Connah’s Quay Nomads were knocked out of the JD Welsh Cup after a 2-1 loss to Llandudno at the Go Goodwins Stadium on Friday.
The Nomads went into this match unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions, but found themselves with work to do at half-time as Ben Maher and Ross Weaver gave Llandudno a two-goal lead.
Substitute Dan Roberts halved the deficit late on with his sweet strike from outside the area as the Nomads began to pile on the pressure.
Jason Oswell nearly sent the tie to penalties with just seconds remaining, but his header from Zeli Ismail’s cross was agonisingly denied by the post, bringing the Nomads’ quest of reaching a third straight Welsh Cup final to an end.
Connah’s Quay manager John Disney made one change from his side’s 4-0 win over Penybont in the JD Cymru Premier last time out as Max Woodcock replaced Callum West, who was sidelined through a minor hamstring injury.
Llandudno took the lead with the first real opportunity of the match on 18 minutes as Adam Stephens drifted into the area and laid the ball off to Maher, who sent a low drive into the bottom corner for a goal against his former club.
It was two of the most in-form sides in the country facing off, but it was the JD Cymru North outfit who only looked like scoring, and that is exactly what they did 14 minutes later as an unmarked Weaver met Anthony Stephens’ cross and headed home into the bottom corner.
The Nomads thought they should have been awarded a penalty in first half stoppage-time when Noah Edwards was brought down when trying to turn past his marker, but referee Mark Petch immediately waved away the appeals.
Jordan Pownall, who came through the ranks as a Nomads academy graduate, probably should have added a third goal for Llandudno just five minutes after the restart, but he blazed his effort over the bar from just eight yards out.
Substitute Dan Roberts gave the Nomads a lifeline as he received Chris Marriott’s pass on the edge of the area, stepped aside from his marker and sent a curling strike into the top corner, leaving Shaun Pearson no chance of the save.
Zeli Ismail and Jason Oswell also provided an attacking threat from the bench, and it was that duo who almost sent the tie to penalties deep into stoppage-time.
Ismail sprinted down the right hand side and delivered a dangerous cross into Oswell, who headed towards goal, but saw his effort denied by the post, which sparked a huge cheer from the home crowd.
Oswell’s header was the last action of the contest, bringing a frustrating evening for the Nomads to an end.
The Nomads only have their JD Cymru Premier campaign to focus on now, and up next for Disney’s side is a long trip to bottom-of-the-table Llanelli Town on Saturday, 29 November (2:30pm kick-off).
Due to maintenance work at Llanelli’s main ground Stebonheath Park, Saturday’s fixture will take place at the LHP Stadium, home to JD Cymru South side Carmarthen Town.
Jacob Cook, Callum West and Harry Franklin were all on target as the Nomads stormed to a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Reds in last month’s reverse fixture.
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