Wales grab late draw

Wales scored a last-minute penalty to seal a 2-2 draw with Republic of Ireland in their Euro 2008 qualifier at The Millennium Stadium.

Late leveller denies Ireland victory

Wales scored a last-minute penalty to seal a 2-2 draw with Republic of Ireland in their Euro 2008 qualifier at The Millennium Stadium. Ireland had looked like finishing their qualifying campaign on a high as Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle had put them 2-1 up after Jason Koumas had headed Wales in front. However, in the final minute substitute David Cotterill broke clear and was hauled down by Paul McShane and referee Oleg Oriekhov pointed straight to the spot. Koumas stepped up to send Shay Given the wrong way and deny Ireland the victory they just about deserved. Welsh hopes were hardly helped inside a Millennium Stadium that was little more than a third full. Neal Eardley found himself up against Celtic's flying winger Aiden McGeady and he had tough baptism early on. McGeady's run and cross presented Keane with a great chance, but his header was saved by Wayne Hennessey, who was again tested by the Irish skipper just moments later from 20 yards. Koumas, skipper Simon Davies and Carl Fletcher combined well to allow Chris Gunter a run and cross from the left, but Joe Ledley miskicked from six yards out.

First blood

Wales then drew first blood on 23 minutes. Ledley got past Steve Finnan after with a clever change of pace before cutting back to lift a fine cross into the box where Koumas headed down and away from a stranded Given. Three minutes later it was Ledley again creating the danger with a cross which deflected off Kevin Kilbane straight into Fletcher's path, but the midfielder held his head in his hands after blazing over from 10 yards. The Irish responded with the equaliser after 31 minutes. Doyle threaded a pass through to Keane who raced clear and lifted his effort over Hennessey. Wales put Ledley into a more central role after the break, with Koumas on the left, and they seemed intent on reclaiming the initiative they had slowly lost to the Irish in the first period. It took a fine Given tip-over two minutes into the half to stop a deflected Eastwood header dropping into the net. Then Davies saw a 20-yard shot deflected inches over. The Irish soon replaced Liam Miller with Stephen Hunt and the Reading midfielder made a huge difference. WIth his first touch Hunt set up the Republic's second goal. He got away down the left and sent in a curling, low cross for his club-mate Doyle to slide in off the far post. Wales looked for a leveller and Given had to make a flying save to turn away a 25-yard shot from Koumas. Wales sent on Cotterill for Eardley with 10 minutes left and, as with Ireland, the substitute created the second goal.

Late drama

Into the final minute Cotterill chased down a long ball and got ahead of McShane and as the pair reached the box the Sunderland defender hauled Cotterill back. Ukrainian referee Oriekhov gave the penalty and Koumas stepped up to blast it past Given. Ireland have now finished their disappointing campaign on 17 points - well behind the top two of Germany and Czech Republic, whilst Wales complete their fixtures on Wednesday with a trip to Munich.

Wales	Team Statistics	Republic of Ireland
2	Goals	2
1	1st Half Goals	1
5	Shots on Target	4
5	Shots off Target	11
1	Blocked Shots	3
8	Corners	6
12	Fouls	13
3	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
79.2	Passing Success	76.6
30	Tackles	13
80	Tackles Success	84.6
46.5	Possession	53.5
52.7	Territorial Advantage	47.3