St Patrick's Athletic 1 Zalgiris 2 (Zalgiris win 4-3 on agg): Having thought they had done the hard bit by scoring twice away in the Europa League last week, St Patrick's Athletic were punished for allowing their Lithuanian opponents to do the same in Inchicore last night.
Critically, though, Liam Buckley's side could manage only one; a late penalty by Killian Brennan that did no more in the end than prolong the agony for the capacity crowd at Richmond Park.
The Dubliners turned in a deeply disappointing display and goals just before half-time and seven minutes after ultimately put them out of the competition. Watching the game back will be painful for the players because really it all might have been different, but in the end even they must admit they could have few complaints at the final whistle.
“To put it mildly we’re disappointed,” acknowledged Buckley afterwards, “but we didn’t play well enough to win the game. We were well aware of their strengths and to concede the way we did just before half-time was frustrating to say the least; then to do it again shortly after it – well, we just had to throw the kitchen sink at it at that stage.
"The bottom line, though, is that we didn't play well enough. We huffed and puffed and we'll have to regroup quickly because we have a big game on Sunday."
Fell short
St Pat's were spirited from start to finish but fell short of what was required on a number of other fronts, most notably retaining possession and converting chances. Zalgiris were little better on the first count in most of the game but did just about enough on the latter to merit their qualification.
The first half had been a generally frustrating affair for the home support, with the locals enjoying plenty of possession and creating a handful of chances but never once forcing Armantas Vitkauskas into an actual save.
Conan Byrne posed a constant threat down the right for the Dubliners while John Russell did well in the centre of midfield. However, Brennan struggled to find his range while Chris Forrester looked particularly out of sorts, his worst moment coming barely a quarter of an hour in when a low cross reached him a couple of yards out but he somehow lost it under his feet.
Still the attitude and application of the home side was generally good, as Forrester himself showed a little later when, after surrendering possession softly inside the Zalgiris half, he chased back, then stuck at his task until blocking Pavel Komolov’s goal-bound shot.
Constant problem
Komolov was a constant problem for the hosts, though, with the Russian repeatedly central to things as Zalgiris turned defence into attack. The midfielder's ability to cover ground quickly with the ball at his feet gave several locals, notably Greg Bolger, a headache and the 24-year-old ended up having a hand in both of his side's goals.
For the first, though, the danger appeared briefly to have passed when a counter-attack was smothered out but an opportunity to clear the ball was squandered and Mantas Kuklys, after an initial bit of luck, picked his spot well from 20 metres.
Kamil Bilinski’s goal seven minutes after the break required less finishing; just a tap in really, after Komolov and Kuklys had done the tough stuff, with the latter producing a low cross from the right that the locals should have cut out.
Suddenly Buckley’s men found themselves chasing the game desperately, precisely the position they had hoped their opponents would be in during the closing stages.
The manager changed the shape of his team, going to three at the back in the hope of getting more out of his full-backs but fairly basic errors continued to cost them in almost every area of the pitch.
They plugged away and even created the odd half-chance, the best of them probably before the penalty being Bolger’s attempted shot on the turn after Ger O’Brien has crossed from the right, but even that lacked the required power or direction.
