Georgia 0 Wales 1: Tom Lawrence screamer fires wale to victory

TOM LAWRENCE struck his first international goal at a vital moment to keep Wales' World Cup hopes very much alive.

The Derby midfielder hit a screamer early in the second half to leave Chris Coleman's men ONE win from the play-offs. It gave the Dragons a third straight win and puts them in great heart for their decider against Republic of Ireland on Monday night.

And it proved they can do it without their Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale - who missed the game with a calf injury.

Former skipper Aaron Ramsey - winning his 50th cap for his country - had a golden chance to calm any nerves.

Lawrence drifted in from the left and played the Arsenal man in on goal but he dragged his shot wide of the post.

Another good chance came midway through the first half after good build-up play from Joe Allen and Ramsey. It fell for Andy King whose volley into the turf was tipped away by keeper Giorgi Loria.

The Leicester man should have done better there but his brave header helped set up another chances soon afterwards.

It gave Ramsey some space on the right and his low shot was turned past the keeper by Sam Vokes but it rolled agonisingly wide of the far post. Georgia were seeing plenty of the ball but were not really causing any problems for Wayne Hennessey.

The chances were coming at the other end and another one went begging as Lawrence lifted his shot over the bar.

And there was a scare for the Dragons at the other end when Otar Kakabadze crossed for Giorgi Kvilitaia but his header bounced wide. It was a tense evening but the breakthrough the 2000 travelling Wales fans dreamed of arrived soon after the re-start.

Before last night Lawarence was perhaps best known as the man who Ryan Giggs replaced on his very last Manchester United appearance.

Now he'll be remembered for the screamer which put his nation one step closer to Russia. Wales took their foot off the pedal after the goal but Georgia could not make the most of their possession.

Wayne Hennessey had to make a vital save late on to deny Giorgi Merebasvili during a nail-biting final few minutes.

From The Sun