TNS 4 Bohemians 0 (agg 4-1):Bohemians were left in a state of shock this evening as their Champions League dream came crashing down around their ears. With a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Pat Fenlon's were 90 minutes away from a mouth-watering tie against Anderlecht.
Instead, their European campaign was brought to a shuddering halt as The New Saints booked a place in the third qualifying round for the first time in their history.
Fenlon had been keen to temper expectations ahead of tonight’s match, warning the Welsh side would pose plenty of problems. But even the Bohemians manager cannot have envisaged just how dangerous TNS would be as they cut the Bohemians defence apart in the opening 20 minutes.
The Saints took just six minutes to cancel out Bohemian's first leg advantage, Craig Jones nipping the ball past Barry Murphy in the Bohemians goal. Paddy Madden then went close for the Dublin side before Matthew Williams doubled TNS’s advantage with a calm finish after good work by Steve Evans and Matthew Berkeley.
Things rapidly went from bad to worse for Fenlon and his side, with Chris Sharp making it 3-0 with barely 20 minutes on the clock to leave their chances of progressing dead in the water.
And, as Bohemians pressed desperately for an unlikely route back into the tie, with Paul Keegan twice going close for the visitors, Scott Ruscoe’s corner was headed on by Evans for Williams to kill off the contest with his second of the night with 15 minutes remaining.
The New Saints FC:Harrison; Holmes, Marriott, Baker, Evans, Ruscoe, Hogan, Sharp (Darlington 89), Williams, Jones, Berkeley (Wood 88).
Bohemians:Murphy; Heary, Oman, Shelley, Powell (McGuinness 46), Brennan, Higgins (Cronin 46), Keegan, Quigley, Madden, Byrne (Greene 65)
Attendance:1,056
Referee:I Vad (Hungary)