Page loses spot prize of ticket to Germany

RED DRAGONS' PAIN AS JAMES MISSES IN TENSE SHOOT-OUT

- Neil Moxley

IN THE end, it came down to a trial from 12 yards.

A great way to win - and an awful way to lose.

As head coach Rob Page surveyed the dejected sea of red-shirted bodies around him at the City of Cardiff pitch, there was hardly a dry eye in the house.

Two hours' graft gone. In a puff of smoke.

When Wojciech Szczesny saved Dan James's spot-kick, it was over and it was harsh, so harsh on Page's young guns.

So much has been expected of them that it would be unfair to point to their inexperience as a factor. But as the Poles celebrated with their 1,900 travelling fans as they looked forward to the Euro 2024 finals in Germany it was difficult to wonder if the sheer magnitude of the occasion had told.