BASED on tonight's performance at the Cardiff City Stadium you would be forgiven for thinking that a number of Wales players had a fear of flying.

So many of them failed to fire and really make the most of their chance to stake a claim for a seat on the plane to France this summer.

Substitute Simon Church earned the home side a draw with an 89th-minute penalty, cancelling out Craig Cathcart’s opener on the hour mark, but it was a poor display from the hosts in their last outing at home before they head to Euro 2016.

Boss Chris Coleman had eight players out, and it showed, with a lack of scoring chances created during a largely dire friendly encounter all round.

You had to admire both sets of fans for creating a decent atmosphere during what was a forgettable first half of international football.

In fairness, conditions weren’t the best, the heavy rain making the pitch extra slick and causing several of those involved to lose their footing.

However, despite the two teams missing a number of players, most notably Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for Wales, the supporters deserved better than what they got.

Cathcart’s pass straight out of play was the low point of the opening 15 minutes, while David Cotterill’s free-kick turned away by Michael McGovern proved to be about the only shot at goal in the entire first period.

Cotterill, Adam Matthews, David Vaughan, George Williams and Sam Vokes were the five changes to the Wales starting XI following the defeat to the Dutch last November.

It was Williams who impressed the most before the break, though it didn’t take much to do that as the match failed to come to life at all.

Oliver Norwood did his best to raise the temperature when he clattered into James Chester, while Williams ended the half with a couple of bursts forward, one of which produced a corner that Chester headed over.

Wales boss Coleman had promised keeper Danny Ward a debut in the build-up to the game, either last night or in Ukraine on Monday, and he was true to his word.

The Liverpool stopper replaced Wayne Hennessey for the second half while former Newport County striker Conor Washington was replaced after 45 minutes of his Northern Ireland debut.

Ward’s involvement was almost immediate as he palmed away Kyle Lafferty’s effort following a great sliding challenge by Matthews.

That, on 50 minutes, was the visitors' first effort on target, and soon after they were celebrating the opening goal of the contest.

Tom Lawrence was caught napping on the edge of his own box at a corner and Cathcart drove the ball past Ward.

More substitutions for Wales followed Cathcart's strike with Jonny Williams, Lloyd Isgrove, Joe Allen and Church introduced during the next 15 minutes.

The Wales fans did their best to rouse the hosts with a rendition of Land Of My Fathers, and with time running out they got what they wanted.

Church was brought down in the box by Gareth McAuley and the former stepped up to dispatch the resulting penalty to make it 1-1.

It’s off to Ukraine for Wales now and at least Coleman will know he is unlikely to see a performance as below par as that again, at least he’ll hope he doesn’t.

Wales: Hennessey (Ward 46), Gunter, Matthews, A Williams, Chester, Ledley (Crofts 46), Vaughan (Allen 71), Cotterill, G Williams (Isgrove 62), Lawrence (J Williams 62), Vokes (Church 76)

Subs not used: O Williams, Henley, Richards, MacDonald, Huws, Taylor

Booked: None

Referee: Steven McLean (Scotland)

Attendance: 21,855

Argus star man: George Williams