i know it was not a victory but
Dynamo kyev 2-2 Drogheda united.
Sooooooooooo close
With the European qualification coming up in a few weeks, I thought it was a good idea to start recounting the best League of Ireland performances in Europe.
Five fantastic encounters:
Shelbourne 4-1 Glentoran - Tolka Park, 2005
After a 2-1 away win in The Oval, Shels destroy Glentoran 4-1 at Tolka in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, and went through 6-2 on aggregate. Jason Byrne was the star of the show, scoring a double in both legs, with Glen Crowe and Owen Heary the others that found the net. It would also be the last season that they competed in the UEFA Champions League.
Aberdeen 1-2 Bohemians - Pittodrie, 2000
Bohs get a fantastic result away to Aberdeen, and in the home leg hold on to the advantage unlike other Irish clubs in the past, to qualify for the next round. Despite a 1-0 home defeat, the 2 away goals keep them in the competition.
Celtic 0-0 St Patrick's Athletic - Celtic Park, 1998
Pat Dolan's Saints pull off a remarkable result at Parkhead, taking a 0-0 to Tolka Park. They could've even won it only for Martin Reilly's shot going the wrong side of the post well into the second half. Unfortunately, Celtic win the home leg 2-0 to put Pats out of the competition.
St Patrick's Athletic 2-1 Elfsborg - Richmond Park, 2008
With over an hour gone in the first leg, St Pats looked like they were out already. They were 2-0 down after a quarter of the round gone. But somehow, they clawed two goals back to put them in a great position to qualify. But in the home leg, Elfsborg took a shock lead and now it looked like Pats really were gone. However, two goals in the last four minutes put St Pats into the UEFA Cup First Round and complete an incredible round.
Shelbourne 2-0 Hadjuk Split - Tolka Park, 2004
Probably the best League of Ireland European match ever. Despite a 3-2 defeat in Split, Shels needed just one goal to go into the next round. With the teams going in at half time level, a goal was needed from somewhere and Dave Rogers stepped up with a cracker to put Shels ahead. The game was completed when some clever play from Joseph Ndo was crossed along the goal line and finished off to seal an historic moment for League of Ireland football.
I'm a 23yr old right-handed heterosexual who drinks milk and likes democracy. - dcfcsteve knows me well
i know it was not a victory but
Dynamo kyev 2-2 Drogheda united.
Sooooooooooo close
we looked from Montrose to Swords, from swords to Montrose and from Montrose to Swords again but already it was impossible to spot UCDs right winger
Drogheda against Dynamo Kyiv was the best result imo.
Rangers 5 Shelbourne 3 in 1998... with Shels leading 3-0 with 30 mins to go... ouch
There are three or four candidates from Derry's UEFA Cup run in 2006, but for me the best was:
IFK Gothenburg 0-1 Derry City
Reasons: because it was so unexpected, because it was away from home and because I was there. It was the first game in a European run that put a big dent in my Visa card. I remember that the 300 or so City fans went over more in hope than in expectation, but as the game wore on it became clear that we might be able to get something from it. Hargy's goal sent us into party-mode for the rest of the night and the following morning.
City v Nantes a while back, we lost but great game.
Bohs V Aberdeen was good alright. Bohs v Bordeaux years ago stands out as a game where the LOI played well but result doesn't tell that story.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
As crc has said Gothenburg was some trip.
However for a performance, look no further than the record away win for a League of Ireland side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WelpDm_Scd8
How come Bohs v Aberdeen was played in Tolka? Had forgotten about that.
We only had one stand... Shed and Connaught St were still terraces...
Missing City's away result against Gretna in 2006 off that list is, frankly, an embarassment.
A set of 4 second-half goals the combined quality of which you would struggle to find in any game anywhere - including the world cup.
Shels win over Glentoran was no great shakes in all honesty.
Sligo Rovers 3 - 3 Nantes, Intertoto Cup 1996(?)
Rovers went 2-0 up, then 3-2 down and got an equalizer in the last few minutes.
Kaiserslautern - Bohs in the UEFA Cup (which Bohs won 1-0 and had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside) - becoming the first League of Ireland side to win two away games in the same European Campaign.
Kaiserslautern then went onto reach the semi finals where they lost to Alaves - who then lost that manic final against Liverpool...
Kom Igen, FCK...
It's ridiculous that even so far on every time I see that clip I get goosebumps. Derry were superb. Our wins over Gothenbourg and the 0-0 with PSG (McHugh should have had a pen and Brennan(?) hit the bar) were great results, but that win at Fir Park made me so proud. Did more than any other single thing to wake me up from my 7 year LoI slumber (except for maybe the playoff against Harps). Never looked back.
Even until last year I would have considered myself both a Derry and Man Utd fan, but games like that and the atmosphere in the town made me realise that following an English team is the emptiest enterprise for anyone here to pursue.
DCFC
Shamrock Rovers beat Odra Wodzisław of Poland home and away (2-1, 1-0) in the 2003 Intertoto Cup.
Very few LoI clubs have won both home and away legs even once in a European tie, but Rovers have done it three times (v Spora, Fram and Odra).
Beat that.
Last edited by Billy Lord; 30/04/2009 at 12:56 AM.
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