A football-mad Cardigan plumber was among the ardent 2,000-plus Welsh fans witnessing Wales' momentous 0-2 European Championship victory over Finland in Helsinki on Saturday - but only just.

Shortly before he set off with friends for a flight from Birmingham, 25-year-old Ceri Adams-Lewis discovered to his horror that his passport had expired.

That was on Thursday. By 8am Friday staff at the Passport Office in Newport, Gwent, were pulling out all the stops to issue Ceri with a valid document.

This, plus some chauffeuring help from his dad, John, the local town and county councillor, ensured that Ceri, a Cardigan Town FC player, was properly covered for the trip on a rearranged flight out of Cardiff.

"Getting to Helsinki in plenty of time for the game was a great relief and Wales' winning it in such style really put the icing on the cake for me and the friends from Cardigan with whom I was reunited. They included my brother, Hedd, who travelled from Tamworth where he works at The Belfry.

"As Max Boyce would say 'I was there' and looking back I wouldn't have wanted to have missed the occasion for all the tea in China," said Ceri.