Penybont to keep 'knocking on the door' - Griffiths

Manager Rhys Griffiths "just felt nauseous" while waiting to discover whether his Penybont side would reach this season's Conference League.

"There was so much riding on it," he said of May's Welsh Cup final between The New Saints and Connah's Quay.

Penybont had spent the previous eight months trying to beat the Saints to the Cymru Premier title.

When they missed out, finishing second, Griffiths' men were left looking to TNS for a favour.

The complex nature of Welsh football's European qualification meant Penybont needed TNS to beat the Nomads to ensure they would be in the Conference League first qualifying round once more.

Penybont, the best supported side in the Cymru Premier last season, streamed the final at their clubhouse in Bridgend, with fans and players rooting for the most successful team in domestic Welsh football.

The game went Penybont's way as TNS triumphed 2-1 - though the result was too tight for Griffiths' liking.

"I was just in some kind of haze, it was probably the most nervous I've been watching a football match, including ones I've managed and played in," he added.

A couple of months on, Griffiths is preparing his team for Thursday's first qualifying round fist leg tie against Kauno Zalgiris in Lithuania (17:00 BST), with the second leg to follow at the Cardiff International Sports Campus seven days later.

Penybont's squad, who finished 14 points adrift of Cymru Premier champions The New Saints last season, came together to watch the Welsh Cup final

Griffiths is one of the most prolific goalscorers in Welsh domestic football history, having bagged a record seven consecutive Cymru Premier golden boot awards for Llanelli.

A former fireman, he started his managerial career at Penybont in 2016, and has since guided the club to an unbeaten promotion season, five consecutive finishes in the Cymru Premier's European play-off places and on two European tours.

Despite these achievements, his work at Penybont is not over.

"When we were trying to get out of the Cymru South competing with TNS seemed like a distant dream, but it is one now that is the next step for us," he said.

"As a club we have just got to make sure that we keep knocking on the door in a sustainable way."

Will Guns N' Roses have an impact on the tie?

Penybont's trip to Lithuania has been given an added complication thanks to some American rock royalty.

The first leg will be played at Central Stadium in Jonava, not Zalgiris' regular Darius and Girenas Stadium, because Guns N' Roses are playing there that day.

Either way, Penybont fans - known as the Bont Bank - will travel in their usual numbers.

"I know people say it all the time but they're literally like a twelfth man," Penybont midfielder Owen Pritchard said.

Things have changed in football since Griffiths scored a hat-trick in Llanelli's Intertoto Cup tie against another Lithuanian outfit, Vetra Vilnius, in 2007.

"I've played in Lithuania twice in the Uefa Cup when I was a bit younger and it's a lot easier [to prepare] now than it was then," Griffiths said.

"When I was playing you had to fly out to know anything [about the opposition]."

Preparation is a lot easier now, thanks to technology, with Griffiths doing plenty of homework as he bids to deliver the victory which would set up a tie with Iceland's Valur or Estonia's Flora Tallinn in the next round.

"Two days after the draw I'd already watched them in three games," Griffiths said.

Four years ago Zalgiris played TNS in the same competition, and were thumped 10-1 on aggregate.

Griffiths has spoken to Anthony Limbrick, who was TNS boss at the time, as part of his preparation.

"He said to me they were a real threat, they had good players and they were a good team," Griffiths said.

"Whilst he thought TNS deserved to win, he said 10-1 was probably unfair to them."

Despite TNS' past success, Griffiths says Penybont are "clear underdogs" as they face a side featuring a number of Lithuanian internationals.

"They're the seeded team, they're the team with I think 12 games in Europe [behind them] and we are the team with two," he added.

"They are the full-time team halfway through their league at the top, we are the team that has played two friendlies so far and are part-time."