St Pat’s beaten by Dudelange but late goal gives hope for second leg

F91 Dudelange 2-1 St Patrick’s Athletic

Van Lingen ‘24, Roemer ‘61; Doyle ‘93

Mark Doyle salvaged St Patrick’s Athletic’s European hopes with a crucial late goal, as the Saints fell to a narrow defeat against F91 Dudelange in tonight’s first leg Europa Conference League qualifier.

Goals in either half from Oege-Sietse Van Lingen and Yahcuroo Roemer looked enough to sink the Saints, who failed to impress their plans on this game.

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However, Doyle popped up in the box in the 93rd minute to snatch a hardly deserved lifeline.

The result means two losses from two for Irish clubs in Europe this season, with Shamrock Rovers losing to Icelandic opposition night.

The last-minute goal sparked wild celebrations among the 350 boisterous Pats fans, who travelled through London and Brussels to take over this small leafy suburb just north of the French border.

They can still harbour hopes of more European trips this year – that is if Pats can muster a win next Thursday in Inchicore.

Progression will guarantee €550,000 in Uefa prize money – a fortune both clubs desperately desire.

While F91 have qualified for the Europe League group stages on two previous occasions (2018/19 and 2019/20), the club is currently in a state of flux.

The summer exodus of their manager and several players to Luxembourg champions Hesperange, coupled with the recent departure of financial backers and sponsors, has seen the club’s budget reduced by 40 per cent heading into this campaign.

Former Shelbourne player Jamath Shoffner has been hired for his first job in senior management, tonight’s win his first game.

Only starting their preseason campaign, F91 didn’t appear as rusty Jon Daly and his side would have hoped.

The game failed to settle as the home side chased every ball, committing a flurry of fouls in the process. This, it turned out, was Dudelange’s game plan throughout and it proved successful at stunting Pats’ efforts to build up the play.

Both sides were limited to half chances, but it was the home duo of Samir Hadji and Van Lingen that looked most dangerous.

And it was the latter who opened the scoring on 24 minutes.

Lingering in the space between his midfield and strikers, Sylvio Ouassiero picked out Van Lingen just inside the box. And the Dutch man made no mistake to find the bottom corner on his debut.

The Saints struggled to respond, pegged back by that frenetic Dudelange press. Long-range efforts from Chris Forrester and Jake Mulraney failed to find the target before the break.

The home side continued to push forward after the restart. Ouassiero squandered another chance in the box when he was booked for simulation, before Dean Lyness repelled a strong Hadji shot just before the hour mark.

The second goal arrived minutes later. Captain Bruno Freire won possession in midfield and caught Pats sleeping when he released Roemer down the right wing.

David Norman – making his first Saints start this evening – engaged in the foot race but couldn’t catch the 21-year-old who comfortably struck past Lyness.

The Saints looked vulnerable, and it fell to Lyness to keep them in the game. The English keeper has saved his club a few times this season, and made two more crucial stops against Freire and Hadji to keep the score down.

Daly introduced Tommy Lonergan, Mark Doyle and Jason McLelland to add sparks to a struggling attacking line-up.

However, F91 looked dangerous on the counter and nearly nicked a fatal late goal. Substitute Noah Lewis was caught in possession inside his own box, his blushes, thankfully, saved when Hadji fired just wide.

Ultimately, it was the Saints who had the last chance of the game. And Doyle duly took his opportunity to ignite jubilant celebrations in a small corner of this hilltop ground.

F91 Dudelange: D Desprez; K Delorge, V Decker, I Sidibe; S Ouassiero (Y Schaus, 74), O Van Lingen (I Englaro, 90), B Freire, E Agovic, D Kuete Nsidjine; Y Roemer (M Thomas, 72), S Hadji.

St Patrick’s Athletic: D Lyness; H Brockbank (N Lewis, 70), S Curtis, D Norman, A Breslin; J Lennon, A Murphy (J McClelland, 81), C Forrester; B McCormack (T Lonergan, 70), J Mulraney; C Carty (M Doyle, 81).

Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov (Bulgaria).