| Saints get the Euro tie they wanted |
| Monday 21 June 2010 |
 THE New Saints got the tie they wanted in the Champions League when they were drawn to face Irish champions Bohemian in the second qualifying round. "It's ideal in terms of logistics and making travel arrangements, and we also feel we have a fighting chance of making progress to the next stage," says TNS chief operating officer Ian Williams. "We also expect a large contingent of Irish fans at Park Hall for the home leg and we will certainly extend them a warm welcome," he added. The Irish outfit are no strangers to Wales, having thumped Rhyl with a club-record 9-3 aggregate win in the InterToto Cup two years ago. But the Lilywhites, under manager Allan Bickerstaff, were seriously hampered in their preparations by being unable to sign any new players before the tie because the transfer window was closed. The Boh's 2009 title win was their first for six years but they have now played more and won more games in Europe than any other League of Ireland club. Although they have generally found the going tough, they have enjoyed some famous successes and their finest hour came when they eliminated SPL outfit Aberdeen from the Uefa Cup in August 2000. Other notable results include wins against Rangers and Kaiserslautern (away) and draws against Rangers, Newcastle United, Sporting Lisbon, Dundee United (away) and Aberdeen. In all, they have beaten a total of 10 different teams from Denmark, Cyprus, Scotland, Germany, Estonia, Belarus, Belgium, Wales and Latvia. After their success against Rhyl, they bowed out of the 2008 InterToto Cup on away goals to Latvian side FK Riga despite winning the second leg 2-1. Bohemians started their last Champions League second round qualifying tie against Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg with a 1-1 away draw, but lost 1-0 to a late goal in Dublin. Irish champions Linfield, who play TNS in a friendly shortly, were handed the group's poisoned chalice with a tie against highly-rated Norwegian outfit Rosenborg. Photo: Bohemian had a large following at Rhyl in the InterToto Cup. |