Shelbourne give visitors a thorough send-off

Intertoto Cup First Round second leg/ Shelbourne 4 FK Vetra 0: Shelbourne advance to a second-round meeting with Bruce Rioch's Odense of Denmark next weekend, but it was difficult to judge how good they were here, given the indiscipline and tactical ineptitude of their Lithuanian opposition.

While the home fans skipped home down Richmond Road content, the few visiting supporters were left to rue their decision to travel two-and-a-half days by bus and struggling to digest their team's miserable offering.

The visitors' chances of causing a shock were blown just four minutes in when their defender Julius Raliukonis was dismissed for tugging Glen Crowe's shirt as the striker ran clear in on goal. They had another two players sent off later, reducing the endgame to a farce.

"I don't know how to sum that up to be quite honest," Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon said. "It was a bit of madness, so . . . it's hard to take anything out of it.

"I think all the sendings off were justified," he added, "but I suppose it does take a bit of gloss off things."

Shelbourne were always in control, dictating the pace and using the full width of the pitch to stretch their opponents. Joseph Ndo was superb, pulling the strings behind Crowe and embarking on mazy runs that created ample room for his supporting team-mates.

Wingers Bobby Ryan and Ollie Cahill, too, were eager and inventive, and it was Ryan's looping cross-cum-shot in the 36th minute that broke the deadlock. Goalkeeper Mirza Merlani misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing it to drop in over his head.

Vetra were reduced to nine men seconds before the interval, when midfielder Rolandas Karcemarskas saw yellow for the second time.

Overrun in midfield thereafter, the Lithuanians took a hammering as Crowe and company repeatedly essayed pops at the target.

Persistence paid off midway through the half when substitute Jason Byrne out jumped the tallest man on the field, striker Sergei Kuznecov, at the near post to head home Ndo's corner.

Three minutes later, just after Robertas Vezevicius had been sent off for a second yellow, Crowe bagged the goal he deserved when slotting home Byrne's cross amid comical defending.

In injury time the duo again combined, Byrne tapping home from two yards out.

SHELBOURNE: Delaney; Heary (O'Halloran 71), Hawkins, Dillon, Crawley (Crawley 53); Ryan, Reynolds, S Byrne, Cahill; Ndo (Deegan 71); Crowe.

FK VETRA: Merlani; Usaciov, Raliukonis, Preiksaitis, Baikovs; Vezevicius, Vencevicius, Karcemarskas, Sernas (Kochanauskas 90); Bazys (Litvimas), Kuznecov (Vaneikis 87).

Referee: Markus Strombergsson (Sweden).