If the pattern of this Women's World Cup qualifying campaign continues, Wales will be starting preparations for a play-off final come Wednesday morning. Wales return home to Llanelli on Tuesday for the second leg of their play-off semi-final with a lead courtesy of a 1-0 triumph in Albania. It was a game which mirrored the three Wales played on their travels during the group stage of this World Cup qualifying campaign, in the Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro.
In each of those matches, Wales claimed a positive result despite an underwhelming performance. The story was the same in Shkoder on Friday night. In their home fixtures during the group stage, by contrast, Wales won plaudits as well as points in three resounding victories.
Rhian Wilkinson must now hope her team will repeat the trick against Albania, who will travel to Wales wondering how they have not given themselves a foothold in the tie. "We knew coming here [to Albania wasn't going to be easy," said Wales captain Angharad James. "The most important thing was getting the result, the clean sheet and taking that back to Llanelli on Tuesday.
"Playing in Wales - we love nothing more as a group, so we're in a good situation right now." Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final second leg Live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary. Wales are indeed well placed to progress as their quest to reach a first Women's World Cup in the nation's history continues. But the fact is that recent performances on their travels have not been those of a side destined to make it all the way to Brazil.
Wales topped their group after scraping a point in the Czech Republic, scrapping to a 1-0 victory in Albania and slumping to a 1-1 draw in Montenegro. If the hope was that Wales would show signs of progress on their return to Albania, they failed to deliver. Even as they took on opponents who sit 37 places below them in the Fifa rankings, Wales were unconvincing both in and out of possession.
Their goal came from a set-piece with Ezmiralda Franja diverting Lily Woodham's corner into her own net. Aside from that, Wales rarely looked like scoring, though Mared Griffiths and Hannah Cain did have sights of goal. It was Albania who appeared much more likely to find the target, with Wales goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel required to do plenty of work.
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