Penalty pains in Plzen as New Saints' European adventure comes to an end

A NIGHT of high drama in western Czechia ended in tears for TNS as Viktoria Plzen completed a remarkable European fightback.

The Saints had dared to dream of a play-off tie against CSKA Sofia having stunned the Czech side 4-2 in the first-leg in Cardiff last week.

When Louis Robles prodded past goalkeeper Ales Huruska at the second attempt inside the opening five minutes the Saints looked set to complete a remarkable victory.

However Viktoria Plzen staged a second-half fightback, scoring twice in the final five minutes to force extra-time before prevailing in the resulting shoot-out.

The hosts set about chasing a three goal aggregate deficit with Jean David Beauguel twice trying his luck without finding the target.

Goalkeeper Paul Harrison was called into action to tip Adriel Ba Loua's strike around the upright on 21 minutes as the Czechs began to find their range.

However the early set-back forced the hosts into a double change after half and hour with Tomas Chory and Dominik Jaonosek introduced to bolster their attack.

Despite being under pressure the visitors restricted the hosts to a handful of chances with Harrison gathering headed efforts from Ba Loua and Pavel Sulk as the Saints held out until the break.

The Saints began the second-half on top with Leo Smith's corner forcing Huruska into action.

However on 56 minutes the hosts levelled the tie on the night as Pavel Bucha skilfully crafted room on the edge of the area to drill beyond the reach of Harrison.

The tie hung in the balance as the hosts laid siege with the Saints posing a threat on the break.

One such break on 75 minutes saw Declan McManus freed to break through from midfield only for Huruska to tip his shot onto the post.

The final 10 minutes continued to see the hosts lay siege on the Saints defence.

Harrison denied Bucha, Janosek and Ales Cermak in as many minutes before Chory turned home Janosek's corner with four minutes remaining.

Five minutes into injury-time Beauguel curled home with virtually the last kick of the half to complete the Czech side's remarkable late fightback and force extra-time.

The home side began extra-time with the momentum of the second-half with the Saints under pressure from the off.

Jordan Williams saved the day six minutes in, clearing a shot from Bucha off his line with Harrison beaten and four minutes later Keston Davies put his body on the line to deny Beauguel.

TNS weathered the storm and the final action of the first-half saw Smith's ambitious long range lob dip just wide of the target with Huruska out of position.

The Saints survived a huge reprieve when Chory headed home only to be ruled offside.

Moments later Chory was once again denied with this time Harrison forcing his effort onto the woodwork as the visitors hung on by their fingertips.

The barrage continued with TNS forced to defend in numbers to deny Miroslav Kacer while Chory and Janosek also missed the target late on as the tie went to penalties.

Beauguel put Viktoria ahead from the spot while Chris Marriott's effort was saved for the Saints.

Bucha successfully converted for the hosts before Smith missed the target as the Saints' European dream began to fade.

Chory made it three from three for the Czech side before Danny Redmond converted for the Saints to keep the tie alive.

However Kacer held his nerve with the decisive penalty to end the Oswestry side's European campaign.

PLZEN: Hruska, Havel (Falta 68), Pernica, Brabec, Hybs (Kayamba 68), Ndiaye (Janosek 30), Ba Loua (Kacer 113)), Bucha, Sulc (Cermak 77), Mosquero (Chory 30), Beauguel. Subs: Tvrdon, Mrozek, Reznik, Hlavaty, Matejka, Kasa.

TNS: Harrison, Marriot, Hudson, K Davies, D Davies, Routledge (Clarke 108), Smith, Redmond, Robles (Baker 89), McManus (Ebbe 80), Cieslewicz (Williams 65). Subs: Roberts, Brobbel, Bradford, Canavan, Daykin, Rees, Cornish.