Víkingur Reykjavík 2-0 The New Saints: match report

Match Report

Yellow cards: McManus (62)
Substitutions: J. Williams for D. Davies (46), Brobbel for Smith (66), Routledge for Clark (72), Canavan for Daniels (86)

Match report by Sam Wood
Lead image: Brian Jones

The New Saints face an uphill battle at Park Hall on Tuesday after a 2-0 UEFA Europa Conference League defeat in the Icelandic capital.

Two penalties proved to be their undoing, although the second proved to be highly contentious, on what was a difficult night in Reykjavík.

It was a good start from the visitors, who could’ve taken the lead with just two minutes played when Josh Daniels almost capitalised on a defensive mistake.

After a shaky start, the hosts began to grow into the game though, and Pablo Punyed almost found the top corner with a curling effort in the 10th minute.

Six minutes later, Connor Roberts pulled off an important stop, as he pushed an effort from Kristall Máni Ingason wide of the post.

It was a good spell of pressure from Arnar Gunnlaugsson’s team, and when Leo Smith caught Ari Sigurpálsson inside the box, they were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute.

It was the lively Ingason who stepped up to take it, and he made no mistake, as he sent Roberts the wrong way to break the deadlock.

It was all Reykjavik for the remainder of the half, but Limbrick’s side did manage a rare excursion forward in the 39th minute.

Declan McManus tried his luck from distance, but it caused no trouble for the goalkeeper, as he failed to keep the effort on target.

Following the restart, the Scottish striker was involved again, seeing a powerful effort deflected wide in the 52nd minute.

The JD Cymru Premier champions looked a lot brighter in the second period, but things were thrown into disarray four minutes later when the home side were awarded another spot-kick.

Although Josh Pask clearly won the ball with a superb tackle, referee, Peter Kralović, confidently pointed to the spot, giving the home side the chance to double their advantage.

And that’s exactly what they did, as Icelandic international, Ingason, once again stepped up and coolly dispatched his second penalty of the night.

Out of nowhere, The Saints’ task had suddenly become a lot more difficult.

The Víkingur number 80 continued to cause problems, and a last-ditch block from Pask prevented him from grabbing a hat-trick in the 71st minute.

It was backs-to-the-wall defending in the final stages of the game, as the hosts looked to take full advantage of their home advantage with another goal on the night, but Limbrick’s side continued to defend resolutely.

As a result, there were no further goals scored in the tie and the first leg ended 2-0, which means The Saints face a tough, but not impossible, task in the return leg in Oswestry on Tuesday.

Kick-off at Park Hall is at 6:15pm and tickets can be purchased HERE.

Defeat in Reykjavík. #VikingurTNS | #UECL pic.twitter.com/5jL3Sj4fOK

— The New Saints FC (@tnsfc) July 21, 2022