Match Report - Wales 5 - 1 Luxembourg
31 Mar 2009
Players
| Wales |
|---|
| 1 |
Chris Maxwell (GK)
|
| 2 |
Neal Eardley
|
| 3 |
Neil Taylor
|
| 4 |
Mark Bradley
|
| 5 |
Aaron Morris
|
| 6 |
Rhys Williams
|
| 7 |
Joe Allen
|
| 8 |
Andy King
|
| 9 |
Simon Church (c)
|
| 10 |
Jonathan Brown
|
| 11 |
Shaun MacDonald
|
| 12 |
Jonathan North (GK)
|
| 13 |
Lloyd James
|
| 14 |
James Wilson
|
| 15 |
Grant Basey
|
| 16 |
Joe Partington
|
| 17 |
Nathan Craig
|
| 18 |
Jake Taylor
|
| Luxembourg |
|---|
| 1 |
Fabiano Castellani (GK)
|
| 2 |
Martimo Massimo
|
| 3 |
Kevin Malget
|
| 4 |
Tom Sibenaler
|
| 5 |
Gerard Seisbusch
|
| 6 |
Andy May (c)
|
| 7 |
Clayton De Sousa Moreira
|
| 8 |
Pit Hilbert
|
| 9 |
Cedric Bastos
|
| 10 |
Christophe Scholer
|
| 11 |
Dimitri Kitenge
|
| 12 |
Jan Arnold (GK)
|
| 13 |
Jeff Wampach
|
| 14 |
Billy Bernard
|
| 15 |
Kevin Leite
|
| 16 |
Geoffrey Croughs
|
| 17 |
Ben Polidori
|
| 18 |
Mirko Albanese
|
Substitutions
| On | Off | Minute |
|---|
| Joe Partington |
Andy King |
46 |
| James Wilson |
Rhys Williams |
55 |
| Nathan Craig |
Joe Allen |
61 |
| On | Off | Minute |
|---|
| Geoffrey Croughs |
Gerard Seisbusch |
36 |
| Ben Polidori |
Christophe Scholer |
46 |
| Mirko Albanese |
Dimitri Kitenge |
61 |
Goals
| Wales | Minute |
|---|
| Neal Eardley
(PEN)
|
10 |
| Jonathan Brown
|
12 |
| Andy King
|
34 |
| Simon Church (c)
|
41 |
Cards
| Wales | Minute |
|---|
 |
Joe Partington |
61 |
| Luxembourg | Minute |
|---|
|
Andy May (c) |
23 |
|
Geoffrey Croughs |
42 |
|
Pit Hilbert |
60 |
Officials
Referee: Marco Borg (Malta)
Assistant referee 1: Charles Micallef (Malta)
Assistant referee 2: Mariano Debono (Malta)
4th official: Saviour Tanti (Malta)
Other information
Attendance: 2,924
Report: UEFA Delegate: Thomas Weyhing
WalesOnline writes:
BRIAN Flynn’s Wales Under-21 side helped lift some of the gloom surrounding Welsh football with an outstanding victory in their Uefa Championship qualifier against Luxembourg Under-21s.
Wales used the Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli’s impressive new rugby stadium, for the first time and managed their highest score since beating Estonia 5-1 at this level in Wrexham three years ago.
The goals were spread around with Neal Eardley, Simon Church – his eighth in 12 appearances – Jonathan Brown and Andy King scoring in the first half and James Wilson heading the fifth after the break.
Luxembourg were outclassed, and their only reply was a breakaway from substitute Ben Polidori in the second half.
Flynn made three changes to the side that drew 0-0 away to the same Luxembourg side on Friday.
Cardiff’s Aaron Morris won his first cap at this level, while Neil Taylor and Brown also came into the team.
Lloyd James, James Wilson and Grant Basey were dropped to the substitutes’ bench as Wales attempted to give their qualifying campaign a kick-start.
After the frustrations of the first match, Wales were quickly in firm control this time and were never in danger of letting the three points rom the game slip away.
Shaun MacDonald was inches away from connecting with Fabiano Castellani’s cross in the first minute, but the hosts did not have to wait long to open the scoring.
The first came after 11 minutes when Joe Allen was brought down by Gerard Seisbusch in the box and full-back Eardley drilled home the penalty.
A minute later Wales were 2-0 up when Brown arrived at the far post to slot home Eardley’s cross from the right.
Wales continued their search for more goals and grabbed their third after 33 minutes following excellent work on the left by MacDonald, who won possession and beat three defenders before crossing for Leicester’s King to head home.
Wales continued to pour forward and scored a fourth shortly before half-time when Brown crossed for captain Church to score with an excellent near-post header.
After the break Bournemouth’s Joe Partington, Bristol City’s Wilson and Everton’s Nathan Craig all came on to win their first caps as substitutes for King, Rhys Williams and Allen.
But it was Luxembourg who surprised Wales with a goal after 57 minutes, substitute Polidori running clear on the left to beat Chris Maxwell with a low shot into the far corner.
Mark Bradley headed over after 70 minutes, but Wales had taken their foot off the pedal by then.
They still managed a fifth, though, when Wilson headed home yet another accurate cross from Eardley in the 79th minute.
