St Patrick through to Europa League qualifiers

Posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 10:49 am and is filed under News.

Irish footballs fans will have a local club to cheer for in the next round of the Europa League qualifiers, after St Patricks secured a thrilling away win in Russia to advance to the playoffs for a place in the tournament proper.

The Irish side went into their third qualifying round second leg tie against Krylya Sovetov with a 1 goal advantage carried over from their home fixture.

Sovetov looked the stronger team for much of the match, and were leading 2-1 until Declan O’Brien scored St Pat’s second goal, leveling the scores and handing the Irish an aggregate win on the away goals rule.

“This is right up there with winning the English Premier league with Blackburn for me, I’m blown away,” St Pats manager, Jeff Kenna, said after the match.

While St Pats can begin preparing for the Europa League playoffs, Derry were left ruing miss chances as they meekly exited the European stage. The Irish lost 1-0 to CSKA Sofia at the Brandywell Stadium, finishing the tournament with a 2-0 aggregate loss.