By Gareth James
Tony Pennock insists Haverfordwest County have given themselves an excellent chance of progress in the Europa Conference League after a battling display in the Faroe Islands.
Martell Taylor-Crossdale’s last-gasp goal breathed new life into County’s hopes for the Europa Conference League, even though they suffered a 2-1 first leg second qualifying round defeat against B36 Torshavn.
Faroese European record holders B36 Tórshavn are 2-0 up against welsh 🏴 side Haverfordwest County AFC in the 2. Round of the @europacnfleague ⚽️
Talented Andrass Johansen has just added the second goal here. If B36 progresses it is for a record 11th time for a 🇫🇴 team #football pic.twitter.com/9CnCFnf8vp
— Tróndur Arge (@ArgeTrondur) July 27, 2023
The result keeps the tie very much alive ahead of the return leg next week at the Cardiff City Stadium and Pennock said: “I’m extremely proud of the boys.
“When they believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can achieve.
“We knew it was going to be tough. Torshavn are second in their league and halfway through their season, so anyone who thought this wasn’t going to be tough was miles off.
“We knew they were a good side, but we stuck to it and we have given ourselves a great chance for the second leg.
“That was a massive goal and they (Torshavn) had better be ready for the return leg in Cardiff. We’re going to have a real go like we did in the previous round and we’ll be ready for it.”
Torshavn took an early lead thanks to Hannes Agnarsson’s goal.
🇪🇺 | Good luck to Haverfordwest County as they face off against B36 Tórshavn in the first-leg of their #UECL second-qualifying round match this evening 💪
🇫🇴 B36 Tòrshavn vs @HaverfordwestFC 🏴
🏆 #UECL QR2 (First-Leg)
🏟️ Gundadalur, Tórshavn
⏰ 19:00 KO
📺 @sgorio (online) pic.twitter.com/63XuXPKJc1— welshfootie (@welshfootie) July 27, 2023
Andrass Johansen then doubled their advantage as County struggled to deal with their pacy and direct opponents.
However, with just 11 minutes remaining in the second leg, Martell Taylor-Crossdale struck back, giving Tony Pennock’s men a fighting chance in the tie.
Taylor-Crossdale – who was once on Chelsea’s books – produced a clinical near-post finish from Jack Wilson’s cross to keep the tie very much in the balance.