Austria 1-0 Wales (under-21 match)

Austria 1-0 Wales (under-21 match)
Wales took a while to settle in this match – which perhaps wasn’t surprising as manager Brian Flynn made seven changes from Wales’ last match, including a number of debutants at this level.

Sam Vokes scored late in the first half for Wales but the goal was disallowed for offside - the decision was annoying but fair. Sam did his best to score for Wales but Austria’s defence worked hard to contain the Premier League defender. Joe Partington also came close to scoring.

Wales continued to defend well but an error by substitute goalkeeper Chris Maxwell gave Austria the lead. The Wrexham keeper otherwise played well but facing a free kick when you’ve just come off the bench isn’t the easiest thing in the world and he’s not the first keeper to struggle in that situation. He’ll learn from it I’m sure and become even better.

And so the match ended in defeat but there were a number of positives to take from the game, with Christian Ribeiro (Bristol City) – now called up to the senior squad – and Aaron Morris (Cardiff City) being singled out by the FA Wales website as playing particularly well. Neil Taylor, Mark Bradley and Hal Robson-Kanu have also been named in the senior squad on the strength of their performances.

David Cornell, Jazz Richards (both Swansea City), Neil Taylor (Wrexham), Mark Bradley (recently released by Walsall) Aaron Morris (Cardiff City), Christian Ribeiro (Bristol City), Joe Partington (Bournemouth), Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading), Sam Vokes (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jake Taylor (Reading) and Elliott Chamberlain (Leicester City) all started for Wales.

Billy Bodin (Swindon Town), Ryan Doble (Southampton), Chris Maxwell (Wrexham), Daniel Alfei (Swansea City) and Nathan Craig (Everton) all made appearances from the bench.

Ash Taylor (Tranmere Rovers) and Casey Thomas (Swansea City) were also on the bench. Neal Eardley (Blackpool) and Lloyd James (recently released by Southampton) were named in the original squad but Neal withdrew due to his involvement in the Championsbip play-off final while Lloyd has an ankle injury.