WALES U-21s 2, LIECHTENSTEIN 1

WALES U-21s survived a Liechtenstein scare to earn a valuable three points.

The Welsh lads made hard work of a 2-1 win over Liechtenstein at Bangor’s Nantporth Stadium on Friday night.

Rob Page’s side started the Euro qualifying match off well and they dominated possession.

Scunthorpe forward George Thomas, who is on loan from Premier League Leicester City, put the hosts in front with just five minutes on the clock.

Some great build-up play in midfield saw a lobbed ball over the top and this caught out the Liechtenstein defence, with Thomas able to chip his attempt over the advancing Armando Majer.

This gave the Welsh youngsters some confidence and they began to attack with style.

A brilliant long ball from defence found Manchester City winger Rabbi Matondo in space and he ran down the line well, before whipping the perfect pass in for Thomas to grab his second goal.

It remained 2-0 through to half-time and it looked as though the home side were heading towards a comfortable three points.

However, a sluggish second 45 minutes dragged by slowly as Wales failed to find that decisive third goal.

Chances were few and far between as Liechtenstein defended well in numbers.

They were rewarded for their efforts with 13 minutes remaining when Lukas Graber curled home a spectacular effort past Luke Pilling to pull one back.

This shook Wales a little and you could see that nerves were growing.

The visitors very nearly completed an unexpected comeback when they rattled the bar from a header deep into stoppage time, but it just wasn’t quite to be.

It was a vital three points in the end, though, as Wales remain fourth in their group, keeping the pressure on Romania, Portugal and leaders Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The likes of Regan Poole (Manchester United) and Daniel James (Swansea City) were lively at Nantporth, while local lad Nathan Broadhead was given a huge round of applause when he came on from the bench.

Many of those who featured for the U-21s in Bangor this time last year - against Romania and Bosnia - were selected for Wales’ senior side in their 4-1 UEFA Nations League win over Ireland.

The likes of Matt Smith, Chris Mepham and Tyler Roberts have all made the step up on the international scene in recent months having turned out at Nantporth just 12 months ago.

Wales: Luke Pilling, Cameron Coxe, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Ashley Baker, Regan Poole (c), Cian Harries, Daniel James, Joseff Morrell, Thomas Harris, George Thomas, Rabbi Matondo.

Liechtenstein: Armando Majer, Philip Seemann, Jens Hofer (c), Elias Quaderer, Benjamin Vogt, Noah Frommelt, Noah Frick, Colin Haas, Lukas Graber, Aaron Salanovic, Noah Graber.