'A lot of people said we'd be lucky to get a point' - TNS boss Harrison
The New Saints became the first domestic Welsh club to win in the league or group stage of a major European competition courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Astana in Shrewsbury.
Rory Holden's headed effort in the 40th minute at New Meadow was the first ever goal scored by Craig Harrison's side in the Uefa Conference League proper.
Striker Declan McManus netted the home side's second from the penalty spot in the 78th minute following a handball by Islambek Kuat to seal a famous triumph against the record seven-time Kazakhstan Premier League champions.
The Saints face Shamrock Rovers, Sweden's Djurgarden, Greek giants Panathinaikos and Celje of Slovenia in their remaining group fixtures having claimed arguably the biggest three points in the club's history on matchday two.
The New Saints have won the Cymru Premier in each of the last three seasons
The visitors dominated possession early on in Shrewsbury and came within inches of taking the lead in the fifth minute as Ramazan Karimov fired against the post from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Connor Roberts' total of eight saves in his side's 2-0 loss by Fiorentina was the most of any goalkeeper across the competition on matchday one.
He had to be at his agile best to stoop down to keep out Stanislav Basmanov's driven effort as the Saints goal came under siege in the opening stages.
Having survived two huge scares, TNS nearly took the lead against the run of play after eight minutes as Holden's floated cross found McManus who was denied by Aleksandr Zarutskiy.
The Saints - playing the home fixture some 20 miles away from their own Park Hall stadium - did well to contain the visitors and slowly grew in confidence.
They continued to ask questions of Grigori Babayan's side on the counter-attack, as evidenced when Jordan Williams picked out McManus, who volleyed straight at Zarutskiy.
The Welsh side were grateful to see Karimov head Basmanov's delivery over the crossbar after the half-hour mark, although the hosts ended the opening half strongly.
They went ahead five minutes before half-time from a sublime break as Williams' deep cross from the left flank was headed into the net by Holden.
The men in white and green celebrated wildly, and the final minutes of the opening 45 could well have yielded even further rewards, such were the efforts of the Saints.
Boss Harrison was left incensed that his side were not awarded a penalty as Holden beat Zarutskiy to the ball from a McManus cross before being clattered by the goalkeeper, with Astana captain Abzal Beysebekov clearing off his own line.
Even after that frustration, TNS could have gone into the break further ahead as McManus volleyed over from a Ryan Brobbel corner.
After Astana's Nnamdi Ahanonu failed to make firm contact with a loose ball inside the six-yard box, TNS twice went close to doubling their lead as Zarutskiy denied Dan Williams and McManus in quick succession.
The visitors must have feared they were destined to come unstuck in Shropshire as Ahanonu dragged a shot wide from a one-on-one situation before rifling an effort against the post minutes later.
Roberts then denied Beysebekov as the game became stretched, with the Saints continuing to commit players forwards when possible.
But the hosts were awarded a penalty following a handball by Kuat from Newcastle United academy product Adam Wilson.
Having been frustrated in front of goal on numerous occasions, McManus fired his spot-kick straight down the middle to give TNS some much-needed breathing space.
Harrison's men saw out the final stages to clinch three points on what was a night to savour for the reigning Cymru Premier champions.
Although other Welsh clubs have won beyond the qualifying stages in Europe - including Swansea City during the 2013-14 Europa League - TNS are the first from the Welsh football pyramid to achieve the feat in a major competition.
Post-match reaction
Speaking to Sgorio, The New Saints boss Craig Harrison said:
"I think overall we probably deserved it. We had a slow start, they (Astana) were on top and we didn't quite get the shape how we wanted to.
"The goal came at a good time, and from us scoring the goal I don't think we ever looked out of control of the game.
"We let them have possession and territory to a certain area, we were confident that we could defend that."
