Sligo Town 0 Bala Town 1 (Agg 2-2 aet, Sligo win 4-3 on pens)
Goalkeeper Ed McGinty put on a man-of-the-match display as Sligo Rovers needed penalties to knock Welsh part-timers Bala Town out of the Europa Conference League at the Showgrounds on Thursday night.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg in Wales, the hosts lost 1-0 on the night, but McGinty saved two penalties in the shoot-out and Rovers missed none as they booked a lucrative second qualifying round tie with Motherwell.
It was a fitting end to the game for Scottish native McGinty, who pulled off three brilliant saves to keep the home side in the game, and force extra-time and then penalties.
Bala also hit the crossbar twice in quick succession in a madcap few minutes towards the end of extra-time, but the Bit O’ Red eventually prevailed in front of an ecstatic sold-out crowd.
The goal that levelled things up overall came on 10 minutes before the break, as Brad Bauress delivered into the area, and Dave Edwards was on hand to finish.
Prior to that, the home side had the best chances, with Niall Morahan and Shane Blaney missing the target from close-range efforts.
Centre back Blaney went close once more before the break, with a stinging free-kick that flew just too high.
The second half saw McGinty make brilliant stops to deny Bala’s James Davies, Lassana Mendes and Anthony Kay.
He later saved from Jonny Spittle and Luke Wall in the shoot-out, while David Cawley, Patrick Kirk, Aidan Keena and Blaney all netted for the jubilant hosts.
SLIGO ROVERS: McGinty, Horgan (Banks, 65 mins), Blaney, Buckley, Kirk, Morahan (Heaney, 76 mins), McDonnell (Barlow, 99 mins), Liivak (Fitzgerald, h-t), O’Sullivan, Keena, Mata (Cawley, 69 mins).
BALA TOWN: Ramsey, Southern (Spittle, 105 mins), Peate, Edwards, Smith, Kay, White, Rutherford (Davies, 53 mins; Asran 114 mins), Mendes, Bauress (Wall, 90 mins), Venables.
Referee: J Kamphuis (Ned).
