06/10/2016 - Austria v Wales Fans

Wales Supporters faced their Austrian counterparts on the afternoon of the main game in the shadows of the Ernst Happel Stadion, at the home ground of AS Koma Elektra FC. Wales were fielding 4 new caps in their squad of 14, including ex Watford and Wales U21 goalkeeper Jonathan North, currently playing semi pro for Wealdstone.

Wales started brightly and the defence of Phil Martin, Michael Charlish, Andrew Knapp and Ffion Barnett were looking comfortable as Wales found their feet on the glistening 4G turf at this rain soaked arena. However Jon North was soon to come to Wales rescue with a couple of saves right from the top draw. He was powerless to prevent Austria taking the lead though after 20 minutes as they headed home from a set piece.

It was not over for Wales yet though as they came bouncing back to take the game to the Austrians, creating four clear cut chances before the interval as the midfield of captain Dave O'Gorman, Jordan Ratcliffe, Wyn Lewis and Ryan March stamped their control on proceedings. The new striking partnership of Gareth Chendlik and Tom Bowen began to gel, however the final finish was evading Wales, much to the frustration of manager Neil Dymock in his final game as manager of Wales after 13 years in the hotseat.

It was to prove a different story in the second half though as Rhisiart Jarman-Harris came on for his debut and some positional changes saw Wales much more fluid going forward and it was not long before Tom Bowen fired home the equaliser after good work from Chendlik and Ryan March.

Wales were now on song and North was finding Chendlik with every kick and Wales were soon in the lead, with Ryan March finding the finishing touch. Wales were now ready to finish the Austrians off but with Chendlik and Ffion Barnett both hitting the woodwork, the home side started to take more risks and caught Wales twice with North making two world class saves to keep Wales in the lead.

In the last minute though it looked like Wales had blown the opportunity of a win as sloppy marking allowed Austria to equalise from close range. Chendlik, on his debut though was to have the last word, scoring on the volley in the six yard box with the last kick of the game.

The final word was left to captain Dave O'Gorman to sum up a wonderful game and a fitting end of an era for Neil Dymock. "Our team spirit today was fantastic and we have shown what playing for Wales Supporters means, a great team effort and the opportunity of Wales fans to meet fans from the country we are playing. As Chris Coleman said this summer why not dream and anyone can play for Wales Supporters. It was great for Neil Dymock to go out with a win today after so many games in charge. He will be a hard act to follow. He has made so many dreams come true."

A great day then for the fans team and thanks to Barbara Kontner and Ingo Mach of the Austrian FC for organising this game.

Wales squad: Rhisiart Jarman-Harris, John Barnett, Wyn Lewis, Jonathan North, Phil Martin, Michael Charlish, Ryan March Gareth Chendlik, Kevin Davies, Ffion Barnett, Thomas Bowen, David O'Gorman, Jordan Ratcliffe and Andrew Knapp.

Scorers: Tom Bowen, Ryan March, Gareth Chendilk