PAUL JONES produced a man-of-the-match display to outshine Saints goalkeeping rival Antti Niemi at the Millennium Stadium last night.

Wales were held 1-1 by Finland with Simon Davies and Mikael Forssell the goalscorers, but Jones was by far the busier of the two keepers.

He produced six excellent second-half saves in the space of just 15 minutes as Wales tried to protect a 1-0 lead which could have taken them back ahead of Italy at the top of Group Nine. But the draw guarantees Wales a spot in the play-offs for Euro 2004. Jones, who has kept three successive clean sheets for Saints, said: "It was backs against the wall for much of the second-half. It was unfortunate that we didn't hold out and we have mixed feelings.

"It was a shame we conceded, but it was a decent header and I couldn't quite get there. We are in the play-offs but we are still slightly disappointed.

"We got ahead but for some reason we just took our foot off the gas. I was pleased to make a few decent saves and it is great playing here. The fans were fantastic.

"We have got to be happy being in the play-offs, we would have probably taken that at the beginning of the group and it shows how far we have come."

Niemi felt Finland had performed strongly and was full of praise for Jones.

He said: "We struggled to hold them for the first ten minutes, but after that we deserved to win. We created more chances but Jonah has made some great saves.

"We deserve some credit and we made it difficult for them. It's not a nice feeling to concede so early, especially away from home, but we kept the ball well in the second half."

"I felt there were a lot of positives for Finland."