MORRO HIT BY A EURO CONN JOB!
Nomads boss berates ‘diving’ Bosnians
GOD bless Andy Morrison! The Connah’s Quay Nomads boss always calls a spade a spade and refuses to dodge even the most contentious of issues.
So, in the wake of his side’s 2-0 defeat to FK Sarajevo at Cardiff City Stadium in their Champions League debut last week he was unafraid to call out the top team in Bosnia for their diving antics.
At times some of their players looked like Bambi on ice, hitting the deck with or without minimal contact. To make matters all the worse, the dives came complete with outrageous screams that echoed around the fan-less terraces.
Morrison, who ironically received a yellow card from Northern Irish referee Jamie Robinson for protesting at the disgraceful tactics in the firsthalf, blamed the officials for not being stronger.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in all my time in football. It was disgraceful and I can’t understand why it took the referee 88 minutes to book one of their players for diving – he should have done it in the eight minute,” said Morrison.
“They were bang average and I’m disgusted at the way that game went. It was embarrassing at times.”
Two great finishes from Benjamin Tatar punished the Nomads for defensive errors and were enough to send Sarajevo through to a clash with the Belarusian side Dynamo Brest. Morrsion’s men must now wait to see who they meet in the second Qualifying Round of the Europa League.
Barry Town United manager Gavin Chesterfield had told his defenders to keep a close eye on Klaemint Olsen, but the Faroe Islands international striker showed exactly why he is the all time top scorer in his country’s Premier Division as he notched a hat-trick to earn NSI Runavik a trip to Aberdeen in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
Chesterfield had talked about the pride he felt at leading Barry into their second successive European competition and was looking forward to seeing his side play at “an iconic stadium with a fantastic backdrop” in Toftir.
Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that the players could barely see both sides of pitch at the Svangaskaro Stadium due to fog. The driving wind and rain also made it extremely difficult for both sides.
Consolation
Given that Barry hadn’t played a competitive match for 167 days, while NSI are 17 games into their Premier league campaign, put them at an even bigger disadvantage. NSI took full advantage to finally get a win at the 14th attempt in European competition.
Barry did well to deny the home side in the first-half, but as the pressure mounted, so the floodgates finally opened. Olsen struck first on 52 minutes and added a second nine minutes later.
Petur Knudsen tapped home into an empty net for the third and then Olsen completed his hat-trick in the 74th minute with a flicked header from a free kick. Steffan Lokin added the fifth goal before Kayne McLaggon grabbed a late consolation goal for the visitors.
TNS New Saints host Slova kian Super League side MSK Zilina at Park Hall Stadium on 27 August, while Bala Town head to Malta to face Valetta FC on the same night in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa League.
TNS have played Wolves and Liverpool U23, as well as Tranmere Rovers, in friendly fixtures in their preparation for their latest European venture. Bala have added former Southport striker Raul Correia to their squad, as well as goalkeeper Alex Ramsay and defender Nathan Peate.