Champions League second round qualifier, first leg: Shelbourne 0 Qarabag 3 (Leandro 12, Kashchuk 81, Akhundzada 85)
No glory at a sizzling Tolka Park but plenty of guts from Shelbourne, until a calamitous finish settled this Champions League tie before the second-leg in Baku next Wednesday.
“Cheats, cheats, cheats” went around the old ground as Qarabag players took turns cramping up with 15 minutes remaining.
They were not done running. The two goals in the final nine minutes, from Olexiy Kashchuk and Nariman Akhundzada, made a competitive contest look one-sided.
Shelbourne did encounter an unfamiliar pace in this second-round qualifier but Joey O’Brien’s men refused to be cowed by a Brazilian-heavy Qarabag side, even if the gulf in quality was undeniable.
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The long journey to Baku next week will take its toll. No matter. It can be a stop-off on the road to the Uefa Conference League group stages, where the prize money would wipe out the Drumcondra club’s past three years of seven-figure losses.
The investment by the Shelbourne board was to build a competitive squad for European nights like this, and the recent signings of Jack Henry-Francis and Dutch goalkeeper Wessel Speel should make them stronger again.
Lorcan Healy could lose his place to Speel next week after being at fault for the third goal.
The perennial Azerbaijan champions looked untouchable at times, despite this being their first competitive game of the season, with four Brazil and three Azerbaijan internationals in Gurban Gurbanov’s starting XI.
Leandro-Andrade opened the scoring in the 12th minute but, remarkably, Sean Gannon had an early chance to put Shels in front. The veteran defender’s scuffed shot hit the post after Harry Wood’s corner pinballed around the box.
Wood was his usual inspirational self, which suggests that the all-action English attacker will be lured back across the Irish Sea sooner rather than later.
Shels were superb in patches, with Kerr McInroy stamping his authority in a midfield where Brazilians Kady Borges and Pedro Bicalho sought to control possession.
In the end, Kady’s delicate through-ball created Kashchuk’s killer goal.
Gurbanov’s side are European specialists who expect to reach the group stages of the Europa League, and it showed early on when Abdellah Zoubir shot wide.
As the French winger looked to be having his way with Gannon and Evan Caffrey down the left, Leandro rocked Shels with a thrilling goal off the right.
It came from a miscued pass by Wood. A throw-in deep in Qarabag territory hardly screamed danger until Leandro hared down the sideline before switching play to Zoubir, who rolled a pass for Turai Bayramov and rewarded Leandro’s continued run into the box.
Shelbourne opened amateur club Fairview Rangers in similar fashion during last Saturday’s FAI Cup win in Limerick.
To their credit, the Dubliners responded with a professional performance as Wood and McInroy were quietly inspirational while Mipo Odubeko showed for a heap of unwinnable ball.
The depth of O’Brien’s squad became evident when Tyreke Wilson was forced off following a heavy challenge by Dani Bolt. The injury looked serious but Shels turned to Liverpool-loanee James Norris as they finished the first-half strong.
Clearly Croatian referee Ante Culina did not see Emmanuel Addai’s ridiculous reaction to being dispossessed by McInroy. Shels refused to stop play as the Ghanian forward rolled around on the grass, seemingly in agony, until Culina blew his whistle.
Wood, Ali Coote and Paddy Barrett all made attempts at spectacular equalisers as Qarabag’s lack of fitness began to show.
Turns out they had more in them than anyone inside Tolka expected. The late strikes from Kashchuk and Akhundzada were unfair on Shels but a true reflection of the standard on show.
SHELBOURNE: Healy; Gannon (Coyle 46), Barrett, Ledwidge, Wilson (Norris 17); Lunney, McInroy; Caffrey (O’Sullivan 66), Wood, Coote (Martin 66); Odubeko (Boyd 77).
QARABAG: Buntic; Dani Bolt, Mustafazada, Silva, Bayramov; Bicalho, Addai, Kady; Leandro (Kashchuk 77), Akhundzada, Zoubir (Huseynov 77).
Referee: Mario Zebec (Croatia).
