Wales U21s suffer costly defeat at Parade after administrative clanger

WALES’ hopes of a historic night at Rodney Parade in their bid for the Under-21 European Championship finals were dashed by Czech Republic.

The Welsh youngsters lost 2-1 in Newport after a nightmare day in which boss Matty Jones was without six players because of an administrative blunder.

The manager was told on the day of the game that he would be unable to pick the players, including senior internationals Rubin Colwill and Owen Beck, because of the paperwork mistake.

Wales would have gone above group leaders Denmark with a positive result, at least until Tuesday, but instead they suffered a defeat that leaves their hopes hanging by a thread.

“There will be a review to get to the bottom of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Jones to BBC Sport Wales.

“It has caused disruption and unnecessary noise. I think I managed it the best I could but ultimately it’s at the back of your mind and at the back of players’ minds as well.

“We know we have the strength in the squad to cater for players when they’ve been missed, when they’ve been good enough to go up to the first team.

“Of course everyone wants a Rubin Colwill and Owen Beck in the team but we’ve shown before we can manage without them. It wasn’t a major concern, but how it came about was disappointing.

“We will stick together and take the responsibility as a whole. It’s a ‘we’ problem rather than about pointing fingers.”

Newport County AFC defender Matt Baker scored an own goal in the 27th minute when he stuck out a leg and diverted a Matej Jurasek effort that looked to be going narrowly wide into the net.

Vaclav Sejk added a second five minutes after half-time and a smart finish by Luca Hoole, a defender with Shrewsbury from Gwent, was only a consolation.

Denmark finish against Iceland on Tuesday while Wales must hope the Czechs fail to beat bottom-side Lithuania.

“To say we’ve overachieved is an understatement," said Jones. “The boys have shown character through the campaign, everyone wrote us off going into it as fourth seeds.

“It’s down to the players and the togetherness we’ve created so there are lots of positives."