Cymru 2-4 Slovakia
- Tuesday, 15 October
- DAC Arena, Dunajská
- International Friendly
After taking qualification for the U21 EURO down to the wire, Cymru finished the October international window with a friendly against Slovakia. At times Cymru were good but were unable to avoid defeat.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Czechia were playing their final qualification match against Lithuania and their 3-0 win saw them leapfrog Cymru into the EURO play-offs.
Matty Jones and his Cymru U21s knew that this outcome was the likely scenario following Friday’s defeat to Czechia in Newport but were looking to put that out of their minds for this friendly game.
For the neutral, this was an entertaining match with both teams showing a lot of attacking intent and it was Cymru who took the early initiative.
With a move that begun from the back, Cymru attacked up the left with Cameron Congreve cutting inside and flashing the ball across the goalmouth. Slovakia goalkeeper Adam Danko connected with the ball but sent it to the feet of Oli Hammond (above) who striked low and hard into the net.
Owen Hampson came close to scoring a second for Cymru after Congreve played the ball into the box. The goalkeeper was beaten but as Hampson stretched to make contact he was unable to get his foot on the ball.
Slovakia then equalised from a corner kick as Martin Šviderský shot from just inside the box. The ball was stopped by Lewys Benjamin but the Cymru goalkeeper was unable to hold on to the ball and presented Marek Ujlaky with an easy header into the net.
Slovakia took the lead on the stroke of half-time with a stunning 25-yard strike from Čerepkai.
Slovakia were stronger in the second half and increased their lead when following a foul by Hampson, Slovakia were awarded a free kick. The ball was played square to Šviderský who chipped the ball over the defence to find the run of Tadeáš Hájovský, who made it 3-1.
Josh Farrell got a goal back for Cymru as the Slovakian defence failed to clear the ball from a corner allowing him space to score. However, Slovakia consolidated their lead 15 minutes later.
Dominik Javorček went close with a free kick but the ball was sent behind for a corner. When the corner came into the box, the ball was headed on by Timotej Jambor to Nino Marcelli in space who scored despite Evan Watts getting something on the ball.
Defeat is always tough to take, particularly when the news was filtering through from Czechia, but upon reflection, Matty Jones will see the positives in the qualification campaign and the development of his players.
As it happened
Cymru 2-4 Slovakia
