Aaron Ramsey gave Welsh supporters a moment to remember when he secured a 1-1 draw in Brussels last week. Scampering onto a Craig Bellamy through ball, Ramsey muscled his way in from the edge of the box and poked the ball between the legs of Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois.

The deserved but unlikely last-gasp goal sent over 1,000 fans — including your correspondent — perched high in the Heysel Stadium into raptures.

When the final whistle went minutes later it seemed like Wales were on their way to the World Cup in Brazil rather than the Belgians.

As I pointed out in my last column, Wales have form as party-wreckers.

John Toshack steered a similarly depleted side to a dogged 0-0 draw against Germany in the final match of Euro 2008 qualifying.

Wales were making great strides under the late Gary Speed in 2011 when they ended Switzerland’s Euro 2012 hopes in Swansea before beating Bulgaria in Sofia.

This squad has made a habit of turning on the style once the lights on our own qualifications hopes have gone out.

But, as Bellamy insisted after earning his 78th and final cap for Wales, we’ve got too much talent to be satisfied with gatecrashing other nation’s celebrations.

A late flourish does, however, give the squad momentum for the road to Euro 2016 in France, which must represent our best chance of tournament football since 1976.

While other home nations fell at the group stage, Wales reached the quarter-finals of that “forgotten campaign,” but only the remaining four sides actually travelled to the “finals” in Yugoslavia.

In stark contrast to that, Uefa have now boosted the number of finals places from 16 to 24 — almost half of the 53 nations who’ll begin qualifying.

And key players like Ramsey and Gareth Bale will have four qualifying campaigns under their belts and be hitting the peak of their powers.

Both have shown leadership and courage at key moments in this campaign, which while ultimately disappointing would have been worse without their influence.

Just as Ramsey refused to accept defeat in Brussels, Bale conjured up two goals in the final 10 minutes at home against Scotland to earn Wales a win.

It’s crucial that manager Chris Coleman demands their availability for international duty, starting with next month’s friendly against Finland.

But we learned in the era of Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs that there must also be a strong squad and consistent system of play to give top players the platform they need.

That’s why Coleman has named the Cardiff clash as judgement day over his leadership of Wales.

A win will secure confidence in his methods from fans and FA of Wales bosses, and inject a real sense of purpose into his project ahead of the next campaign.

A loss and momentum unravels into uncertainty. It’s uncharacteristic of Coleman, but it’s exactly the kind of leadership needed to avoid another false start.