CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS opened up a three-point lead at the summit after thumping 10-man title rivals Barry Town United 4-0 on home turf.

A free-flowing move was finished off by Michael Wilde, before the game took a turn for the worse for Barry as Jon Hood was dismissed for two quickfire bookings.

And Nomads made their hosts pay as Jamie Insall acrobatically doubled the visitors’ lead prior to Wilde adding his second and the Flintshire side’s third in first-half stoppage time.

Barry were able to regroup at the break, but Nomads still added a fourth through Insall to move three points clear of Gavin Chesterfield’s men and extend their unbeaten start to the season to 14 games.

Boss Andy Morrison was delighted with his players for sticking to a game plan devised in training.

“It was a great performance,” Morrison told the club’s YouTube channel. “We had a game plan and I thought we were very good up to the sending off. We got our noses in-front and I was really pleased with the way we moved the ball on the counter-attack.

“We wanted to allow them to have the ball to create two on two when we won it back and it’s a great bit of play when we broke from midfield, Baks has then put a great ball in and Wildey is in the right position.

“Of course, the sending off changes the game and the main point on that is we’ve scored at incredibly good times.

“To make it 2-0 and to get the third just before half time makes it very difficult for them to stay in the game and we’ve come out and got the fourth early in the second-half.”

That victory came on the back of a 1-1 home draw against reigning champions The New Saints, a performance which Morrison knew his side needed to improve on.

“The result was decent, but the performance wasn’t great,” said Morrison with reference last week’s draw.

“We’ve looked at things and worked incredibly hard - as we do. We’ve come into the game knowing it’s going to be a very difficult game as Barry as a very good team.”

Morrison reserved praise for Barry, who refused to fold and accept an even heavier defeat on a difficult afternoon.

“I’ve been in that position myself where I’ve been 4-0 down and down to 10-men and you want your men to stand up and Barry did,” said Morrison. “Barry worked incredibly hard, they were relentless in their running and doing the jobs of two to three men at times, which made it hard for us to break us down.

“At that point it’s important to keep a clean sheet and I’ve got incredible respect for Barry and how hard they’ve worked in a game, which could get ugly if they lose their shape.”

The New Saints saw their home clash with Carmarthen Town postponed due to snow, but that didn’t stop the rock-bottom Old Gold from announcing Kristian O’Leary as their new manager.

The former Swansea City and Wrexham midfielder replaces Danny Thomas, who will assist O’Leary going forward.

“I am delighted to be involved with Carmarthen Town, who have a fantastic history in the WPL,” the 42-year-old told the club’s official website.

“My focus is to improve results and ensure the club remains in the top-tier of Welsh football for years to come.”