CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS booked their spot in the Welsh Cup final with a dominant 3-0 victory over Cardiff Met at Latham Park.

The Flintshire side will now lock horns with Welsh Premier League title rivals The New Saints on May 5 as the race for domestic silverware hots up.

Andy Morrison’s Nomads turned in an assured display and progressed courtesy of strikes from Callum Morris, Michael Bakare and John Disney.

The victory offered some comfort for the Nomads following their 3-1 defeat in last week’s Scottish Challenge Cup final, and also ensures they will play European football again next season.

Morrison admitted his side looked jaded in the contest, but hailed the winning mentality of the Nomads players.

He said: “Three-nil is a fair reflection on the game. I thought we looked really leggy and tired today and they looked so much brighter than us in that first 10-15 minutes.

“We’ve had so many cup finals this year - the Edinburgh game at home was euphoric, then we had the TNS game that was like a cup final, the Irn Bru Cup final too.

“We’ve been relentless and I’ve not been able to rest players up, I’ve had to keep pushing them and pushing them because of the magnitude of the games.

“But again it’s the identity of this team that we win the game three-nil.”

A cagey start to the contest produced few openings of note, with Met went closest to the opener on eight minutes when a break from Will Evans saw him square the ball to Eliot Evans shot wide of the right post from just eight yards out.

Buoyed by that early reprieve, Nomads grew into the contest and threw a succession of crosses into the Met box.

Sustained Nomads pressure was rewarded on 22 minutes when Andy Owens was brought down in the area by Met defender Emlyn Lewis and Callum Morris fired the resultant spot-kick beyond Met keeper Will Fuller.

Nomads continued to press in search of a second goal, which duly arrived 10 minutes later.

After a fine cross from Rob Hughes was saved by Fuller, the ball fell to former Wrexham man Bakare, who showed great composure by finding the top corner with a left-footed half-volley from seven yards out.

Now in the ascendancy, Nomads chased a third goal before the break with Hughes trying his luck with a free-kick from 25 yards out with a shot that was comfortably collected by Fuller.

Fuller was called upon again just before the break when he was forced into a fingertip save to thwart Rob Hughes’ header from close range.

The early stages of the second half were contested in midfield, with Met going close to reducing arrears on 50 minutes when Eliot Evans’ strike was pushed onto the post by Nomads stopper John Danby.

But any hopes of a Met fightback were quickly extinguished when Nomads netted their third on 56 minutes.

A swift counter-attack saw Bakare play in Hughes, who surged down the wing to cross to Disney whose mart first-time finish gave Fuller no chance.

Cardiff pushed in vain for a foothold in the game with some fine defending from Priestley Farquarson repelling one attack, before Met Adam Roscrow’s header struck the crossbar.

The Nomads defence would not be breached though as Morrison’s side took a step nearer to silverware.

TNS boss Scott Ruscoe feels his side are exuding confidence after their 2-0 semi-final victory over Barry town on Saturday night.

Goalless at the break, the cup clash was settled by a second-half strike from Greg Draper and an injury-time goal from Jamie Mullan.

Ruscoe said: “There’s not an arrogance about us at the minute, but there’s a confidence.

“You could see by the way they were playing tonight that they’re full of confidence and are just taking the game by the scruff of the neck and making sure that they dominate games.”

“It’s a fantastic squad we’ve got and it (selection) can be a bit of a headache, but I prefer having having 22 fit players, than scratching around and wondering who’s going to make the bench. It’s survival of the fittest and that’s what football’s all about.”