Thursday Sep 29 2005 22:19
Wales Under-21s bounced back from their record defeat in Italy by earning a 0-0 draw against Finland at Merthyr Tydfil.
Jimmy Shoulder chose to make five changes to his line up following the Friday's 8-1 defeat, with three of the four-man defence replaced and Wrexham's Craig Morgan handed a debut.
But Morgan had to wait to see any action as floodlight failure at Penydarren Park delayed kick off by 50 minutes.
When the game finally got under way Leicester City's Liam Powell took just 45 seconds to make his mark, earning a yellow card for a foul on Henri Scheweleff.
The home side had the best of the chances before the break with Michael Brough heading over when well placed and Antii Okkonen hacking the ball away from Kevin Gall's feet as he looked set to score.
A minute before the break Brian Stock was felled on the edge of the penalty area, but from the resulting free-kick Matthew Williams struck the post and the teams entered the interval goalless.
The game was more even after the break with Gall and Williams going close with efforts from the edge of the area and Scheweleff heading wide for the Finns.
Yeovil Town striker Gall was a constant threat for the home side and saw a shot cleared off the line by Mathias Lindstrom midway through the second period.
But Wales flagged in the closing stage and Finland went in search of a winner with Pekka Lagerblom firing narrowly wide before home keeper Jason Brown had to save from Scheweleff and Juho Makela.
But the home side held on for a point which meant little to either side, as earlier in the evening a victory for Serbia & Montenegro over Italy had guaranteed them second spot in the Group Nine table.
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