Archive Classics: 19 years ago yesterday Rhyl FC achieved a famous victory in Europe

Having covered North Wales football for close on 40 years, I’ve attended and reported on hundreds if not thousands of games across the pyramid as well as in Europe.
Here’s another in a series of classics from the archives

2007-08 UEFA CUP

Rhyl 3 (Moran 26, Hunt 36, Garside 47)
FC Haka 1 (Lehtinen 15)

July 19, 2007

One the greatest single-game wins achieved by a Welsh Premier side in Europe was accomplished by Rhyl FC  19 years ago yesterday.

July 19, 2007, was the date when John Hulse’s Lilywhites welcomed mighty Finns FC Haka to Belle Vue.

On a night to remember, Rhyl looked to have put one foot in the second round with a comeback win over the Veikkausliiga visitors.

Haka took the lead after 15 minutes, Mikko Manninen powering 50 yards upfield before releasing Toni Lautinen for a simple finish.

This only inspired the home side to new heights, Andy Moran firing the equaliser from an acute angle on 26 minutes.

When Haka failed to clear Jimmy Kelly’s free kick, Lee Hunt edged Rhyl in front in the 36th minute.

Two minutes into the second half, the home fans were in dreamland when Hunt’s cross from the left was finished off by debutant Craig Garside to make it 3-1. That was the end of the scoring.

Hulse’s heroes knew they would still face a severe test in the return leg on 2 August, Haka’s pedigree having seen them crowned champions of Finland nine times.

But the Lilywhites were determined to repeat their exploits of 2005-06, when they joined Barry Town, Carmarthen Town and Llanelli as the only Welsh Premier League clubs to progress through the first round of a European competition when they beat FK Atlantas of Lithuania on away goals.

Rhyl

John Gann, Mark Powell, James Brewerton (Chris Roberts), Mark Connolly, George Horan, Carl Ruffer, Craig Garside, Jimmy Kelly, Lee Hunt (Davie Cameron), Andy Moran, Stuart Graves.
Subs not used: Paul Whitfield, Matthew Holt, Craig Jones, Dan Desormeaux, Phil Coffin.

Haka

Dovbnya, Kangaskorpi, Okkonen, Parviainen, Holopainen, Kauppila, Fowler, Strandvall, Manninen (Mattila), Innanen, Lehtinen.

Att: 1,787

NOTE

The big disappointment for the Lilywhites was they lost the return in Valkeakoski 2-0 and went out on away goals. The major difference was Russian midfield ace Valeri Popovitch, who scored the second goal in Finland, but missed the first leg in Wales due to a fear of flying.