Dundalk 3
BATE Borisov 0
(Dundalk win 3-1 on aggregate)
DUNDALK SEALED ONE of the finest results in the history of Irish football at a rain-soaked Tallaght Stadium tonight.
Two goals from David McMillan and one more from substitute Robbie Benson saw the current Premier Division champions overturn their first leg 1-0 defeat to BATE Borisov and progress to the Champions League play-off — just one round off the group stage.
What will have made the achievement even sweeter is that they did it against the club that knocked them out of the competition 12 months ago.
Stephen Kenny made two changes to the team that narrowly lost out in Belarus a week ago, with Chris Shields and John Mountney coming in for Patrick McEleney and Robbie Benson.
But the Lilywhites boss cut a frustrated figure on the sideline for much of the first half, as his side were guilty of a number of individual errors that led to BATE chances.
Yuri Kendysh headed just over after latching onto a front post corner, and Aleksei Rios then intercepted a sloppy pass to fire wide.
Dundalk were dealt a blow on 32 minutes as Ronan Finn left the field with an injury to be replaced by McEleney.
The former Derry City man was immediately involved, with a clever pass to pick out the run of Mountney. He went by Artur Pikk like he wasn’t there and forced Sergei Veramko into a save.
Just as it looked as though the teams would go in all-square at the break, Dundalk opened the scoring. Excellent footwork from Daryl Horgan allowed him to evade three markers and hang the ball up for David McMillan to brilliantly head into the top corner and level the tie.
Dundalk were much-improved after the interval and McMillan became the LOI’s top goalscorer in the Champions League with his sixth in the competition on 59 minutes.
McEleney did superbly to reach the end-line and chip a cross to the far post. The onrushing Dane Massey drilled the ball back into a central area and McMillan turned it over the line with his head.
While the second goal rattled BATE, Dundalk took huge confidence from the slender cushion and continued to attack as the rain poured down in the final half hour.
And the stadium erupted when Robbie Benson sealed the result on 90 minutes — breaking through on goal and burying the ball beyond Veremko.
What a night for the club and the league. Dundalk go into Friday’s play-off draw and they are now guaranteed eight more European matches this season with the two-legged tie and either the Champions League or Europa League group stages.
DUNDALK: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Ronan Finn (Patrick McEleney 32), Stephen O’Donnell (c), John Mountney; Chris Shields, David McMillan (Robbie Benson 78), Daryl Horgan.
BATE BORISOV: Sergei Veremenko; Kaspars Dubra, Aleksandr Karnitski (Aleksandr Hleb 46), Mirko Ivanic, Artur Pikk (Mikhail Gordeichuk 65), Maksim Zhavnerchik (Nikolai Signevich 81), Aleksei Rios, Vitali Rodionov (c), Igor Stasevich, Denis Polyakov, Yuri Kendysh.
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