The teams of Bulgaria U21 and Wales U21 finished 0:0 in a qualifier for EURO 2017 played at "Beroe" Stadium in Stara Zagora.
The game was dynamic, with lots of goalscoring opportunities.
The match began with a minute of silence in memory of the legend of Bulgarian football Trifon Ivanov.
The scoreline may suggest that defences came out on top, but the reality was that wasted chances and fine goalkeeping resulted in both sides claiming a clean sheet and a share of the points.
Wales enjoyed the better of the early possession, with a neat interchange between Wes Burns and Ryan Hedges almost creating a chance for the visitors inside the opening few minutes. Wales continued with their bright start, and Ellis Harrison was denied a goal on 10 minutes when his header from a corner was blocked on the line. His effort was quickly followed by further attempts from Burns and Hedges before the midway point of the opening half.
20 minutes after the start the Bulgarians found their rhythm, leveled the game and tried to find the net with gradual attacks.
Gamakov and Antonio Vutuv both fired efforts over Billy O'Brien's goal, but Wales defended effectively and restricted Bulgaria from shooting any closer than from long-range.
On 34 minutes, Harrison found himself in possession with Bulgarian goalkeeper Georgi Kitanov well off his line, but failed to find the target from distance. Tom O'Sullivan had the best chance of the half minutes before the break but shot wide from close-range.
Bulgaria was more active at the start of the second half. In the 56th minute Orachev crossed into the penalty area and the substitute Yuliyan Nenov should have done better from close-range but his angled shot went narrowly wide.
Nine minutes later Radoslav Tsonev ran through the middle and shot, but Billy O'Brien saved.
Wales were becoming increasingly vulnerable at the back as Bulgaria increased the pressure
The game was becoming increasingly open at the midway point with both goalkeepers being called into action and the opening goal appeared increasingly likely as a result.
Wales also managed to create a few goalscoring opportunities, but Kitanov denied Charles and O'Sullivan`s shots.
As the match edged into the final 10 minutes, Bulgaria was dominating.
Antoni Zdravkov`s players could have won the game, but O'Brien saved Vutov and Tsonev`s shots.
In the other match of our group Denmark beat Luxembourg with as guest.
Denmark is leading the group with 13 points and a game in hand. Wales is second with 12. Bulgaria and Romania have 10 points. The teams of Luxembourg and Armenia are in the last two places with 1 point.
Bulgaria`s next game is against Luxembourg. The match will be played on 29 March at 18:30 at "Henry Dunant" stadium.
Yellow cards: Gamakov, Terziev, Galabov (Bulgaria); Hedges (Wales)
BULGARIA: 1. Kitanov (GK), 4. Orachev, 5. Galabov, 13. Velkov, 14. Terziev, 17. Iliev (58-Nenov), 18. Gamakov (c) (78-Kolev), Vasilev, 20. Vutov, 21. R.Tsonev, Minchev (78-Chunchukov)
WALES: 1. O'Brien (GK), 2. Jones (c), 3. John (53-Jordan Evans), 4. Sheehan, 5. Yorwerth, 6. Lockyer, 7. Hedges, 8. Evans, 9. Burns, 10. O'Sullivan, 11. Harrison (65-Jake Charles)
Referee : Mr Srdjan Jovanovic (Serbia)
Assistants : Mr Uros Stojkovic and Milan Minic (Serbia)
Fourth Official : Mr Novak Simovic (Serbia)
Department "Public Relations and Media"
