The New Saints still hold hope of reaching the UEFA Conference League knockout stage play-offs despite a 2-0 home defeat to Panathinaikos in their penultimate League Phase match.
Craig Harrison’s men conceded either side of half-time against the former European Cup finalists, in front of a crowd of 5,716 at New Meadow – the largest attendance for a for a JD Cymru Premier side’s home game since TNS hosted Liverpool at the Racecourse in 2005.
Panathinaikos were enjoying plenty of joy down the right hand side in the early stages and their pressure paid off in the 15th minute when full-back Georgios Vagiannidis played a neat one-two with Tete, before squaring for Filip Djuricic whose first effort was saved by Connor Roberts but the Serbian netted at the second time of asking.
TNS did look to respond, with Jordan Williams, Ben Clark and Josh Daniels all having efforts before half-time – with the latter coming closest as his header was saved by Bartlomiej Dragowski.
Yet it was Panathinaikos who came out firing after the break, with last-ditch defending from Daniels denying Vagiannidis a certain goal.
The Greek side were handed a golden opportunity to double their lead moments later, when Harrison McGahey was judged to have fouled Djuricic in the box as the referee pointed to the spot. Fotis Ioannidis stepped up from 12 yards and sent Connor Roberts the wrong way.
Roberts had had another strong evening between the sticks and he continued to keep the score down in the final half hour, denying Ioannidis a second goal and producing a fine save to stop Daniel Mancini’s fierce strike.
The introduction of Adam Wilson and Sion Bradley off the bench gave TNS a bit of added impetus and Dragowski was called into action late on when Declan McManus fired a free-kick on target, but the Saints could ultimately find no way through.
Defeat leaves TNS sitting 32nd in the League Phase on three points – two points adrift of the coveted top 24 with one game remaining. That final fixture comes away in Slovenia next week against 25th-place NK Celje, who only have four points themselves.
“It was a fantastic performance from the boys when you look at the size of the two clubs,” Craig Harrison said post-match. “I think it was as good of a performance as we’ve given in this competition take away Astana when we got a win.
“It’s unthinkable really [to still be in with a chance of reaching the knockout stage] when you think about the draw that we got. Panathinaikos, Fiorentina, Shamrock Rovers was a really tough one which proved as they’re flying. But the lads have been fantastic. I can’t speak highly enough of their togetherness.
“Yes you could say that we’ve won one game out of five, but every game has been close. We’ve been in every game right until the last whistle.”
