The New Saints qualified for the league stage of the UEFA Conference League following a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their Play-Off against FK Panevezys, which secured a 3-0 victory on aggregate.
Never before had a JD Cymru Premier club progressed from the qualifying stages to reach the group/league of a major European competition, but the Saints made history at Park Hall.
With such a convincing lead from the first leg in Lithuania, there was no need for the Saints to go all-out attack but they had the better of the chances in the first half as Jack Bodenham headed straight at the Panevezys goalkeeper and Adrian Cieslewicz sent a volley over the bar.
The longer the game stayed goalless, the closer history came. A second yellow card for Panevezys defender Rokas Rasimavicius just after the hour mark was celebrated like a goal by TNS supporters as they knew that qualification beckoned.
The Saints should have perhaps won the game as Cieslewicz, Ben Clark and Rory Holden all came close to finding the net but the final whistle blew to confirm an aggregate victory for Craig Harrison’s side.
TNS will discover their UEFA Conference League league stage opponents in the draw in Monaco on Friday 30 August.
Craig Harrison told Sgorio: “We’ve done loads of really good things at TNS but this is by far the best and biggest achievement for me personally, for the club and for Welsh football. It’s a fantastic feeling.
“The biggest credit I can give to the boys is that we’ve got a really together group. The lads who aren’t playing are supporting the other lads, and this is what happens when you believe and work hard. You get what you deserve.”
