If you had been looking for Wales football heroes to take over from Gareth Bale, then Nathan Broadhead would probably have been low down your list.

Yet cometh the very late hour, cometh the young man in Croatia as Broadhead grabbed the equaliser to earn his country a 1-1 draw in their first qualifier for Euro 2024.

Aaron Ramsey hadn’t scored, Kieffer Moore had hardly had a kick, but when the ball was flicked on to the far post, Broadhead – a 24-year-old, who plays League One football with Ipswich – reacted like a veteran international striker to deliver a priceless point.

The question for Wales now is can they carry on the momentum by beating Latvia at home on Tuesday night.

After all, the Latvians are considered the weakest team in the group and any point gained unexpectedly in Croatia would be handed back immediately if Wales don’t get all three points at the Cardiff City Stadium.

In Saturday night’s game, Wales could well have gone further behind after they went 1-0 down in the first-half to a goal from Andrej Kramaric.

But what will have encouraged the 2,000 members of the Red Wall who made the trip to the city of Split – as well as those watching on TV back home – was the positive nature of the Welsh response.

Manager Rob Page sent on fresh legs in the form of Broadhead, Sorba Thomas, Wes Burns and Tom Bradshaw and their energy proved decisive as the Croatians tired.

 

Barry Town United 

Some of the Welsh fans pictured celebrating at the end were also supporters of Barry Town United and it was a memorable weekend for them.

Earlier on Saturday, their club had hammered Pontardawe Town, 5-0, to confirm themselves champions of the JD Cymru South.

It will mean a quick return to the JD Cymru Premier for Barry, who were relegated last season but will now go back up after a dominant campaign in the second tier of Welsh domestic football.

 

Wrexham A.F.C 

Eye-opening achievement of the weekend should go to Wrexham, whose crowd of 9,511 for their match at home to Connah’s Quay Nomads was a record for a women’s fixture in Wales.

They won 2-1 at The Racecourse in the Genero Adran North, 24 hours after their men’s team had beaten York City, 3-0, to stay top of the National League and on course for automatic promotion back to the Football League.

In the Genero Adran Premier, Cardiff City Women clinched their first title for 10 years after overcoming The New Saints, 3-1.

 

Other 

It was a weekend when most of the rest of Welsh football put their feet up, because of the international matches.

Cardiff City and Swansea City were able to get some extra training done ahead of their crunch Welsh derby meeting in the Championship this weekend, while Newport County’s planned League Two fixture against Harrogate was postponed due to international call-ups.

In the JD Cymru Premier, The New Saints had already sewn up the league title, but anyone thinking they might relax was proved wrong as they hammered Cardiff Met, 7-1 at the weekend.

In the only other fixture, Penybont maintained their position in third place, even though they were held, 2-2, at home to Bala Town.