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Wales warmed up for Euro 2024 qualifying action by cruising to a 4-0 win over Gibraltar in Wrexham. All the goals came in the first half as Kieffer Moore scored twice with Ben Davies and Nathan Broadhead also getting on the scoresheet. After last month’s victory in Latvia, it was the first time Wales had achieved back-to-back wins since November 2021. The performance, especially the opening period, will encourage Wales manager Rob Page ahead of the vital qualifier against Croatia on Sunday, even if Gibraltar’s standing in world football must be taken into account. This was the maiden meeting between the two nations at senior level and also marked Wales’ return to the SToK Racecourse for the first time since beating Trinidad and Tobago there in 2019. The Football Association of Wales were rewarded with a sell-out crowd of 10,008 as fans in the north showed their appetite to support the national team. Page rested several regulars with the Croatia fixture in mind, when Wales will realistically need at least a point to keep alive hopes of automatic qualification for next summer’s European Championship finals in Germany. Davies took over the captaincy in the absence of the injured Aaron Ramsey, the Tottenham defender winning his 81st cap as Gibraltar played the 81st match in their history. Charlie Savage, the 20-year-old son of former Wales midfielder Robbie, Joe Low, Regan Poole and Liam Cullen were handed first caps. Savage, in particular, could be satisfied with his night’s work as he showed composure in possession and exhibited a good range of passing. Gibraltar came into the game 198th in the world with only nine nations below them on FIFA’s rankings table. Preparing to play the Republic of Ireland in Euro qualification on Monday, Gibraltar had suffered six straight defeats and not scored since a 1-0 friendly win over Andorra 11 months ago. The loudest cheer in the opening minutes came when Savage evoked memories of his father with a crunching, but fair, challenge on Tjay De Barr that left the Gibraltar forward on the floor. Broadhead was off target with a couple of efforts before Wales took the lead after 22 minutes from an unlikely source. Skipper Davies rose highest from Broadhead’s corner and Gibraltar’s fallibility in the air was punished again when Moore met Savage’s cross to score expertly off a post. Daniel James, on early for the injured Wes Burns, was causing havoc down the left and forced a sprawling save from Dayle Coleing. The over-worked Gibraltar goalkeeper also denied Savage twice and Liam Walker cleared another Davies effort off the line. Broadhead then took James’ 35th-minute pass and turned smartly to find the top corner of Coleing’s net with a sweet right-footed strike. Cullen twice went close and the fourth arrived on the stroke of half-time as James scampered free again to deliver a perfect cross for the waiting head of Moore. Page made a raft of substitutions at half-time and the contest lost much of its rhythm. The changes also removed the possibility of Wales eclipsing their record 11-0 win against Ireland in 1888. Tom Bradshaw was inches from connecting with a Josh Sheehan cross that flashed across goal, but the second half was largely a nondescript affair. James shook the crowd from their slumber with an angled effort that rattled the woodwork, but Wales had already achieved their objectives heading into Sunday. Read More Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain Lawmakers could allow audio between referees and VARs to be available live Hugo Keenan excited to line up with ‘X-factor’ wings Mack Hansen and James Lowe World Netball president receives damehood at Windsor Castle Andy Murray to withdraw from next week’s Japan Open through injury Johnny Sexton insists Ireland are ready for ‘toughest game we’ve ever faced’

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Steve Clarke believes Scotland’s maximum performance against Spain on Thursday night will be good enough to get them at least the point they need to qualify for Euro 2024. The Scots have won their first five qualifiers including a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Spain at Hampden Park in March. Scotland are six points clear of Luis de la Fuente’s side at the top of the table and will qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany if they avoid defeat in Seville or if Norway fail to beat Cyprus on the same night. Scotland have Georgia away and Norway at home in November to complete their campaign. Clarke said: “Belief will be part of it, obviously we have to get the tactics right. The players have to put into practise on the pitch what we have spoken about on the training ground. “They have to play to our maximum and belief is a part of that as well. “We have to play our game as well as we can and I believe that will be good enough to get something from the game. “They are a very good team. Obviously they won the Nations League in the summer. “I think when we played them in March they were probably a little bit in transition between the previous coach and new coach. We have to play our game as well as we can and I believe that will be good enough to get something from the game Steve Clarke “They had a disappointing World Cup campaign so we maybe got them at a good time in March. We know we have to be very good to get a positive result tomorrow night. “I think we have been constantly improving over my tenure as head coach. “We are improving all the time, we are striving to improve, trying to add little bits to our game that will make us more competitive against the top teams but we understand we still have a bit to go.” “But we don’t come here thinking that we have to sit in and defend all night. “We have to be as effective with the ball as we were at Hampden. We want to get the job done as quickly as possible. “If we are good enough to get it done tomorrow night that would be great. If not we have two more chances in November and we have those chances because we started the group so well. “We have 15 points from five games, that is a good start. “We know we have to get more points to get over the line. Do I think this team will finish the group on 15 points? No, I think we will get more points. Whether that is tomorrow or in November.” Clarke was diplomatic when asked about Spain captain Rodri, who claimed the way Scotland played at Hampden was “rubbish” as he accused them of wasting time, provoking his team-mates and falling over. The former Kilmarnock boss said: “I can’t even remember what he said, to be honest. It is not something that I ever get involved in. “That game was in March, this is October. A totally different game.” Read More Lawmakers could allow audio between referees and VARs to be available live Hugo Keenan excited to line up with ‘X-factor’ wings Mack Hansen and James Lowe World Netball president receives damehood at Windsor Castle Andy Murray to withdraw from next week’s Japan Open through injury Johnny Sexton insists Ireland are ready for ‘toughest game we’ve ever faced’ Wales star Jac Morgan hailed as a ‘hybrid’ of Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric

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Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has raised the prospect of the game’s lawmakers examining whether audio between referees and VARs should be available live. Miscommunication between VAR Darren England and referee Simon Hooper led to a Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham being wrongly disallowed last month, leading to further calls for such conversations to be played out in real time. The incident caused huge controversy, with Reds manager Jurgen Klopp even calling for the match to be replayed. Broadcasting the conversations between on-field officials and VARs live is currently prohibited under football’s laws. Bullingham, who is a director at the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which has the power to change the game’s laws, said the organisation had discussed the subject but added: “Generally there is a split in the room over that, and quite often it is between the marketing and commercial people and the referees. “Our point of view, from the marketing and commercial perspective, would normally be that transparency is a really good thing, and we want fans to have the maximum experience.” Bullingham said an ongoing FIFA trial where referees announce and explain the outcome of an on-field review is a “step in the right direction” but added: “My personal point of view is I do think (live audio) will continue to be a question over time, because the greater transparency shows how difficult the referee’s job is, and it has worked in other sport. “There is an understandable nervousness from others that the referee’s job is hard enough as it is. In a tournament you have referees with multiple languages, so it is not as straightforward as some might suggest. “So I think we are taking a step in the right direction with announcing the decision and explaining why it has been reached. Let’s see if that leads to further progression.” Bullingham’s Irish FA counterpart and fellow IFAB director Patrick Nelson spoke more cautiously on the VAR decision-making process, adding: “We just need to see more evidence on this at the moment. “It’s interesting when we look at recent examples but we still need to remember that VAR as an entire concept is relatively in its infancy compared to the game of football and compared to IFAB. There is still more that we can learn.” The PA news agency understands the IFAB is set to open up the trial of in-stadium announcements by referees beyond FIFA events to other interested competitions. The IFAB may also look again at the wording of Principle 10 in the VAR protocol, which currently prevents VARs from revisiting a decision once play has restarted and meant the officials could not call play back after the Diaz error. It could be updated to allow a decision to be revisited where a clear mistake has occurred, and where no significant action has taken place since play restarted. Bullingham also said he was aware IFAB had been asked to consider widening the scope of VAR to rule on decisions such as corner kick and free-kick awards. “I think we would be really reluctant to have a game that was stopped a lot more than it currently is, but that will be a proper discussion,” he added. VAR interventions are currently limited to goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity. Read More Hugo Keenan excited to line up with ‘X-factor’ wings Mack Hansen and James Lowe World Netball president receives damehood at Windsor Castle Andy Murray to withdraw from next week’s Japan Open through injury Marc Guehi praises influence of ‘top professional’ Harry Maguire in England camp Johnny Sexton insists Ireland are ready for ‘toughest game we’ve ever faced’ Wales star Jac Morgan hailed as a ‘hybrid’ of Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric