Harry Wilson celebrates after opening the scoring from the penalty spot. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
9.10pm BST
66 min: So much for the danger. Jovetić sends a hysterical effort, presumably meant for the top-right corner, high into the stand behind.
9.09pm BST
65 min: A ball comes in from the Montenegro left. Janković shapes like Zinedine Zidane in the 2002 Champions League final, but isn’t able to cream a shot goalwards, as he’s clipped mid-volley by Harris. It will be a free kick just to the left of the Wales D, though. A very dangerous position.
9.07pm BST
63 min: Turkey have equalised in Reykjavik, İrfan Kahveci levelling against Iceland. It’s all to play for in Group B4 all right.
9.06pm BST
62 min: Radulović is beginning to cause problems for Wales down the inside-right channel. He should probably tee up Vukčević, haring in on the overlap, for a shot from a tight angle, but overcooks the pass. Vukčević hooks back from the byline but the chance is gone and Wales clear up.
9.04pm BST
60 min: Burns makes good down the left and crosses low for Cullen, who instigates an almighty scramble in the Montenegro box but can’t get a shot away. The visitors eventually clear their lines. The second half took a while to get going, but it’s good fun now.
9.03pm BST
59 min: Brooks makes way for the equally popular Allen, who returns to international football after his self-imposed exile.
9.02pm BST
58 min: Bakić is booked for a fairly agricultural lunge on Cullen. Montenegro are beginning to lose it.
9.01pm BST
56 min: Oh my goodness. Montenegro have done nothing so far, but now they nearly equalise in sensational style. Radulović cuts in from the right, seeing off Davies with ease, before sending a power-curler across and over Darlow, towards the top left, and off the crossbar. The resulting TWANG can be heard in Swansea. That would have been a peach. Presumably the aesthete Bellamy, preaching his art-for-art’s-sake doctrine, would have rather that had gone in? You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you.
Updated at 9.03pm BST
8.59pm BST
55 min: Williams, Brooks and Wilson paint some pretty triangles at high speed down the right-hand side of the pitch. The flowing move eventually breaks down, but full marks for both aesthetic effect and ambition, and you can be sure Craig Bellamy approves.
8.57pm BST
53 min: Another sub goes into the book. This time it’s Vukčević, for brazenly kneeing Davies up the fundament, then throwing the ball away upon being penalised for it. Robert Prosinecki’s half-time hairdrying technique needs some recalibration.
8.55pm BST
51 min: It’s been an admin-infused start to the second half, but otherwise, there’s nothing much going on. “Harry Wilson is such a good footballer, but has just never had the consistency,” writes Matt Dony of today’s Player of the Match So Far. “As a youngster at Liverpool, it looked like he could be a top, top, top player. Ultimately, though, he’s never put it all together for any length of time. (See also: Dan James) I love watching him play, and he’s had some brilliant moments in a Welsh shirt. He’s never going to be the player he threatened to be, but hey, he’s hardly unique in that respect.”
8.54pm BST
49 min: A cross comes into the Welsh box. Jovetić sticks up a leg, is penalised for a high boot, and complains about it. He goes into the book, and will miss Montenegro’s next match, at home against Iceland, as a result. Not the immediate impact his coach would have been looking for.
Updated at 9.08pm BST
8.52pm BST
47 min: Thick smoke pours from the fourth-official’s numbers board. OK, not really, but in a parallel universe, etc.
8.50pm BST
Wales get the second half underway. Montenegro have made four changes. Jovetić replaces Mugoša and gets his armband back. Meanwhile Radunović, Radulović and Marko Vukčević come on for Andrija Vukčević, Camaj and Marušić.
Updated at 8.51pm BST
8.41pm BST
In the other Group B4 match, it’s Iceland 1-0 Turkey at half-time. Orri Óskarsson with a third-minute goal. Should both matches end like this, we’ll have quite the battle for promotion to League A on our hands. And quite the scrap to avoid third spot and the relegation play-offs. It promises to be a lot of fun! (And let’s try our best to remember that when we all start moaning ahead of the November international break.)
Wales have the lead they deserve, and for the most part, had the control their new boss Craig Bellamy desires.
8.32pm BST
45 min +2: A careless Burns backpass down the Montenegro right forces Sheehan into the concession of a corner. Some unnecessary pressure for Wales to deal with late in the half. But Rodon rises highest to head the corner clear.
8.30pm BST
45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes.
8.29pm BST
44 min: Cullen latches onto a loose ball in the centre circle. He’s got options with Montenegro light at the back, but gets over-excited and plays a premature pass down the middle in the hope of finding Harris, who is never getting to the ball. The crowd groan as the chance of a dangerous counter-attack passes by.
8.27pm BST
42 min: That man Wilson shifts the ball between his feet on the edge of the Montenegro D, seeing off Šipčić before whipping a crisp drive inches wide of the right-hand post.
8.26pm BST
41 min: Wilson is everywhere at the moment. He slips a pass down the inside-left channel for Brooks, who can’t get a meaningful shot away on the edge of the box. Shame, because Burns had started that move with a clever turn and surge.
8.25pm BST
40 min: Another free kick on the right, though this one’s up the other end, Janković being clipped by Cullen. Montenegro line up on the edge of the Welsh area. Wilson, a hero right now at both ends, heads the free kick powerfully clear.
8.24pm BST
38 min: Brooks is skittled by Vukčević out on the right wing. Wilson swings a dangerous free kick into the mixer, but the whistle goes after some overly excited Welsh engagement.
8.22pm BST
37 min: Krstović tries to respond immediately, powering his way past Williams down the left and shooting low and hard towards the bottom left. Darlow gets down at his near post and handles well. Especially as the shot took a very slight deflection en route to the keeper.
8.21pm BST
GOAL! Wales 1-0 Montenegro (Wilson pen 36)
There’s the usual pre-penalty faff, the defenders doing their best to drag things out. But it doesn’t put Wilson off. He waits patiently, before giving Nikić the eyes, and passing into the bottom left, the keeper having been sent the wrong way. Wales deservedly lead!
Updated at 8.27pm BST
8.20pm BST
Penalty for Wales!
34 min: Wilson attempts a Cruyff Turn just inside the box on the right. He’s nicked by the utterly foxed Jovović, and though the referee takes his sweet time, he eventually points to the spot!
Updated at 8.23pm BST
8.19pm BST
33 min: … so having said that (again) … Brooks shoots from distance. Nikić turns the shot around the post for a corner. It’s sent in from the right, and …
8.18pm BST
32 min: Wales have been the better team, but Montenegro keeper Nikić hasn’t had to be a hero, and the match is beginning to drift a little. All a bit tepid. Which is ironic, as Peter Oh points out: “Wales’ fire-breathing dragon meets Montenegro’s double-headed eagle. As far as clashes of mythical creatures on federation crests go, this is about as a hot as it gets.”
8.16pm BST
30 min: Burns wins a corner down the left. He sends it in for Davies, who competes for a header in the six-yard box, but with too much vigour. A free kick releases the pressure on Montenegro.
8.15pm BST
28 min: … so having said that, Davies absent-mindedly ships possession 30 yards out, allowing Jovović a whack at goal from the edge of the D. The Wales captain is fortunate Sheehan races back to slide and block.
8.11pm BST
26 min: Wilson plays another ball down the inside-right channel, this time for Harris, who wins a corner. Wilson swings it in to little effect, Vujačić clearing with confidence. But the hosts continue to dominate. Darlow, in the Welsh goal, has had absolutely nothing to do. His defenders haven’t exactly been pushed either.
8.09pm BST
24 min: Brooks, calling the shots from a deep position on the right flank, pearls a glorious crossfield pass towards Burns, on the edge of the box. Burns can’t bring it down, which is such a shame, because he’d have been clear, albeit facing a tight angle, and that ball would have been one hell of an assist.
8.07pm BST
22 min: Wilson rolls a cute pass down the inside-right channel for Cullen to latch onto. Nikić comes racing to the edge of his box, and is fortunate that Cullen’s attempted lob clears the bar of the now-unguarded goal.
8.06pm BST
20 min: “The Icelandic opener was a bit odd,” reports Kári Tulinius, “in that Orri Steinn Óskarsson was put through at the half-way line, and ran all the way into the penalty box with a defender at his heels the whole time, yet the Turkish player made no attempt to foul him. The purist in me was appalled at the lack of poor sportsmanship, but as an Icelander I can’t but applaud such fair play.” Jesse Pennington would surely have approved.
19 min: Nothing comes of the set piece, but an opening goal for Wales feels little more than a matter of time.
8.04pm BST
18 min: Wales have the run of this right flank. Williams tears down it and looks for Cabango in the middle. The ball only just evades Harris’s toe. Marušić is forced to turn the ball out for a corner.
8.02pm BST
17 min: Wilson – again from the right – strides into the box and takes a whack at goal. Nikić makes a stop. Wales well on top.
Updated at 8.10pm BST
8.02pm BST
16 min: Wales are also enjoying the dragon’s share of possession. Exactly as control-obsessed Craig Bellamy demanded in his pre-match interview. Williams probes down the right; Brooks tries to sort his feet to shoot on the edge of the D; Cullen attempts to thread a pass through the middle of the Montenegro defence to release Wilson. Not quite (x3). But it’s got the crowd going.
8.00pm BST
14 min: Brooks dances in from the right and shoots through a pair of legs. Easy for the keeper. Wales are enjoying plenty of joy down this flank.
7.57pm BST
12 min: Wilson cuts in from the right and crosses deep. It’s a sensational cross, and Montenegro’s defence is all over the place. Burns arrives on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box and should score, especially as keeper Nikić is on walkabout, but he flashes a header wide.
7.56pm BST
10 min: Iceland have taken the lead against Turkey in the other Group B4 game. Orri Óskarsson, who gave Wales the runaround in the second half last Friday, gets an early reward. “Shame Milutin Osmajić is banned for this match,” chatters Matthew Lawrenson. “No doubt he’d be champing at the bit to sink his teeth into the Wales defence.”
8 min: Brooks dribbles elegantly in from the right. He nearly makes it all the way to the corner of the six-yard box, but can’t get a shot away before Šipčić comes across to slide out for a corner. That’s fine play all round. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
Updated at 7.55pm BST
7.52pm BST
6 min: Vukčević chops inside from the left touchline and is clipped by Williams, who is told in no uncertain terms by the referee to stop it. One more foul by a Welsh defender and the official’s patience could snap early doors.
7.50pm BST
5 min: Camaj hoicks a dismal diagonal into the crowded Welsh area, allowing Darlow, winning his second cap at the age of 34, to calmly usher the ball out for a goal kick.
7.49pm BST
4 min: Yes, so scrub that. Jovović embarks on a powerful dribble down the left and draws a foul from Sheehan. A chance for the visitors to load the box.
7.48pm BST
2 min: Brooks wins a corner down the right. It comes to nothing, but all signs point to another confident fast start by Bellamy’s showmen.
7.47pm BST
3 sec: Montenegro dummy the kick-off , and make an almighty balls of it, losing possession almost immediately. Not an auspicious start for the visitors.
7.45pm BST
Here we go, then; Montenegro kick off. The home fans in full voice.
7.41pm BST
The teams are out! An amazing atmosphere at the Cardiff City Stadium. Wales in red, Montenegro in second-choice white. We’ll be off in a few minutes, once the hymns and arias are sung. As if anyone will stop. Ar hyd y nos.
7.32pm BST
Craig Bellamy speaks to S4C. “Mark Harris has trained really well … and has been playing well for Oxford … he definitely fits in to how we do things … we need to keep the ball and have control … we cannot get involved in a basketball game … that would suit Montenegro … we need control of the game.”
He’s then asked if he’ll be “keeping an extra eye on what happens after half-time tonight” in the wake of recent fast starts and comparatively subdued second-half performances. “No.” [broad smile] “No!” [exits stage right]
7.17pm BST
As for the Montenegro team … they make two changes from their one-goal defeat in Turkey on Friday night. Star man and captain Stevan Jovetić, the country’s leading scorer with 36 goals, drops to the bench, both place and armband taken by Stefan Mugoša. Marko Janković meanwhile replaces Edvin Kuč in midfield.
7.10pm BST
A reminder of how Group B4 stands after the third round of matches. Group leaders Turkey travel to Iceland tonight.
Should tonight’s game end goalless, at least we’ll have witnessed some history. Which is probably overselling things a tad, but facts are facts. Wales’ last two home matches have ended 0-0 (against Poland and Turkey ) and they’ve never had three home goalless draws in a row before. Hmm. This is a little bit more inspiring, though: should Craig Bellamy avoid defeat, he’ll become the first Wales manager to remain unbeaten after his first four matches. Bellamy may be all about the entertainment, but the man gets results as well.
Wales have won the last two of their four meetings with Montenegro, having lost both of the first two. We didn’t MBM the most recent, played last month under rainy skies in Nikšić, but the game did get the Clockwatch treatment, which amounted to nearly the same. So reliving that success is still possible. That success is Wales’ only win in their past nine Nations League matches, the others ending in three draws and five defeats.
Wales make seven changes to the starting XI named for the 2-2 draw in Iceland . Neco Williams, Harry Wilson, Joe Rodon and captain Ben Davies are the only players to keep their place. Joe Allen, out of international retirement, is named on the bench, alongside uncapped defender Owen Beck. Oxford striker Mark Harris makes his first start.
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