Uefa Conference League (first qualifying round, second legs, kick-off 7.45pm)
Derry City (0) v HB Tórshavn (0)
Dundalk (0) v FC Magpies (0)
St Patrick’s Athletic (1) v F91 Dudelange (2)
Their Luxembourg opponents being out of season, St Patrick’s Athletic manager Jon Daly admits to having been somewhat unprepared for what they faced against F91 Dudelange in the grand duchy last week.
Pat’s are in a healthy position than they might have been thaks to Mark Doyle’s goal three minutes into stoppage time. Dudelange bring a 2-1 to the return leg in Richmond Park on Thursday, when the Inchicore club will know a lot more about their opposition.
Added positivity stems from not only St Patrick’s having the best home form in the Premier Division this season, but in a respectable home record in Europe.
Ten continental teams have been beaten in Inchicore over the years, with St Patrick’s progressing through to the next round on nine of those occasions.
“We felt like we left a lot on the pitch,” said Daly of the first leg.
“We were a bit deflated, but the goal gives you renewed optimism you can come here, where we’ve got a really good record, and get the result we need.
“Performance wise we were very disappointed with what we did and how we played but, again, there’s many reasons for that. One of them obviously being the fact we’d seen absolutely zero footage of them prior to the game.
“Any coach will tell you how difficult it is to prepare when you have footage, never mind how difficult it can be when you don’t. That was the toughest part. We’re well prepared for the second leg.”
Captain Chris Forrester also harbours quiet optimism, if fully accepting they’ll need an improved performance on last week to win through.
“They are a decent team, although we let ourselves down in terms of how we played,” said Forrester.
“We could have been further behind, but Mark came up with a good goal so we are still in the tie.”
Getting through could set up a second round meeting against Irish League side Glentoran who are tied 2-2 with Gżira of Malta ahead of their second leg in Belfast tonight.
Both at home having secured 0-0 away draws, Dundalk and Derry City are positively placed to advance against FC Magpies of Gibraltar and Faroese side HB Torshavn respectively in this evening’s other second leg games.
Should they progress, Dundalk are likely to face Icelandic side KA Akureyri, who lead Connah’s Quay Nomads of Wales 2-0 from their first leg, while Derry would face Finnish side KuPs.
