the pair battle for second place in the table to qualify for Europe.
“We needed to be at our best and we were at our worst. We didn’t show the desire, we didn’t show the determination, we were outbattled, outfought and that’s incredibly disappointing,” said Kevin Nicholson, speaking to Sgorio post-match.
“When you concede the first goal it always makes it difficult especially certainly when you’re playing against a team with a strong defensive record, probably the best in the league, so that makes it tough straight away. When you concede a second so quickly after and a third before half-time, the second half really becomes about trying to do the best we can possibly do and playing for pride. But even in the second-half we were embarrassing, it was really disappointing and for the first time this season the players didn’t follow the script.
“In the second half when you are looking at it, you find out even more about your players. Even after 35 matches, you are still learning about the players all the time individually, the ones you can rely on and you work out the ones where you question that.”
Nicholson and City have little time to dwell on that performance however. The club, currently third in the table, are locked in a three-way battle with Connah’s Quay and Bala Town to finish in second place and clinch the final automatic European qualifying spot.
Coming off what is undoubtedly their poorest performance of the season, Bangor (54 points) now have three league games in which to bounce back and achieve their pre-season objective of European qualification. Finishing outside of second place would leave City gambling on success in the end of season play-offs to secure continental football.
They make the trip to Deeside to face Connah’s Quay on Saturday with two sides separated by just goal difference. Bangor then host Cefn Druids before ending the league campaign at Bala Town (49 points), who sit fourth in the table.
Bangor simply must meet Kevin Nicholson’s expectations or risk their season unravelling.
The final run in: (2nd qualifies for Europe, 3rd-7th enter play-offs)
2nd. Connah’s Quay, 54 pts: Bangor (H), TNS (A), Cefn Druids (A)
3rd. Bangor City, 54 pts: Connah’s Quay (A), Cefn Druids (H), Bala (A)
4th. Bala Town, 49 pts: TNS (H), Cardiff Met (A), Bangor (H)
JD Welsh Premier League
Pos. Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 The New Saints (C) 29 21 4 4 73 27 46 67
2 Connahs Quay Nomads 29 16 6 7 44 24 20 54
3 Bangor City 29 17 3 9 46 30 16 54
4 Bala Town 29 15 4 10 32 38 -6 49
5 Cardiff Met 29 11 6 12 38 32 6 39
6 Cefn Druids 29 10 8 11 33 39 -6 38
7 Barry Town United FC 28 14 3 11 34 28 6 45
8 Newtown 29 11 3 15 45 49 -4 36
9 Llandudno FC 29 9 8 12 35 38 -3 35
10 Aberystwyth Town 29 8 6 15 40 52 -12 30
11 Carmarthen Town AFC 29 7 4 18 31 58 -27 25
12 Prestatyn Town 28 4 5 19 27 63 -36 17
