Paul O'Hehir at Lansdowne Road
Shelbourne 2 Lille 2:Pat Fenlon said midweek he would be happy to go to France with the tie still alive and after seeing his side battle back after a miserable first half offering to force a draw at Lansdowne Road he will surely take many positives, when few seemed available, with him to Lille in a fortnight's time.
A place in the UEFA Cup group stages awaits the winners and with the return from suspension of both Alan Moore and Stuart Byrne for the second leg at the Stade Grimonprez-Jooris the prospect of a ground-breaking journey into the latter stages of European competition seems a real prospect for the Drumcondra club.
Fenlon was forced to plan without the influential midfield duo - key players in the club's successful run on the continent this season - and, indeed, Moore's ability to penetrate opposing defences from deep could yet prove a valuable asset in France. Substitute Glen Fitzpatrick's two goals late in the game will also give the manager a welcomed selection headache.
Initially, the contrasts between this game and the Champions League qualifier with Deportivo here last month were stark. Lille, with a handful of league games and a successful Intertoto Cup campaign behind them, proved silkier opposition than the Spanish side who had yet to launch their season and the writing seemed on the wall for the eircom League champions from the outset.
Lille's slick passing and clever movement in the opening half, as well as their willingness to try the audacious, contrasted with a Shelbourne side lacking in ideas and, to a man, playing far too tight whereby passes, time and again, were intercepted deep in their own patch - often twinned with dangerous consequences.
Having dominated the midfield for the opening quarter, where Jean Makoun - singled out during the week by Fenlon for special attention - and Stephane Dumont combined with devastating effect, Lille soon opened the scoring.
On the 20 minute mark, striker Mathieu Bodmer found himself in acres of space just outside the Shelbourne penalty area and weighed up his options before striking low and hard across Steve Williams in the Shelbourne goal.
Lille's ability to ease through the Shelbourne midfield will have worried Fenlon. Jim Crawford and Thomas Morgan deputised for Moore and Byrne but their rustiness following spells out of the first team led to moments of hesitancy which Lille gained confidence from.
Despite conceding Shelbourne's first European goal at home this season, Williams remained focused and needed to be at his brilliant best to deny Dumont from close range just minutes after the goal.
On the rare occasion that Shelbourne did string together a purposeful first half move up field, the visiting defence, superbly marshaled by Greek centre half Tathis Tavlaridis, proved up to the task although Senegal goalkeeper Tony Sylva did need to pull off a fine save to keep a looping Jason Byrne header from landing in his net.
Shelbourne were slow to get off the back foot and, with their confidence obviously drained, they suffered another cruel blow on the stroke of half-time. Again Williams made a fine save to deny the enterprising Matt Moussilou but the ball rebounded off the Welshman's legs and found its way to Christophe Landrin who, unchallenged, tucked the ball home to the groans off a sparse 7,463 attendance.
Joseph Ndo passed a late fitness test to start the game but the Cameroon international was clearly struggling to shake off the effects of a groin strain and was sacrificed at the break for Alan Cawley.
Cawley's introduction sparked renewed belief in the Drumcondra side and with Lille content to sit back and protect their lead openings soon appeared. Invited to challenge, Shelbourne were now more purposeful going forward and Byrne went close from Cawley's cross but in truth his effort was never going to outfox Sylva.
Fitzpatrick's second half introduction for Morgan proved the turning point and the powerful former Shamrock Rovers player proved a handful for a visiting defence that were struggling to come to terms with their opponents newfound confidence on the ball.
Shelbourne pulled one back with ten minutes remaining when Byrne found himself all alone on the left flank and his perfectly weighted ball was met with a firm Fitzpatrick header that left Sylva rooted to the spot.
With the crowd behind them and sensing that more was to come, Shelbourne kicked on in search of an equaliser. It was not long coming. Three minutes after beating Sylva, Fitzpatrick had the former Monaco keeper plucking the ball from his net again after he headed home from six yards when centre back Jamie Harris had seen his attempt blocked.
Fitzpatrick almost grabbed a sensational winner when flicking a Cawley cross inches wide but having salvaged a draw when nothing seemed to be going right, Shelbourne will be greatly encouraged when they attempt to overturn a Lille side that crumbled when things didn't go their way.
SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Harris, Rogers, Crawley; Crawford; Hoolahan (McCarthy, 81 mins), Ndo (Cawley, half-time), Morgan (Fitzpatrick, 67 mins), Cahill; J Byrne.
LILLE: Sylva; Angbwa, Tavlaridis, Vitakic, Tafforeau; Dumont, Makoun; Landarin, Bodmer (Audel, 70 mins), Brunel (Chalme, 81 mins); Moussilou (Raynier, 76 mins).
Referee: C Kapitanas (Cyprus)