Tommy Jonsson and Stefan Selakovic again proved the undoing of Bohemians as their interest in the Champions League ended last night.

Defender Jonsson and striker Selakovic had both scored in Dalymount Park last week to give the Swedish champions a commanding 2-1 first-leg lead.

And the pair did it again in the Orjans Vall stadium to give the home side the victory they probably deserved as a result of their dominance in the second half.

Bohemians goalkeeper Wayne Russell would have expected to save Jonsson's free kick in the 55th minute which crept inside his near post to give Halmstad some more breathing space.

It was Russell himself who had conceded the free-kick. Avery John and Robert Andersson both lost their footing as they chased a ball but the Swede was quicker to recover. Russell raced off his line to stop the international striker but did so illegally. He later admitted that the offence had taken place inside the area but a free-kick rather than a penalty was awarded. The Welshman required treatment to a head injury sustained in the collision.

Selakovic fired the set-piece wide but Bulgarian referee Ivan Dobrinov ordered it to be retaken as he had not given the go-ahead for the free kick to take place. Jonsson took it the second time and fired low into the corner of the net past Russell who appeared to be still disorientated from the clash.

Not long afterwards, the Phibsborough club suffered a serious blow when Shaun Maher was stretchered off with a head injury which required stitching, following a clash of heads with Petter Hansson. Bohemians gambled by switching to a 3-4-3 formation but it backfired as Selakovic made it 2-0 in the 68th minute.

Mikael Nilsson's long pass from his own half was superbly controlled by Anderssson. He laid the ball off to Selakovic who scored with a fine first-time shot from 25 yards. Bohemians had had the better of the game in the first half but were unable to trouble Hakan Svensson as often as they would have wished.

Mark Rutherford had been a doubt with tendonitis, but, having declared himself fit, manager Mahon opted to play him up front alongside Glen Crowe. Trevor Molloy started just behind the front two. Mahon soon changed things around, though, with Rutherford reverting to his usual position on the left wing with Molloy moving forward to partner Crowe.

Bohemians were undoubtedly the better side for the first 45 minutes. On just one occasion did the home team threaten Russell's goal from open play. That chance came shortly before the interval.

Paul Byrne lost possession in midfield and, following some good interplay between strikers Andersson and Selakovic, Russell had to block Andersson's shot with his feet. A straightforward catch from a Torbjorn Arvidsson header, following a Nilsson corner, was Russell's only other taxing work in the first half.

But, while Bohemians were comfortable in at the back, they lacked the cutting edge in attack they possessed in the first leg which had produced so many opportunities.

Granted, Byrne twice tested Svensson with a couple of trademark spectacular shots while Crowe and Rutherford also had half-chances, but they were unable to worry Halmstad with sustained periods of pressure. Afterwards, Mahon commented: "I don't know if we did ourselves justice in this game but we didn't let ourselves down either."

Halmstad Bk: H Svensson; Jensen, M Svensson, Jonsson, F Andersson; Nilsson, Arvidsson (Ekstrom 88), Hansson, Wowoah (Karlsson 84); R Andersson (Bertilsson 74), Selakovic.

Bohemians: Russell; Shelley, Maher (O'Neill 64), John, Webb; Byrne (Morrison 70), Hunt, Caffrey, Rutherford, Crowe, Molloy (Hill 76).

Referee: Ivan Dobrinov (Bulgaria).