Haverfordwest County will once again head to Cardiff needing to overturn a one-goal deficit following a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League tie against B36 Tórshavn.
Tony Pennock’s side trailed 2-0 after an hour in the Faroe Islands but Martell Taylor-Crossdale’s first goal for the club gives them something to build on next week.
The Bluebirds named an unchanged starting XI from last week’s penalty shootout win over FK Shkëndija, but perhaps tiredness showed early on as they were under pressure from the off.
Oscar Borg cleared an effort off the line inside the opening 90 seconds, but B36 took the lead as the clock ticked into the 11th minute when a defence-splitting pass found Andrass Johansen in the box and he squared the ball for Hannes Agnarsson to score.
Haverfordwest grew into the game as the first half continued, helped by a commanding display in midfield from Kai Whitmore, but the hosts almost doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Jann Benjaminsen sent a free-kick just wide of Zac Jones’ right post.
Agnarsson struck the crossbar for B36 early in the second period when he met another of Benjaminsen’s free-kicks at the back post, before the second goal arrived just before the hour mark.
Bjarke Nielsen broke clear down the left hand side and got to the byline before cutting the ball back for Andrass Johansen to slide the ball home.
After Whitmore saw a tame effort saved by B36 goalkeeper Mattias Lamhauge, Haverfordwest goal their goal with 11 minutes left on the clock. Summer signing Taylor-Crossdale poked the ball home from close range after the hosts failed to clear Jack Wilson’s cross.
A repeat of their second leg in the previous round will now do nicely for the Bluebirds as they look to create further history in European competition.
