THREE IRISH sides were in action last night in European competitions.
It was a mixed bag for Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic, and Sligo Rovers in the Europa League and Europa Conference League games.
Here's how they got on
Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers beat Shkupi 3-1 at the Tallaght Stadium
A penalty from Graham Burke gave Stephen Bradley's side an early lead and Dylan Watts made it 2-0 around the half hour mark.
The visitors pulled one back with a wonder strike from Queven Da Silva, but the victory was secured thanks to a brilliant Gary O'Neill strike from outside the box in the 96th minute
After the game Stephen Bradley praised the Rovers fans on the night and warned that the tie was not over despite Rovers having one foot in the play-offs for the Europa League
"The fans were fantastic again. We weren't at our best, but we got the win, and we know we have a real game on our hands next week," said Bradley.
Rovers travel to North Macedonia next Thursday
What a moment. What a goal. What a night. 💚#RoversInEurope pic.twitter.com/0g5BxLoz2a — Shamrock Rovers FC ☘️ (@ShamrockRovers) August 4, 2022
St Patrick's Athletic
St Patrick's Athletic beat CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria 1-0 in Sofia thanks to super sub–Serge Atakayi's late strike.
Tim Clancy's Pats will welcome the Bulgarians to the Tallaght Stadium for the second leg next Thursday.
Speaking to the media after the game, Clancy gave his thoughts
"We knew it was going to be really difficult, coming here against a very good side," he said.
"We had to defend well, which we did, we limited CSKA to shots from distance and crosses into the box. I thought we dealt really well with set-pieces.
"We got a bit of luck on the counter-attack, Serge [Atakayi] has got a lot of paces, a short back-pass but for once this season it's us getting a goal like that and not one against us.
"I felt there were certain instances in the game where if our decision-making and execution in the final third had been better we might have got a goal or two more."
Yessssssss! pic.twitter.com/cfPxHLmvUR — St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) August 4, 2022
Sligo Rovers
John Russell's Sligo Rovers were beaten 5-1 in the first leg of Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie against Viking FK.
Bit O'Red's only goal came from David Crawley late on in the second half.
The Norwegian side scored two early goals in the first half and scored three more in the second half
Rovers have a mountain to climb, if they are to remain in Europe, and that mountain looks to be steep ahead of the second leg in Ireland next week
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