Connah’s Quay Nomads can end what has been a transitional season on a high on Sunday as the JD Welsh Cup holders once again take on The New Saints in the final at Rodney Parade (KO 16:00).
In what is a repeat of last season’s final, manager Jay Catton has called on his players to emulate that success.
“It’s an opportunity for our players to replicate how great that day was,” he explained to FAW.cymru this week. “It was a really good final at Newport. It was competitive with chances for both sides, but we fought well, performed really well and on merit we won the Welsh Cup on the day.”
2025 JD Welsh Cup Final
Goals from Harry Franklin and Josh Williams sealed a 2-1 win over TNS last year, but the duo are two of four players, along with Jordan Davies and Ryan Harrington, that have since left the Nomads to join the professional game. While their departures have affected their form on the field, there have been significant changes off the field too.
Neil Gibson guided the Nomads to their second JD Welsh Cup success last season but departed just one game into the current league campaign, while his replacement, Billy Paynter, was recently dismissed after the club failed to qualify for the European play-offs.
Catton and his assistant coach Jon Hill-Dunt, a JD Welsh Cup winner with Prestatyn Town in 2013, will lead the team into Sunday’s final.
A team in transition
“It’s been what you would call a transitional season,” Catton added. “A number of really good players have moved on to professional clubs. Losing those players has been difficult in this transitional period, but we still have a really, really good group of players. We’ve made the Welsh Cup Final for the second year on the bounce, and we’re looking forward to an exciting future.”
Last season, the Nomads denied The New Saints completing the domestic treble with their JD Welsh Cup success, and the situation is the same heading into this weekend’s showpiece match with the JD Cymru Premier title and the Nathaniel MG Cup already claimed by the Saints this season.
Craig Harrison’s side are looking to become the first team to complete the domestic treble for a third time, but the Nomads are well-prepared for the challenge ahead.
“We’ve had two really good weeks,” said Catton. “The lads have been superb and the coaches have been at it. It’s been non-stop with a full focus on the final. As we always do, we’ll be giving everything to try and win the competition.”
The two sides have only met twice so far this season, with TNS claiming two 2-1 victories over the Nomads in Phase One of the JD Cymru Premier season.
“We know the strength of TNS and arguably this is one of their best-ever teams for what they’ve achieved in getting through their European qualifiers,” Catton added.
“That was an amazing achievement and testament to what they’ve built there. They’ve got a fantastic manager in Craig Harrison and his coaching staff, so we know how difficult it’s going to be against a really, really good team.
“We’ve competed well against TNS this season. In the first match at home we were disappointed to concede two late goals within a minute, and in the away match we were down to ten men for the majority of the game.
“We can take huge credit from those performances, but we did lose those games. We know if we are to beat TNS we have to be even better than that to have any chance.”
Leaders on the field
Captain John Disney, 32, has been ever-present for the Nomads throughout their league and cup campaigns, and his experience of domestic success will have an important role to play if the Nomads are to retain the trophy.
“John Disney has been pivotal to the club,” explained Catton. “I think he’s won every trophy there is to win in Welsh football.
“He’s a leader on and off the pitch, and he sets incredibly high standards which he’s maintained this year. But we’ve also got players like Kai Edwards, Chris Marriott, Ben Nash, Jack Kenny, who are all real leaders in the group, and we’re going to need them to be at the top of their game on Sunday.”
Surprisingly, the Nomads are yet to face another club from the top-flight in the JD Welsh Cup this season, claiming victories over Guilsfield, Trefelin, Mold Alexandra, Caerau Ely and Llanelli Town to set up Sunday’s meeting with TNS.
In fact, the two finalists were the only teams from the JD Cymru Premier left in the competition at the quarter-final stage.
“I think that’s huge credit to the standard of the JD Cymru North and South this year,” said Catton. “We’ve played some really, really strong teams.”
2025 JD Welsh Cup Final
European ambition
Connah’s Quay Nomads have qualified for European competition eight times in the last nine seasons, but having finished eighth in the JD Cymru Premier table, only a win on Sunday will see them compete in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers next season.
A former player at the club, Catton, 37, has been involved with the Nomads for well over a decade, combining his current role as First Team Manager with his Technical and Academy Director positions, and has been an integral part of what the club has achieved in that time.
“We’re an ambitious football club and aspire to play in Europe in every year,” he explained. “The Welsh Cup is an opportunity for us to get that. We will be aspiring to do that and maintain our great record of qualifying for Europe over the last decade.
“It’s fantastic how far the club has come, but the standards have been set, and we will be doing everything to try and win that game and qualify for European competition again.”
