Joey O’Brien wants his Shelbourne players to channel their hurt from Europa League defeat into hunting for continental glory elsewhere this year.
Shelbourne exited Uefa’s second-tier competition on a 4-3 aggregate following a roller-coaster third qualifying round, second-leg clash with Croatian side Rijeka at a rocking Tolka Park on Tuesday night.
Ahead following a rousing come-from-behind 2-1 first-leg win on the Adriatic coast last week, Shelbourne found themselves 2-0 down midway through the second half of the return leg to a couple of simply sublime strikes from Toni Fruk and Tiago Dantas.
An 86th-minute Mipo Odubeko penalty, awarded after a lengthy VAR check, drew Shelbourne level in the tie before Ante Orec, who had fouled John Martin for the spot kick, won it with a goal right on 90 minutes.
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While the better team emerged victorious, it was a heartbreaking way to lose in front of a raucous home crowd.
“We saw them celebrating [on the final whistle] and we want that in two weeks’ time. We’ll use this hurt and turn that into hunting,” said head coach O’Brien.
“We’re bitterly disappointed but we’re still in it [Europe] and we want to go through.
“When we scored the penalty, we had the momentum with us and we had a chance after it and we didn’t take ours and they took theirs.
“I felt they had a lot of chances, but they didn’t really trouble us too much. And then the [first] goal, it was a bit of quality. The second goal too was a bit of quality.”
O’Brien will head to Belfast on Thursday night to get a first-hand view on Shelbourne’s next opponents in the Conference League playoffs. That will be either Linfield, whom the Reds knocked out in the Champions League first qualifying round, or Vikingur of the Faroe Islands, with the Irish League champions trailing 2-1 ahead of their second leg at Windsor Park.
The winners then enter a playoff for a place in the Conference League league phase and its guaranteed minimum prize fund of €3.8 million.
Shelbourne will be at home in the first leg, with the club again hoping to be allowed to stage it at their Drumcondra home rather than moving to Tallaght Stadium.
“We looked fitter, looked stronger towards the end of it,” said O’Brien of his side’s improved second-half display.
“The second goal they score, it’s an unbelievable shot and an unbelievable goal.
“The lads stuck at it. I was immensely proud of them, how they kept going. We got the peno then late doors and, here, we were ready for a barnstorming finish. We had the chance [through Milan Mbeng] and we didn’t take it. They went up and got a little bit of luck, I suppose, with a breaking ball. A good finish. It was a sickener.
“I thought our lads put in a monster effort and were right there at the death, but it wasn’t good enough.”
One of them was midfielder Kerr McInroy, who had a big chance saved by Rijeka goalkeeper Martin Zlomislic at 1-0 down.
“We’re just disappointed with the result,” said the 24-year-old Scot. “They are a top side and they showed that with the goals.
“We’re disappointed to go out, but we are aware that we have another chance to get group stage football in the next couple of weeks.
“They were really good, the goals showed the level and quality they’ve got. But I thought we did well against them across the two legs. We stopped them playing, but the goals killed us.
“We’ve enjoyed these last few weeks and it’s given us the hunger to go and get more over the next few months. We know we’ve now got a playoff game to give us the opportunity to do that.
“It’s good for me and everyone else to challenge ourselves against different teams, different countries and different levels of players.”
