IT SHOULD have been a day of celebration for Wales striker Craig Bellamy. The in-form Manchester City player notched another goal and in the process overtook his club manager, Mark Hughes, to become the fifth highest scorer for his country.

Instead, he was left shaking his head in disbelief as his side slumped to another late defeat, the sixth of the campaign in total, in Helsinki. It summed up an instantly forgettable World Cup challenge that can’t come to an end quick enough for John Toshack’s side.

“It’s very frustrating again,” admitted Toshack. “We went a goal down early on, which made life difficult for us. We then got ourselves back in it. It looked as though we would take the sting out of the game and the game would peter out into a draw.

“Then we concede the second goal. We had a chance to get something out of it at the death with David Edwards. It wasn’t to be and we have to pick the players up, which ones we have available, that is, as we have a final game on Wednesday against Liechtenstein.”

Compounded by a series of untimely retirements and a long injury list, Wales arrived in Finland with a threadbare squad that included only 13 outfield players and Toshack was forced to name just four substitutes. One of those was goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Fears of a long evening appeared to be realised as early as the fifth minute as Finland opened the scoring through Roni Porokora. It was all too easy for the hosts as Roman Eremenko threaded a ball through a gaping defence for the former Charlton striker Jonatan Johansson. His shot was blocked by goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, only for the rebound to fall kindly for Porokara to slide into an empty net.

But in Bellamy, a man in the form of his life after four goals in his last five Premier League games, Wales always had a threat. So it was no surprise to see him level the score after 17 minutes. Gareth Bale’s clever ball found David Vaughan in acres of space on the left and his cross was expertly met first-time by an unmarked Bellamy.

It was his first competitive goal for his country in two years and with confidence soaring, Wales ended the half on top with Bellamy going close again. But that was as good as it got for the visitors.

A needless booking moments after the break for Bellamy summed up his side’s frustrating display, meaning the captain will now be suspended for the trip to Liechtenstein. And instead of the visitors, who were eyeing third place in Group 4, doing the running it was the home side who gradually took the initiative.

Substitute Kasper Hamalainen almost regained the lead as his low shot was brilliantly kept out by Hennessey. But there was no escape for Wales when Niklas Moisander netted in the 77th minute. After riding the challenge of James Collins, the defender toe-poked home.

Wales, clearly second best after the break, could have snatched a late draw when Edwards was denied by the legs of Bolton goalkeeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen. But it would have been tough on an ageing and average Finland side, who had shown just how much work this Welsh team needs to do to improve.

Toshack, who has called up four players to bolster his injury-hit side, admitted Bellamy’s day of joy had been tempered by the defeat. “It was a nice moment for him, going up the scorers list is something to be proud of,” he said. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get a result for him. We couldn’t change things as we are thin in the ground. It’s unfortunate we’ve been hit by pull outs, but it sums up our campaign.”

Star man: Jari Litmanen (Finland)
Yellow cards: Finland: Pasanen, Tihinen. Wales: Bellamy, Hennessey.
Referee: M Masic (Serbia). Attendance: 13,301
FINLAND: Jaaskelainen 7 (Bolton), Pasanen 6 (Werder Bremen), Hyypia 7 (Bayer Leverkusen), Tihinen 6 (Zurich), Moisander 7 (AZ Alkmaar), R Eremenko 7 (Dynamo Kiev), Litmanen 8 (Lahti, sub Eremenko Jr (Lecce) 90min), Kolkka 7 (NAC Breda, sub Hamalainen (unattached) 68min), Sparv 6 (Halmstad), Johansson 6 (unattached, sub Kuqi (Koblenz) 88min), Porokara 7 (Orebro)
WALES: Hennessey 7 (Wolves), Gunter 5 (Nottm Forest), Collins 5 (Aston Villa), Williams 7 (Swansea), Nyatanga 5 (Bristol City, sub Eardley (Blackpool) 83min), Bale 7 (Tottenham), Edwards 6 (Wolves), Ramsey 5 (Arsenal), Vaughan 7 (Blackpool), Bellamy 7 (Man City), Church 6 (Reading, sub Vokes (Wolves) 62min)