Planet Swans ArchivesMark Pritchard was on target and Shaun Macdonald made his debut as Wales Under 21s ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Azerbaijan this evening.
The following report is taken from bbc.co.uk
Wales Under-21s finished their Uefa Championship campaign on a positive note with a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan on a rainy evening at Newport Stadium.
Wales broke the deadlock on 64 minutes when left-back Peter Gilbert crossed for Mark Pritchard to head home.
Adam Birchall doubled the lead, sliding in to score after Azeri goalkeeper Ruslan Majidov spilled a long shot.
Then Gilbert made the game safe, coolly tucking away Ramon Calliste’s pull-back after the Liverpool striker broke away.
The result meant that Wales stayed ahead of Azerbaijan at the bottom of Group Six, who they beat 1-0 in Baku earlier in the campaign, finishing with 10 points from their 10 games.
The match was brought forward three hours because of Azeri concerns over the power of the floodlights.
There was not even a goal to illuminate the first half in Newport as the visitors sat back and defended in depth, content to pack their half and wait for a breakaway.
Cardiff’s Curtis McDonald, just 17, impressed on his debut, showing pace and control as Wales probed down both flanks but failed to find an end product.
Azerbaijan showed greater adventure after the break but it was Wales who took a deserved lead.
Calliste and Gilbert swapped passes down the left and the Leicester full-back sent in a telling cross for Pritchard, arriving unmarked six yards out, to power a header past the helpless Majidov.
Arron Davies then somehow managed to scoop a shot wide from six yards, although he made amends after 68 minutes by setting up Wales’ second.
The Southampton attacking midfielder’s fierce low shot from the left was palmed out by Majidov, right to the feet of Birchall who coolly slammed the ball home.
Azerbaijan hit back with a shot from Romal Huseynov which was well saved by Lee Worgan, before Murad Aghakishiyev hit a post from outside the box.
Shaun MacDonald came on for his debut with 11 minutes left in place of Anthony Pulis and almost scored with his first touch – a dipping drive over the angle.
But the third goal for Wales arrived after 86 minutes, when Calliste’s clever play on the by-line ended with a rolled pass which Gilbert side-footed home.
