Leo Smith 

What an incredible run the midfielder is on as far as European fixtures are concerned. He scored in each of the games he played in last season (MŠK Žilina and B36 Tórshavn), and in both the home and away legs against Glentoran this time round.

Opening the scoring in the 8th minute at the Hikvision Arena, meant that it was five from five for Leo. That’s impressive.

 

Danny Davies

Finding the net twice, the summer signing not only opened his club account in the 34th minute, but added a second just four minutes later.

Two goals for a right-back is also impressive. Plus, it was two clean sheets in three European outings this season for the team.

 

New signings

Four of the goals were scored by recent acquisitions to the TNS squad. Following Danny’s second, just two minutes later Declan McManus found the net for the second game on the bounce.

When Jordan Williams added the fifth in the 87th minute, with a superb strike from outside the box, it meant that all three summer signings that played found their name on the score sheet.

 

New JD Cymru Record established

The 5-0 away win means that The New Saints has made history by registering the biggest win for a domestic club on the European stage.

Previous four-goals margins also featured the club, as The New Saints 4 Bohemians 0 (2010/2011) witnessed just the second UEFA Champions League victory for a Welsh top-flight club.

Carmarthen Town 5 Longford Town 1 (2005/2006) saw the Old Gold also score five but conceding in the process.

 

No room for complacency

Although 5-0 up from the first-leg, confidence will naturally be high, nevertheless the one word that will be missing from the vocabulary this week is ‘complacency’.

The players and staff will all be united in that they will want a good performance and a good result in the second leg at Park Hall a week on Thursday.

 

Lead image: Brian Jones.