Celje end The New Saints' European adventure
Danny Davies scored the opener for TNS in Slovenia
- Published
The New Saints twice squandered the lead against Celje in Slovenia, where the Welsh side's Uefa Conference League campaign ended.
The visitors' impressive start was rewarded when Danny Davies headed Ryan Brobbel's cross into the back of the net.
But the good work was undone in an instant as Craig Harrison's side's concentration fell away and Celje's Brazilian Edmilson fired home from close range.
The hosts looked shaky before that equaliser, but their quality was evident in its wake.
However, TNS again stunned the Slovenian side's fans as Rory Holden struck from outside the box, only for Celje to again hit back from the restart with Edmilson's second goal adding to the sense of deja vu at Stadion Z'dezele.
That was how it stayed until David Zec put the hosts in front for the first time 10 minutes before the end of normal time, bringing to a close TNS' European adventures this time around.
Visiting goalkeeper Connor Roberts' outstanding performance helped ensure the hosts did not win by a bigger margin.
But Celje had the consolation of reaching the top 24 to continue in the competition while even a win would not have sent TNS through.
TNS make Welsh history
The campaign saw TNS become the first team from the Welsh pyramid to reach the group phase of European competition.
They needed to win in their final group fixture, albeit with a number of results elsewhere going in their favour to reach the play-offs.
TNS – previously Llansantffraid – reached the group stage in their 26th European campaign. That is despite dominating domestically, aided by the financial support of owner Mike Harris.
However, they go home set to earn around £5m from the campaign in which they beat Astana but were edged out in some challenging fixtures, including against Fiorentina and Panathinaikos.
Slovenian champions Celje – managed by former Manchester City, Liverpool and Spain wideman Albert Riera - also needed to win to guarantee progress.