NEWTOWN face a mountain to climb in their bid to reach the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round after being blown away by three first-half goals in Slovakia.
Robins were beaten 4-1 in the second qualifying round first leg against Slovakian champions Spartak Trnava despite a first-half goal from Henry Cowens giving the Reds parity in the first half.
But a Bamidele Yusuf hat-trick on 27 minutes in the first half was enough to give the home side a clear advantage in the draw, with a fourth added by Alex Ivan late in the game.
Spartak took the lead in the 17th minute when Yusuf headed home past David Jones from 10 yards out after Newtown failed to clear the ball successfully.
However, the Cymru Premier side equalized after Cowens took advantage of a poor goalkeeper, closing a bad throw-in to head home in the 23rd minute.
EGWYL | Spartak Trnava 3-1 Y Drenewydd
henry cowans and rhwydo i @NewtownAFC 🙌
Cyngres Europe #UECL pic.twitter.com/HTcGrV8RxQ
— Sgorio ⚽️ (@sgorio) July 21, 2022
But the home side regained their lead in the 41st minute when Yusuf opened his body when he had time to shoot and passed Jones.
And two minutes later it was three as Yusuf completed his hat-trick, taking advantage of a ragged Newtown to head home.
MORE SPORTS :
The tie was put out of reach for Newtown when Ivan added a fourth with 15 minutes to go.
The Reds are hoping for a turnaround when they host the Slovaks at Oswestry next Thursday (6pm).
If you enjoy Nationals journalism, help grow our team of journalists by becoming a subscriber.
Comments are closed.