Connah’s Quay bravely battled out of the UEFA Europa Conference League after a 6-5 aggregate defeat to FC Prishtina despite earning a second-leg victory at Park Avenue.
Jamie Insall opened the scoring within the first five minutes before a brace from Endrit Krasniqi gave Prishtina a 2-1 half-time lead.
Second-half goals for George Horan, Insall, and Callum Morris weren’t enough to reverse the damage done by the first leg.
Jamie Insall gave Connah’s Quay hopes of an unlikely comeback after just two minutes. The Scotsman was fouled on the left-hand side of the pitch, and Poole’s free-kick was headed in by the unmarked Insall.
They could have gotten another goal in with chances falling to Declan Poole and Aeron Edwards, but they failed to take advantage of their dominance.
Coming up to the half-hour mark, Prishtina equalised against the run of play. Shabani won the ball in midfield, and his through ball was picked up by Krasniqi who turned past Kris Owens, before firing a low shot into the bottom left corner.
Krasniqi doubled his tally shortly after, following a rare defensive mishap by the Nomads. An attempted pass by John Disney went awry, and both Oli Byrne and Kris Owens chased it. Owens’ clearance only went as far as Krasniqi, who lobbed the ball into an open goal.
Much like the first half, the second half was opened by a Nomads goal. A cross by the industrious Aeron Edwards was crossed to Wilde, who headed it across goal for captain George Horan to give the Nomads a chance in the tie. Ten minutes later, Insall got his second and gave his team real hope.
A long ball into the box was half-punched away by Ardit Nika and the ball fell straight to Aeron Edwards, who volleyed it straight into the floor and the ball bounced for Insall to head in.
Nomads’ attempts to dominate the game were hampered by Prishtina, who wasted time whenever the opportunity arose.
The Cymru Premier champions can also feel aggrieved by a number of the referee’s decisions, as Prishtina seemed to get the benefit of the doubt in most decisions, particularly in aerial duels which hampered Nomads’ game plan.
In the last 10 minutes, Nomads’ hopes were given another boost. Substitute Jordan Davies was tripped by Gauthier Mankenda and Callum Morris showed great composure to slot it home.
In stoppage time, Insall had a golden opportunity to take the game to extra time after he got past his marker and had just the goalkeeper to beat, but he couldn’t keep his footing long enough to get a clear effort on goal.
Despite losing on aggregate, Nomads can be proud of their performance in what has been a difficult campaign for them due to their part-time status, and the COVID-19 pandemic scuppering their preparations.
They have also earned some vital coefficient points for Wales as the nation attempts to re-enter the top 50 in UEFA’s co-efficient table.
Connah’s Quay manager Andy Morrison said: “It’s a tough one to take because we’ve gifted them two goals, and at that point, we should be 2-0 up but we’ve gone in 2-1 down.
“What we’ve done tonight shows what happened last week in Kosovo was an absolute travesty. It’s another hard-luck story, and we’ve had too many of those in Europe. I’m proud of the players, proud of the club, but disappointed.”
Connah’s Quay Nomads: Oliver Byrne, John Disney (Aron Williams, 46), George Horan (c), Jamie Mullan (Jordan Davies, 74), Callum Morris, Michael Wilde, Jamie Insall, Declan Poole, Tom Moore, Kris Owens, Aeron Edwards.
Goals: Jamie Insall 3, 57, George Horan 47, Callum Morris 82’ (p)
Yellow Cards: John Disney 23, Michael Wilde 47, George Horan 86, Aeron Edwards 88, Jordan Davies 88′
FC Prishtina: Ardit Nika, Besnik Krasniqi, Gledi Mici, Tun Bardhoku, Lorik Boshnjaku (c), Xhevdet Shabani (Gentian Muca, 72), Endrit Krasniqi (Bleart Tolaj, 45 +2), Mendurim Hoti (Kristi Vangjeli, 90+4), Ardit Nika, Gauthier Mankenda, Leotrim Bekteshi, Oto John
Goals: Endrit Krasniqi 29, 36’
Yellow card: Ardit Nika 90+2’
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