UEFA Conference League

League Phase Game Two

The New Saints 2

Holden 40, McManus 77

FC Astana 0

GOALS in either half from Rory Holden and Declan McManus gave The New Saints an historic first-ever competitive win in Europe.

A flying header from Holden five minutes before the half and McManus’s blasted penalty was enough to secure three points against a Kazakhstan team with two eyes on a domestic clash on Sunday.

With 11 first-choice players left at home for Astana, Saints had a glorious chance to grab that all-important first win and took it with both hands.

Saints were given an early warning inside five minutes when Ramazan Karimov struck the post and minutes later, Connor Roberts was forced into a fine stop from Stanislav Basmanov.

The returning McManus, looking lean and fit, was closest to giving TNS the lead when he latched onto Rory Holden’s fine pass but Aleksandr Zarutskiy was able to palm it away.

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McManus came closer still to breaking the deadlock when he fired weakly at Zarutskiy from eight yards out after a fine sweeping move involving four players on 20 minutes.

The big moment for the Saints came on 40 minutes when Jordan Williams, who had been underused down the left-hand side, floated a lovely cross and Holden was there to head home TNS’s first-ever competitive European goal.

And he nearly doubled the home side’s lead seconds later when he poked home McManus’s floated forward pass but his effort was cleared off the line.

Harrison was then booked for over-zealous complaining that his side should have been given a penalty for the subsequent challenge on Holden by Zarutskiy just moments after the goal.

After the break, McManus should have doubled the hosts’ lead on 53 minutes but Zarutskiy was equal to his effort and pushed it away for a corner.

TNS could have – should have – been punished for their wastefulness in front of goal when Nnamdi Ahanonu was clean through on goal but he screwed his effort wide on 55 minutes.

Ahanonu tried his best to rectify that miss two minutes later but his fierce left-footed effort rebounded back off the post with Roberts stunned.

Roberts, who exudes calmness throughout, was in the right place at the right time on 66 minutes when he pushed away an Astana cross-cum-shot.

Harrison rung the changes on 71 minutes as Holden – to a standing ovation – was replaced by Ben Clark and Ryan Brobbel by Adam Wilson.

It was game over on 77 minutes when Scotsman McManus got the goal he deserved all night, albeit from the spot, when he fired down the middle following a handball decision.

It came from a through ball that sent Wilson away and his shot, from a cut back and drive, was handled, in the eyes of Estonian ref Juri Frischer, by Branimir Kalaica, much to his disbelief.

Saints were not troubled again and picked up three points and wiped out their negative goal difference from Florence while McManus, replaced late on, picked up a huge cheer.

TNS: Roberts, Daniels, Davies, Bodenham, Redmond, Smith, D Williams, Holden (Clark 71), J Williams (Cieslewicz 87), McManus (Canavan 90), Brobbel (Wilson 71)

Subs not used: Edwards, Pask, McGahey, Woollam, Doforo

Player of the match: Declan McManus