Deportivo La Coruna 3 Shelbourne 0 (Deportivo win 3-0 on aggregate)In the end quality told, as it is always supposed at this level of football, and Shelbourne's attempt to overcome overwhelming odds at the Riazor Stadium came to nothing.

Two second-half goals from Victor Sanchez and one from Walter Pandiani were enough to ease Deportivo into the lucrative group stages of the Champions League and their visitors left the pitch with little to console them other than the defiance of their irrepressible travelling support.

For precisely an hour the Irish champions had made a fight of it and they even had chances but in the end the task simply proved beyond them and as they faded through the closing stages, understandably exhausted by the effort of containing a Spanish side brimming with international talent.

It was a disappointing way for it all to end after having started the evening 90 minutes away from recording what would have been European football’s biggest shock this season. They were still very much in the hunt for that coveted place in the group stages with the second-half remaining.

Getting even that far hadn’t been easy. Deportivo had started brightly with Javier Irureta’s men passing the ball far more swiftly than they had done at Lansdowne Road two weeks ago. They severely tested the visitors’ capacity to counter their movement off the ball during the opening quarter of an hour.

Steve Williams was quickly involved in things with the Welshman having to save first from Juan Valeron and then from Luque inside the opening six minutes while the Spaniards’ approach play from the centre and left flank repeatedly threatened to open up the Dublin side.

Valeron was a particular thorn in the side of Fenlon’s men with the gifted 28-year-old Spanish international providing some delicate touches and he linked the home side’s midfield with their striker, Walter Pandiani. Around him, however, few of the locals appeared to be performing at anything like the same level and while Luque posed a consistent threat, one enhanced by the willingness of left back Romero to overlap and the defender’s ability to float in a dangerous cross whenever the opportunity arose, Victor Sanchez on the right was almost totally anonymous through the first period.

The visitors could not have survived long in the circumstances if pretty much every man had not been producing his best but so it proved early on. In defence Shelbourne were solid and composed from the very first minute with their only brief lapse in concentration coming five minutes before the break when Romero’s cross from the left was volleyed just wide of the post by Pandiani.

It marked the end of a half in which Deportivo had managed no more than a couple of shots on target while all of their possession had yielded no more than three corners and two free kicks around their opposition’s penalty area. One of the corners had glanced off the top of the crossbar but it was still not a return that the 20,000 or so supporters in the Riazor Stadium appreciated.

Shelbourne’s own 1,000-strong support would have taken huge encouragement from their side’s showing in midfield where tireless defensive work was combined with a willingness to break forward. Joseph Ndo was outstanding early on while the performances of Alan Moore and Wes Hoolahan were blighted only by foolish firsthalf bookings that left them vulnerable to a dismissal during the frantic exchanges that followed.

With 25 minutes played Ollie Cahill and David Crawley showed it wasn’t the just the home side who could generate a scoring opportunity from the left flank when the pair linked up well and the left back found Jason Byrne in a lot of space just outside the six-yard box.

The striker should really have scored but his header was weak and far too close to Jose Molina to cause the goalkeeper any problems.

Within four minutes the 26 year-old was causing problems for his markers again after Moore sent him clear down the right with a perfectly weighted ball.

This time Byrne’s initial touch was wonderful and Cesar appeared to nudge him over as he attempted to pass the centre-back in the box but the referee firmly waved away the appeals for a penalty.

In the second half Irureta’s men coolly set about the task of breaking down the Irish side all over again and this time the resistance wasn’t quite so formidable.

The pace, which had drifted out of the Spaniards' game as the first period progressed, was restored and Valeron resumed where he had left off, tormenting the Irish from just in front of midfield. With Duscher on for their injured skipper Mauro Solva the home side looked sharper in the centre where Sergio's distribution was increasingly
effective.

Their breakthrough came on the hour when Rogers and Hoolahan attempted a straightforward exchange of passes that broke down when the latter’s return ball lacked the required power. Sergio stole in to take possession and he fed Victor who beat Williams.

The former Real Madrid midfielder added a spectacular second six minutes later, spinning past Crawley 50 metres out and sending the ball soaring into the top corner.

Against the run of play now Jason Byrne was handed a chance to bring his side back into things thanks to a Cesar error but fluffed it under pressure from the goalkeeper.

The miss marked the end of any hopes the visitors might have harboured of playing their way back into things and they cannot have enjoyed the time that remained.

By then end Fenlon had been ordered from the dugout for dissent, Pandiani had picked himself up after a foul on the edge of the area to wrap up the scoring with a free kick and Moore was sent off after picking up a second booking for a challenge on Jorge Andrade.

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA: Molina; M Pablo
(Scaloni, 69 mins), Cesar, Andrade, Romero;
Victor, Sergio, Mauro (Duscher, half-time), Luque
(Munitis, 77 mins); Valeron, Pandiani.

SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Harris,
Rogers, Crawley; S Byrne; Ndo, Hoolahan (Crawford,
69 mins), Moore, Cahill; J Byrne.

Referee: A Hamer (Luxembourg)