Shels go down fighting - July 27, 2000 Shelbourne 1 Rosenborg 3 The history books will say that Shelbourne lost 3-1 at home in the second qualifying round of the Champions League against crack Norwegian outfit Rosenborg but they wont be able to tell the whole story because even though they lost they still restored pride in National League football. Irish teams have been the whipping boys of Europe for a number of years and it looked as if Shelbourne were going to be dealt the same fate last night as they started the game with their eyes wide shut. Rosenborg raced into a two goal lead after 14 minutes, scoring the first after 90 seconds when a throw from the left was made a hash of by Haylock and McCarthy who got in each others way. The ball fell kindly to Orjan Berg and he made no mistake with his shot from eight-yards. Fredrik Winsnes rifled the visitors into a two-goal lead in the 14th minute and it looked as if Shels were in for a long night. To be fair to Rosenborg they were the only team playing football in the first half and were unlucky not to be leading by more than two goals at half-time. But Shelbourne were completely transformed in the second half. Manager Dermot Keely replaced Stephen Geoghegan bringing on youngster Richie Foran in his place. Keely also made a switch in midfield. Off came Haylock and on came Davy Byrne who has just returned for Scotland. Within seconds Shels had their first chance. Byrne ran onto a through ball but his shot hit a defender. More of the same two minutes later when Byrne's goalbound shot rebounded off of legs and away to Richie Baker. Baker shot first time but he suffered the same fate as the ball hit a Rosenborg defender. Shels took complete control of the game in every department and it looked only a matter of time before they had a bit of luck and got on the scoresheet. It came in the 62nd minute when Richie Baker won a free kick on the right edge of the Rosenborg box. Pat Fenlon stepped up to the ball and floated it to the far post where Foran was waiting. The young striker threw himself towards the ball and headed it into the back of the net to send the full house at Tolka wild. Shelbourne continued to push for an equaliser and it nearly came in the 73rd minute when Dessie Baker cut in from the right and hit a low cross into the danger area and the ball was knocked onto the crossbar by Rosenborg defender Christer Basma with Foran waiting to tap into the net. Foran got through miles of running in the 45 minutes that he had in the game. This was perfectly illustrated in the 88th minute when he picked up the ball in his own half and zig-zagged his was up the field. Nobody came to join him so he just kept going and it the end he won a free just outside the box. Rosenborg killed the tie as a competition in the last minute when substitute Petter Belsvik found space in the Shelbourne box and slid the ball past Steve Williams.
Shelbourne: Steve Williams; Owen Heary; Pat Scully; Tony McCarthy; Mark Hutchison; Dessie Baker; Garry Haylock; Pat Fenlon; James Keddy; Stephen Geoghegan; Richie Baker. |