A record breaking 9-2 win over Gibraltar at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground wasn’t enough to see Wales U19s through to the Elite Round of European Championship Qualification.
Trailing Hungary by three points in the table going into the final round of fixtures, the Dragons also had to make up a goal difference deficit of ten over their rivals. Even against a Gibraltarian defence that had conceded fifteen goals in two games, Wales would need a little help from Ireland to make up the shortfall.
The Irish duly obliged, in part, by taking all three points from Hungary, but the 1-0 scoreline required Wales to win by nine clear goals to progress to the next round. Wales had never won by more than five goals, with their record 6-1 over Iceland occurring 52 years ago.
It didn’t take Rob Edwards’ men long to get off the mark as Nottingham Forest’s Justin Hanks met a corner kick on the half volley with just four minutes on the clock.
Harry Victor in the Gibraltar goal produced a string of saves before he was finally beaten a second time on 23 minutes. Chris Popov converted a cushioned pass from Aaron Bennett from close range while Gibraltar were temporarily down to ten men due to injury.
Two goals in a minute on 38 and 39 saw Wales well on their way to their massive target. Ben Lloyd drilled home a rebound after Popov’s initial effort was blocked, before Morgan Wiggley tapped in when Victor spilled Cameron Congreve’s shot seconds later.
However, shortly before the break, Wales gifted Gibraltar a goal when keeper Lewis Ridd’s clearance struck his own defender and landed in the path of striker Francis Huart. The Gibraltar number 12 had been an energetic yet isolated figure up until this point but made no mistake rolling the ball into the empty net from the edge of the box.
With a 4-1 lead at halftime, Wales knew they needed to score six second-half goals if the Ireland score remained the same and came out the gates firing on all cylinders. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t break down the Gibraltar defence and it was the visitors who scored again, ten minutes into the second half.
Having broken into the Wales box on a rare foray, Ridd clattered into Liam Jessop and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Rafi Emrani put his penalty just beyond the fingertips of Ridd, leaving Wales needing to score at least eleven goals to be sure of progression.
A triple substitution followed, with the introduction of Zac Williams, Joel Colwill, and James Crole on the hour mark.
Wales threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Gibraltar but, as the rain poured down, white shirts seemed to block every Welsh effort on goal.
With the clock wearing down to twenty minutes left, substitute Crole popped up with a header to break the stubborn resistance. The Cardiff City youngster grabbed a brace eight minutes later to make it 6-2 with twelve minutes to play.
Tempers on both sides began to boil, resulting in a melee in the Gibraltar box. Referee, Spasjonnikovs of Latvia, showed Williams and Gibraltar’s Julian Britto a yellow card each for their roles in instigating the fracas.
Williams had the last laugh a minute later as his turning low shot in the box took the side past their previous record.
With two minutes to play, Colwill found himself in space to rifle to ball into the top corner and make it 8-2 on the night.
As a chronic cramp epidemic appeared to sweep the Gibraltar camp, the home fans sensed a sizeable amount of added time and the outside chance of hitting the eleven goal target. The fourth official dampened spirits by signalling just four additional minutes after the ninety.
There was to be only one further goal with Leicester’s Popov grabbing his second goal of the night from the penalty spot after Colwill was fouled.
In the end, Wales came up agonising short of the required victory margin and will undoubtedly rue the two soft goals given to Gibraltar, which ultimately cost them a place in the next round.
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