Battling Linfield gave Omonia a fright with a stirring UEFA Cup return leg performance at Windsor Park last night.

The Irish part-timers trailed 5-1 after the preliminary round first leg tie in Nicosia and 2-0 on the night.

But they hauled themselves level at 3-3 on the stroke of half-time with goals from Lee Feeney, Tony Gorman and Tommy McDonald and then seized the initiative after the break.

Gorman added a second and Glenn Ferguson made it 5-3 on the night but Linfield still needed three more goals to go through and, despite creating more chances, could not add to their tally.

The Cypriots took a second-minute through a sweetly-struck Marangus free-kick. Kitanov added to Linfield's woes 13 minutes later slipping the ball past keeper Bobby Geddis.

It was no surprise when Linfield went ahead for the first time three minutes after the re-start. Gorman lined up a free kick 30 yards out and with a fierce drive found the bottom corner.

Linfield, with wind and rain in their favour, came close to adding to their tally.

The game ended with Linfield threatening but they could not find the energy to finish off a couple of enterprising moves.