Wales concede late winner

11:04pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

Georgia grabbed an injury-time winner through substitute Beka Gotsiridze as Wales were beaten 2-1 despite taking the lead through Jason Koumas' long-range drive.

Wales had been the better side in that first period, and Koumas' effort was spilled into the net by goalkeeper Giorgi Loria.

But Georgia improved after the break and equalised through Levan Kenia before a mix-up between Ashley Williams and Boaz Myhill was punished by the Georgians.

Wales slowly worked their way into the game, with Simon Davies firing over from five yards after Paul Parry's fine cross.

Wales then took the lead after 16 minutes when Koumas cracked in a vicious 25-yarder that Loria half-stopped, but allowed the ball to bounce out of his grasp and over the line.

Koumas was being allowed the time to run the show and he was finding space at will, with the Georgians failing to put him under much pressure. Neil Eardley and Davies combined well down the right after 26 minutes to produce a delivery that evaded Loria and saw Koumas fire into the side netting.

Georgia started the second period with a quicker tempo and generally more urgency and substitute Rati Aleksidze saw a header go just wide, with Levan Kenia firing over soon after.

And it was no surprise when Georgia equalised after 66 minutes. Rati Aleksidze's ball cut through the centre of the Wales defence to allow Kenia the opportunity to guide the ball past Boaz Myhill.

There was a hint of offside about the goal, but it was clinically taken.

And Georgia punished Wales with an injury-time winner when Gotsiridze took advantage of a mix-up between Ashley Williams and Myhill to head home.

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