Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten record continues into a ninth match then thanks to a late, late equaliser by David Brooks five minutes after they had fallen behind as North Macedonia broke the deadlock on ninety one minutes.
It was a thoroughly deserved point for Wales as well. The home side paid us a lot of respect as they opted very much for a counter attacking approach with a flat back five. Therefore, it was not that much of a surprise to see Wales dominate possession and territory and, although there weren’t too many of them, the chances were there for them to get the elusive lead.
However, for maybe the first time since he took over, there was a suspicion that Craig Bellamy might have been outcoached by his rival Blagoja Milevski as he made attacking substitutions late on and, for the first time, it was us who were under the pressure – I was also going to add that Bellamy’s substitutions didn’t work, but I can’t really do that when the assist and goal both came from substitutes can I!
Nobody thought Wales would be unchanged from the win over Kazakhstan on Saturday and the changes saw Ben Davies switch to left back to replace Connor Roberts (Neco Williams moved to right back) and Chris Mepham came in at centreback. In midfield, Jordan James unsurprisingly started in place of Liam Cullen and David Brooks made way for Nathan Broadhead.
James, fresh from his impressive half an hour on Saturday forced the home goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski into a diving save in the first minute, but it was a misleading start as Wales played at a slower tempo than we’ve grown used to under Bellamy and took a calm control on proceedings.
The home crowd booed and whistled at long spells of Welsh possession, but will have been grateful that there wasn’t much in the way of an end product from the visitors, but they did come up with one bit of quality as the two James’, Dan and Jordan, combined neatly to get the latter to the byeline and his low cross flashed across the face of goal with Sorba Thomas unable to convert on the far post.
There was always going to be someone who would come into the team from out in the cold so to speak when Bellamy took over, but the fact that it was Sorba Thomas who filled that role probably came as a shock to many (it did to me). In the event , Bellamy has been proven right, Thomas is holding his place in the team on merit and he had another good game tonight, but, he’s not the best finisher and, although this miss was hardly in the sitter class, I couldn’t help thinking that some of the other members of the squad would have scored.
North Macedonia offered barely anything in terms of attacking play in a first half which could be described in one word – cagey.
Thankfully, the second half was a bit more lively before it’s crazy last few minutes, but, still, until their strong last few minutes, the home side only really threatened once when the sort of counter attack they’d planned for saw sub Darko Churlinov denied by the game’s best save from Karl Darlow.
Wales came close when Dan James’ cross went across goal and out when maybe a more natural centre forward than Brennan Johnson may have gambled on the ball being missed by a defender, as it duly was, thereby presenting him with a far post tap in. They came closest though when Thomas’ looping cross just about stayed in play, Dimitrievski made a mess of things and the ball bounced to Johnson ten yards out whose shot was cleared off the line by a defender.
Wales introduced Kieffer Moore, David Brooks, Rabbi Matondo and Joe Allen, but, in the short term at least, nothing came from them as North Macedonia seized the initiative for the first time in the game as a cross just eluded two of its targets. Wales didn’t learn their lesson though and a cheap free kick conceded by Allen was the signal for a series of free kicks and corners where Moore proved his worth by dealing with most of them on the near post.
However, as the latest Macedonian set piece was cleared it fell to Allen, who clearly didn’t see Bojan Miovski stood in an offside position because his back pass turned into a perfect through ball for the now onside Miovski who went on to just about beat Darlow to send the crowd wild.
Im certainly not going to criticise Allen too much for his awful blunder, he’s built up so much credit over a great career for his country for him to deserve that, but maybe it does bring into question the whole thing about his comeback after retiring a few years back.
Four additional minutes had been signalled and, with all of the celebrations following the goal, there was still enough time for Wales to rescue things, but that chance seemed to be gone when Jordan James’ shot was frantically blocked by the home defence.
However, there was still time for Williams to swing in a long ball from halfway that Moore headed into the path of James, who had again was foiled, only for the ball to find its way to Brooks who didn’t get the best contact on his shot, but it went through the legs of a defender and rolled, almost apologetically, into the net.
Of course, this was a good point for Wales under the circumstances, but does the failure to win hand the initiative to Belgium who have not yet kicked a ball in the group? I’m not sure it does because, despite still possessing a string of fine players, they have looked like a side in decline for some years now (even if they did come back impressively to beat Ukraine 4-3 on aggregate in their Nations League Play Off after losing the first leg 3-1).
In age group football, Cian Ashford’s goal earned the under 21s a good 1-1 draw with Sweden. The Under 19s had five City players in the starting line up as they rounded off their “group of death” with a 3-1 win over Turkey, the under 18s were beaten 4-2 by Denmark and Noah Williams captained Wales to a 2-1 win over Albania to win their three team group as part of the qualification process for the age group Euros.
Just a quick mention as well for City’s women’s team – they were trailing 2-0 at TNS on Sunday with eioghty eight minutes played and came back to win the game 3-2!
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Fine report Paul always.
Just one quibble near the end.
No, NOT that you don’t excoriate Joe Allen for committing team suicide in the 91st minute, with a kamikaze pass back… in fairness the chap should have retired from international football before the last World Cup Finals squad were named (along with Bale and Ramsey… two others who had passed their sell-by-date for international duty also).
So I need not mention my usual mantra of pass the ball FORWARD… because that is frankly obvious.
No, Paul, my quibble comes over these words of yours on our equaliser… ‘ However, there was still time for Williams to swing in a long ball from halfway’. Oh dear, that so saddens me.
You are a man whose football knowledge is profound. But even the most profound thinkers on the game can end up with Freud working overtime in their subconscious. And I submit that here your love of tiki-taka has gained ascendancy over your usual thoroughly commendable desire to choose the right word.
‘A long ball’ is sooo dismissive of what it was. It was in actuality a brilliant considered pass… especially when one realises that it came in the 95th minute from a player in Neco who had played every minute of the game with his usual 100% endeavour… and must have been fatigued.
If you look at the replay of the goal, you will see Neco quickly look up and aim for Kieffer’s head. Magnificent.
Magnifico! A bulls-eye.
Yet you call it a ‘long ball from halfway’. Yes, you’ve come some way from the days when you’d use the word ‘hoof’… but Paul, can you not my dear fellow see a certain irony when I compare that description with this one of a few days earlier on our third goal against Kazakhstan…
‘…
Rabbi Matondo scored his first goal for his country as Thomas’ low cross following a superb cross field pass by Jordan James
…’
A ‘superb cross field’ pass eh? Compare that with ‘to swing in a long ball from halfway’. And no guesses as to whose words they were.
That is so unfair of you Paul. And – risking seeming to blow smoke your way – I have to say that fairness has been your main characteristic down the MAYA years.
So please go look here…
https://tinyurl.com/bdcn3263
and click on the BROOKS TO THE RESCUE! video and marvel at the precision of the even more ‘superb’ Williams pass (given the fact that we were almost inside the jaws of defeat). And marvel at the unselfishness of Kieffer’s header.
(Craig is doing a fine job… but is remiss in not starting with Kieffer. Alas Brennan is no striker… and I am not convinced he is a winger who should make the team-sheet before Dan and Sorba.)
Off to lunch.
TTFN,
Dai.
I’m afraid you’ve got it wrong this time Dai. There’s two things I’d say to you. First, I preceded my description of the goal by saying there was still time for Wales to come back after conceding such a late goal, but that chance seemed to have gone when Jordan James had his shot blocked. What I then said, was that there was still enough time though for another attack – my comment was all about there being enough time left, rather than any kind of comment on the type of attack it was.
Second, I’ll tell you what I was saying and thinking as Neco Williams got the ball – I said to my dog who was sat alongside me on the sofa “get it in there!” while thinking at least it will be a quality ball if Williams is playing it. You really have got me wrong, if you believe I would have been imploring Wales to play short measured passes on halfway when we were one down with seconds to go and we had a six foot five target man waiting for the ball in their penalty area.
Maybe I could have been more complimentary about the pass, but I would have backed Kieffer to produce a header like that – in fact, I’d have played him from the start instead of Broadhead and played Johnson in the Broadhead role.
A good spirited defence of your position Paul: I would expect nothing else from you. Bravo!
Only one thing though: you have managed to read something into my words that was never there in the first place.
I was frankly bemused to see you say
‘…You really have got me wrong, if you believe I would have been imploring Wales to play short measured passes on halfway when we were one down with seconds to go…’
I believed no such thing, because you are one of the sanest people I know. For instance, I know that you, like me, found it frustrating to see Horvath play a short goal-kick in the 90th minute of our Luton defeat… when short goal-kicks had been failing us all season.
No, my whole point was that such is your belief in tiki-taka that it has permeated your choice of words. A ‘superb cross field pass’ from one player becomes three days later , ‘a long ball from halfway’. C’mon, Paul compadre… ‘chwarae teg, boyo’…!!
It was measured to the inch was that Neco pass. So, the question I ask myself here is if I had labelled that very good Jordan pass as ‘superb’, what word would I have left in my lexicon for an even greater pass?
Not sure I know what to say. ‘Stellar’ maybe… or ‘exquisite’? (No, perhaps not.)
But I would not have chosen ‘a long ball’… for Neco deserves much better than that.
But hey Paul, intelligent people can disagree agreeably… as we occasionally do.
TTFN,
Dai.
I don’t think Williams’ pass was as good as Jordan James’ for that goal against Kazakhstan Dai and, more importantly, I don’t rate it as highly as the two Neco played to Harry Wilson out in Iceland I think it was which led to goals. To introduce a term from other sports, I don’t think the “degree of difficulty” involved in the pass for the goal on Tuesday was as high as it was for the passes by James and Williams that I refer to above. As I say, maybe I could have recgnised that it was a good pass by saying something like “Williams did well to pick out Kieffer Moore’s head”, but, for a player of Neco’s ability, I maitain it was a fairly easy pass – it was good that it fell to him to play rather some others in the team, but for someone who is a regular in a team that is likely to be playing Champions League football next season, was it really that brilliant?
Paul,
It is only fair and proper that you have the last word… given that MAYA has been one huge heroic effort from you these past few years.
The only problem here is that you end your last posting (above) with a question that you want me to answer.
So I will oblige.
And my answer is ‘Yes, I sincerely believe Neco’s pass was the greater of the two’. And here again is for why…
True, neither pass has any element of luck in it in that both players can be seen quickly looking at their target and promptly delivering. But here’s the decisive factor: it is the LEVEL OF JEOPARDY that marks the difference.
In one instance Wales are 2-1 up and whilst hardly ‘cruising to victory’, are relatively comfortable.
In the other, we are a stunned team who have just had a member insanely committing hara-kiri and have exhausted all but a few seconds of our injury time. Despite tired legs in the 95th minute after being perhaps our most energetic starter still on the pitch, Neco does not blow it… boy-oh-boy, that was some pass.
I respectfully submit the reason that pass did not get the proper recognition it deserved, is because it came down ‘with snow on it’…
Such is the pernicious grip that tiki-taka has on the subconscious of the British press in these days of King Pep Guardiola, that any ball that gets to the man in the POMO position within 2 seconds, is regarded as ‘first cousin’ to the ball that comedian Peter Kay delvers here*…
https://tinyurl.com/bdz7fwa7
*Except when Ederson places on a sixpence one of his 70 yarders, they regard that as an example of Pep’s genius. Never mind that he has bored us to tears with his pass, pass, pass… backwards and square… winning the Premier League almost because his opponents have fallen asleep.
Some of us still revere Charles Hughes who died the same month as our greatest ‘Ladies Man’ since Rex Harrison… and are immensely ashamed of the FA for insisting we all have a minutes applause for Sven whilst ignoring the voice of a man who had immense courage of his convictions, but died a forgotten man.
Charles should have realised that he should have gone with the herd.
TTFN,
Dai.
Oops… I missed off my postscript there… here it is, three and a half hours later…
PS… Imagine if Neco had screwed up that brilliant pass and put too much on it (as he easily could have) and it had sailed over even Kieffer’s head for a goal kick…!! Cue, widespread groans in the crowd, and the final whistle.
So the pressure was really on him…
TTFN,
Dai.