WALES DENIED DESERVED THREE POINTS

WALES 1 (Evans 23)
SCOTLAND 1 (Ross 45)
FOUR NATIONS SEMI-PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT
RHYL'S Craig Jones so nearly produced the moment of magic which would have clinched tonight's Four Nations clash at Belle Vue in Wales' favour.
Three minutes into injury time, Jones, who had come on as a 76th minute substitute, broke from just inside the Scotland half, left several opponents standing with a blinding burst of speed, worked himself a shooting position in the box, but his final effort was blocked.
Had Jones scored what would surely have been the winner it would have matched Maradona's famous goal (the legal one) against England in the 1986 World Cup finals.
Wales took the lead on 23 minutes when slick passing down the left led to the ball being fed towards Caersws striker Graham Evans.
The nippy front man left defender Kris Niddrie standing and lashed in a beautiful volley from the edge of the box to give the hosts a deserved advantage.
Earlier, Llanelli's Rhys Griffiths had seen his goal ruled offside after he finished brilliantly from a Chris Venables cross.
Griffiths almost made it 2-0 on 41 minutes when his fierce 15-yard effort was beaten away by Scots keeper Andrew Shearer and the rebound to Venables was thundered inches over.
Against the run of play the visitors equalised in first half injury time when Neil McLean's deep cross from the left was headed down neatly beyond keeper Ashley Morris by Robbie Ross.
Moments into the second half there was a sickening incident when Welsh custodian Morris received a double leg break after a bad challenge by Ross, who was yellow carded as he himself was carried off and played no further part.
With Rhyl's Lee Kendall having withdrawn from the squad following the sad loss of his father Mark, Haverfordwest's Lee Idzi took over between the sticks.
Idzi had absolutely nothing to do for the remainder of the game as Wales piled on the pressure but could not grab that elusive winner.
Llanelli's Craig Jones was getting increasingly dangerous with his crosses from the right and from one such delivery Evans sent a looping header over.
Wales should have had a penalty when Clark Bain pushed over Venables in the box, then Evans fluffed a great opportunity when he blasted over after Griffiths knocked down a Jones cross.
In the 70th minute a sublime back-heel by the impressive Michael Byrne freed Paul Keddle on the left hand side of the box, but his firm centre was fired over the bar by substitute Chad Bond.
Substitute Paul Fowler went close with a 35-yarder and Llanelli's Jones came even nearer from 20 yards.
Then came that magic Craig Jones moment which nearly decided it, but Wales had to settle for a share of the spoils from a game they richly deserved to win.
In tonight's other international in this tournament, England defeated Gibraltar 1-0 at Colwyn Bay.
Wales: Morris (Idzi 53), Critchell, Keddle, Parslow, G Jones, Venables (Fowler 74), Byrne (C Jones 76) Harris, Griffiths, C Jones (Thomas 90), Evans (Bond 69). Subs not used: Surman, Davies.
ATTENDANCE: 301.