A late Mark Doyle goal gives the St. Patrick’s Athletic something to bring back to Inchicore as the Dublin side fall to a 2-1 defeat to Dudelange in Luxembourg this evening.

Goals from Oege-Sieste van Lingen and Yahcuroo Roemer gave the home side a two-goal lead in this first leg before Doyle reduced the margin for the second leg.

Jon Daly made two changes to the team that drew at home to Cork City last Friday, with David Norman and Adam Murphy replacing Jay McGrath and Mark Doyle.

The Saints, similar to Shamrock Rovers last night in Tallaght, started the brighter of the two teams and Conor Carty did his best to hold the ball as he led the line against the back three of Dudelange.

The men from Inchicore might feel that they should have had a penalty after a cross-field ball by Sam Curtis was diverted back towards the penalty box by Anthony Breslin leading to a collision between Chris Forrester and the backtracking Dudelange midfielder.

The deadlock was broken in the twenty-fourth minute after a diagonal ball by Vincent Decker to Jean Sylvio Ouassiero created space for Oege Sieste van Lingen inside the Saints box who then calmly found the corner with a left-footed shot.

Dudelange did well to disrupt the flow of the game with tactical fouls and the men in red and white cut frustrated figures in the first half.

It could have been worse for the Irish side had it not been for a fantastic reaction save by Dean Lyness after a deflected shot left him completely wrong footed. The Saints stopper swivelled to clear the ball away and kept them within reach of the home side.

St. Pats began the second half similarly to how they opened this match, passing the ball around nicely even though the more clear-cut chances fell to the home side.

Just before the hour mark, Samir Hadji broke down the Dudelange left-hand side before striking a shot at Lyness who dealt with the shot easily.

Two minutes later Dudelange increased their advantage thanks to Yahcuroo Roemer after he nimbly dribbles into the box before smashing the ball past Lyness.

Although he conceded two goals Lyness was keeping his side in the tie with a number of impressive saves throughout the game.

The home side stifled any momentum St. Pats tried to gather with a series of fouls just as they did midway through the opening forty-five minutes.

It looked like the game was certain to end in a two-goal defeat for St. Patrick’s Athletic, but in injury time, substitute Mark Doyle pounced onto a loose ball in the box to poke his shot past Didier Desprez in the Dudelange goal.

Although this was a frustrating performance for the Irish side, returning to Inchicore down one goal rather than two will give The Saints hope of progressing to the next round of European football.
The second leg of this tie will take place in Richmond Park on Thursday, July 20^th.

Bohemians will take a well deserved one goal advantage into the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie, as Ross Tierney's first half strike gave them a 1-0 win In Luxembourg tonight.

The Dublin outfit were made work for the result, their first major chance eventually fell to Tierney who converted home. The defence was a standout for the side, dealing with any threat the hosts could throw at them.

Keith Buckley’s men had to endure a nervous final quarter to the tie, as Dudelange pilled the pressure on, but failed to create any chances as the Bohs defence was water tight.

It was a tie they never deserved to lose, they created much the better chances throughout. Ali Coote caused plenty of danger in the opening minutes. Early pressure showed cracks in the home side's defence , Dawson Devoy played a stunning pass to Coote, who fumbled with the keeper, and the ball fell to Ross Tierney, who made no mistake in front of goal. 

After the visitors had taken the lead they never looked like conceding, the home side forced into shooting from long range, or aimlessly crossing balls into the box which Talbot could easily gather. 

When the half-time whistle sounded, it looked very much a one way tie for The Gypsies who were dangerous in front of goal.

The main talking point late in the half, was Ross Tierney going down in the area but the referee waved play on. 

Dudelange looked much the better team on the restart, they were now taking more chances in the Bohs area, but could still not find the back of the net. The defence putting in a massive shift to prevent any potential chances.

In the final minutes of the game, the home side failed to make any use of the possession to aim a shot at James Talbot, Bohemians players putting everything on the line to take the 1-0 advantage to Dalymount Park in the second leg. Worries for Keith Buckley however as defender Ciaran Kelly was forced off with an injury.