Dundalk one step away from Champions League group stages

Dundalk 3 BATE Borisov 0 (Dundalk win 3-1 on agg)

Dundalk are just two games away from making the group stages of the Champions League after an incredible night at Tallaght Stadium saw them overturn a one goal defeat from the first leg to beat BATE Borisov 3-0.

Starved of service and faced with the daunting task of leading the line on his own, striker David McMillan came alive in the 44th minute, heading home the goal that levelled the tie.

With the game heading towards the hour mark, McMillan stooped to head Dundalk in front in the tie, taking his tally for the season to 17, and five in the Champions League, before substitute Robbie Benson raced clear in the dying stages to slide the ball past Sergei Veremko and secure Stephen Kenny's side a place in the group stages of the Europa League at the very least and a windfall of €7 million.

Kenny made two changes to the side that started in Barysaw seven days earlier with Chris Shields and John Mountney coming in for Benson and Patrick McEleney. Captain Stephen O'Donnell and Ronan Finn, who both were part of the Shamrock Rovers squad that reached the group stages of the Europa League in 2011, recovered from knocks to take their place in the team.

BATE, who have been Champions League group stage regulars over the past five seasons, named an unchanged line-up with the goalscorer from the first leg, Mikhail Gordeychuk, named on the bench.

The League of Ireland champions endured a difficult start to the night with Yuri Kendysh heading a near-post corner over the top. Dundalk continued to make life difficult for themselves by giving the ball away needlessly and Finn presented Aleksei Rios with the ball in the 16th minute, the BATE midfielder seeing his effort just whistle past Gary Rogers’s right hand post.

Finn’s evening came to an end prematurely, the midfielder limping off with a reoccurrence of the groin injury after 32 minutes to be replaced by McEleney but Dundalk’s first chance of the half arrived seconds after the former Derry City man’s introduction.

Dane Massey's crossfield pass set Mountney in behind Artur Pikk for the first time but he opted to try and drive it through Veremko at his near post instead of pulling it back for the inrushing black shirts.

Dundalk were left sweating from the resulting corner when O'Donnell went down clutching his arm after climbing all over Vitali Rodionov but the skipper returned to the fray after treatment and the tie was turned on its head in the 43rd minute.

Daryl Horgan looked like he was outnumbered on the left when he ran at Maksim Zhaverchik and Rios but he managed to somehow make a yard of space and deliver a cross to the back post for McMillan to guide a brilliant header inside Veremko's top left-hand corner. The teams went in at the break with the Lilywhites given a raucous reception on their way off the pitch.

BATE boss Aleksandr Ermakovich introduced former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder, Alexander Hleb, in place of Alexsandr Karnitski at the break while O'Donnell emerged for the second half with his right arm heavily strapped from the earlier fall.

Dundalk looked a lot more comfortable in the early stages but they had a big let off in the 56th minute. Zhavernerchik's clipped ball from the right headed meekly by Paddy Barrett into the path of Rios but his drive crept inches wide of the post.

The Dundalk fans responded by getting on their feet and the unthinkable happened two minutes later.

McEleney, who made a huge impression after coming on, jinked his way past Zhavernerchik and Pikk on the right before scooping a cross to the far post. Massey arrived to fire the ball across goal and McMillan stooped to divert it home sparking scenes of mass hysteria on the terraces.

Every tackle by a player in a black shirt after that was cheered as loudly as a goal but BATE, who introduced Gordeychuk, wouldn’t go away and Hleb dragged the ball just wide with an effort from 18-yards.

Rodionov fired another shot at Rogers as the game ticked towards the final 15 minutes and the Lilywhites goalkeeper then showed great hands in the falling rain to gather a Gordeychuk effort that deflected off Andy Boyle.

McMillan went off to a hero’s reception to be replaced by Benson in the 78th minute but Dundalk showed no signs of shutting up shop with McEleney denied by a last-ditch Kendysh tackle before Veremko batted away a Mountney effort.

The magical moment came in the 89th minute when Benson hustled Kendysh, winning the ball and racing through before calmly side footing the ball home to put the cap on what will surely go down as the biggest achievement by a League of Ireland side in European competition.

DUNDALK: Rogers; Gannon, Barrett, Boyle, Massey; Shields, O'Donnell; Mountney, Finn (McEleney, 32 mins), Horgan (Kilduff, 90 mins); McMillan (Benson, 78 mins).

BATE BORISOV: Veremko; Zhavernchik (Signevich, 82 mins), Dubra, Polyakov, Pikk (Gordeychuk, 65 mins); Rios, Ivanic, Kendysh; Karnitski (Hleb, h/t), Rodionov, Stasevich.

Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark).