Joey O'Brien tells Shelbourne players: Forget about Linfield ‘plan B' and focus on Rijeka task at hand
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Irish Independent
20 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Rijeka v Shelbourne: Joey O'Brien's men back level after falling behind to penalty in Europa League
Live | League of Ireland champions Shelbourne face a stern test as they go up against Croatia's Rijeka in the Europa League third qualifying round. Ultan Corcoran brings you all the action with kick-off at 7.45pm. Sam Bone 58' Niko Jankovic 56' 66' Scoring Chance Shelbourne Player John Martin CLOSE! What an effort from John Martin. The Kilkenny native picked the ball up in the half space and turned for goal. He has a pop from a good 30-yards and it whistles just past the left upright. Martin Zlomislic was at full stretch! 62' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Justas Lasickas SAVE! Having taken over from Devetak on the left flank, the Lithuanian full-back cuts inside on his right foot and thumps an effort goalwards - Wessel Speel gets a strong fist behind it to push it behind for a corner. 62' The game has really increased in pace in the last few minutes, evidenced by the goals. Rijeka go in search of a reply but Harry Wood manages to hook the ball away from Jankovic. 58' Goal Shelbourne Scorer Sam Bone Assist James Norris GOAL! Shels have responded in a flash here. Unbelievable reply from the League of Ireland side. Kerr McInroy works a short corner before whipping it to the back post. Jamie Norris arrives to keep the ball alive with a wonderful header and Sam Bone bravely bundles it in on the goal-line. Beautiful training ground move! 56' Goal Rijeka Scorer Niko Jankovic GOAL! In front of the hardcore Rijeka support, Niko Jankovic steps up and drills his penalty down the middle of the goal. Wessel Speel dives to his right and can't get near it. Rijeka take the lead. 56' Penalty Rijeka Shooter Niko Jankovic PENALTY! Oh this is cruel for Shels. Sam Bone's pass back to Wessel Speel is fine, but the Netherlands goalkeeper takes too much time to make up his mind and Ndockyt races in to get a touch and milk the penalty in the process. 54' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Tiago Dantas Once a highly rated prospect at Bayern Munich, Tiago Dantas picks out Niko Jankovic. The 23-year-old has a go from range but this time it lacks the accuracy to test Speel. 53' Another superb bit of defending from Paddy Barrett who wins the duel with Ante Juric and gets the pressure-relieving free. Similar to the first-half start, it's been a cagey exchange after the break. 2. Half Second-half underway in Rijeka! A couple of alterations to start this second-half as Mipo Odubeko is replaced by Daniel Kelly. Meanwhile, Rijeka who are no strangers to big changes at the break, have made a double substitution. Ante Majstorovic and Mladen Devetak have made way for Anel Husic and Justas Lasickas. Half-time We have reached half-time in Rijeka! The Spanish arbiter's whistle signals the end of what has been an interesting first-half in Croatia. Nothing to separate the teams at the interval! All in all, Joey O'Brien and Shels will probably be happy with their work so far. They constricted Rijeka's attack until the 23rd-minute when Wessel Speel smothered Amir Gojak's effort. Two further long-range chances fell to Ante Butic and Niko Jankovic, but Shels' 23-year-old shot-stopper was more than equal to both. Shels yet to really trouble the host's goal. The loss of Sean Boyd to injury is the only negative. 45'+3 Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Niko Jankovic SAVE! Arguably Wessel Speel's best of the evening thus far - Niko Jankovic, the Rijeka midfielder who scored 8 goals last season, tries his luck from range. The shot bounces just before Speel who pushes it around the post expertly. 45'+1 A decent chance almost materialises for Shels as John Martin puts the Rijeka rearguard under pressure. He wins the ball back but Odubeko is caught offside. We will have 5 minutes of additional time to play before the break. Largely due to the stoppages for Majstorovic and Boyd. 43' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Simun Butic Butic pops up on the right flank for the first time since switching with his fellow winger Ndockyt. The 19-year-old tears past Ledwidge but blazes his shot high into the night sky. The travelling Shels fans enjoyed that one! 41' Free Kick Shelbourne Shooter Harry Wood Jamie Norris is pulled back by the jersey on the left sideline. Harry Wood crosses deep to JJ Lunney who keeps the attack alive. Wood picks up the ball again and whips it in the direction of Odubeko - Majstorovic shows his experience by clearing the danger. 38' Milan Mbeng wins an important free to relieve some pressure. Interestingly, Rijeka's right winger Merveil Ndockyt has switched wings with Simun Butic in the hope of getting more joy. Mbeng wins the first one-vs-one battle. 33' Behind the goal Shels are shooting into in this first-half, a tifo has been unveiled by the Rijeka fans. Artwork displaying the city's medieval walls are erected with Croatian flags aplenty. Incredible atmosphere. 30' Corner Rijeka Milan Mbeng concedes the first corner of the game and John Martin is back sticking to his defensive duties to clear Shels' lines. Rijeka back in possession around the middle third. 28' Another fine save from Wessel! A cross from the right bounces through to the extreme left of the box. Simun Butic finds space to take a touch, cut in on his right foot and pull the trigger. It had venom - not enough to beat the Shels shot-stopper. 26' A real shame for Shels as John Martin, JJ Lunney and Kerr McInroy link up well around the middle of the park. Play goes wide to the advancing Kameron Ledwidge, but the 24-year-old's touch is loose and the move breaks down. Live Blog Software
Irish Independent
35 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Rijeka v Shelbourne: Joey O'Brien's men holding Croatians scoreless in Europa League
Live | League of Ireland champions Shelbourne face a stern test as they go up against Croatia's Rijeka in the Europa League third qualifying round. Ultan Corcoran brings you all the action with kick-off at 7.45pm. 53' Another superb bit of defending from Paddy Barrett who wins the duel with Ante Juric and gets the pressure-relieving free. Similar to the first-half start, it's been a cagey exchange after the break. 2. Half Second-half underway in Rijeka! A couple of alterations to start this second-half as Mipo Odubeko is replaced by Daniel Kelly. Meanwhile, Rijeka who are no strangers to big changes at the break, have made a double substitution. Ante Majstorovic and Mladen Devetak have made way for Anel Husic and Justas Lasickas. Half-time We have reached half-time in Rijeka! The Spanish arbiter's whistle signals the end of what has been an interesting first-half in Croatia. Nothing to separate the teams at the interval! All in all, Joey O'Brien and Shels will probably be happy with their work so far. They constricted Rijeka's attack until the 23rd-minute when Wessel Speel smothered Amir Gojak's effort. Two further long-range chances fell to Ante Butic and Niko Jankovic, but Shels' 23-year-old shot-stopper was more than equal to both. Shels yet to really trouble the host's goal. The loss of Sean Boyd to injury is the only negative. 45'+3 Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Niko Jankovic SAVE! Arguably Wessel Speel's best of the evening thus far - Niko Jankovic, the Rijeka midfielder who scored 8 goals last season, tries his luck from range. The shot bounces just before Speel who pushes it around the post expertly. 45'+1 A decent chance almost materialises for Shels as John Martin puts the Rijeka rearguard under pressure. He wins the ball back but Odubeko is caught offside. We will have 5 minutes of additional time to play before the break. Largely due to the stoppages for Majstorovic and Boyd. 43' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Simun Butic Butic pops up on the right flank for the first time since switching with his fellow winger Ndockyt. The 19-year-old tears past Ledwidge but blazes his shot high into the night sky. The travelling Shels fans enjoyed that one! 41' Free Kick Shelbourne Shooter Harry Wood Jamie Norris is pulled back by the jersey on the left sideline. Harry Wood crosses deep to JJ Lunney who keeps the attack alive. Wood picks up the ball again and whips it in the direction of Odubeko - Majstorovic shows his experience by clearing the danger. 38' Milan Mbeng wins an important free to relieve some pressure. Interestingly, Rijeka's right winger Merveil Ndockyt has switched wings with Simun Butic in the hope of getting more joy. Mbeng wins the first one-vs-one battle. 33' Behind the goal Shels are shooting into in this first-half, a tifo has been unveiled by the Rijeka fans. Artwork displaying the city's medieval walls are erected with Croatian flags aplenty. Incredible atmosphere. 30' Corner Rijeka Milan Mbeng concedes the first corner of the game and John Martin is back sticking to his defensive duties to clear Shels' lines. Rijeka back in possession around the middle third. 28' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Simun Butic Another fine save from Wessel! A cross from the right bounces through to the extreme left of the box. Simun Butic finds space to take a touch, cut in on his right foot and pull the trigger. It had venom - not enough to beat the Shels shot-stopper. 26' A real shame for Shels as John Martin, JJ Lunney and Kerr McInroy link up well around the middle of the park. Play goes wide to the advancing Kameron Ledwidge, but the 24-year-old's touch is loose and the move breaks down. 23' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Amir Gojak SAVE! Finally we have a shot on target. Ante Orec finds more joy on the right and cuts infield to set up Amir Gojak. The Bosnian midfielder swivels and drills a low shot towards the bottom-left corner. Wessel Speel does well to smother it and hold on. A warning sign! 21' Shels get a decent chance to launch a counterattack but Milan Mbeng puts too much on his pass for Mipo Odubeko. A lot of shadow boxing so far - no real chances to discuss yet! 19' Substitution Shelbourne Substituted out Sean Boyd Substituted in John Martin A real blow for Joey O'Brien as Sean Boyd goes to ground looking for treatment on his calf. He appeared to collide with Majstorovic and pull up just as the 27-year-old chased a loose ball. His night ends prematurely - John Martin takes his place up top. 15' Shels string a few nice passes together before Kameron Ledwidge takes a heavy touch and does just about enough to win the free after a foul from Ante Duric. Rijeka have pressed with intent thus far. Not an inch given. 11' A sloppy pass from Mladen Devetak coughs up possession rather cheaply with a misplaced pass to give Shels some respite from defending. A rather harsh foul is given against Sam Bone who seemed to have a bit of a coming together off the ball. 9' Scoring Chance Rijeka Player Ante Orec Decent ball in from the right flank as full-back Ante Orec whips in a cross, but Paddy Barrett and Sam Bone did enough to shepherd it out of play for a goal-kick. Ante Juric couldn't muscle his way in to get his head on it. 7' Both sides just feeling each other out in these opening exchanges. Rijeka have enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but off the ball it is clear that Shels are playing with a two-man strike force of Odubeko alongside Boyd. 6' Dan McDonnell highlights the rather unusual audio that greeted viewers on SolidSport tonight: Live Blog Software
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers missing key players through injury for Ballkani clash in Kosovo
Stephen Bradley is adamant Shamrock Rovers can reach another European League phase - by doing it the hard way. But the Hoops' cause in Kosovo on Thursday won't be helped by the absence of key figures from their will face Ballkani without Graham Burke, Jack Byrne, Matt Healy, Aaron McEneff and Trevor Clarke who all have injury Healy and Clarke are all registered in Rovers' squad that had to be submitted to UEFA for this tie, meaning they can feature in the home leg next week if Byrne and McEneff are not on the UEFA list, so they won't be available for the second-leg at Tallaght Bradley feels there is such strength in depth to his squad these days that the absence of those leading lights doesn't constitute an injury crisis. Their absence just opens the door for the likes of new midfielder Connor Malley - snapped up on loan from Sligo Rovers - who made his debut against Derry on Sunday. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . Bradley said in Kosovo: 'They're top players and if it was the last game of the season and you're going for the league, or a cup final, I'm sure they would all be available. Aaron McEneff, seen here in action against St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the previous round, is out of Shamrock Rovers' European game in Kosovo (Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne) 'But we're in a position that we've got a really good squad and everybody's ready to play, and we don't need to take silly risks with players.'Last year, we had to do that. We were forced into that because of the injury situation and, as a result, we kept re-injuring the players.'That's not fair on them or the group or the team and right now, we're in a place where the squad is healthy and everybody's looking to play.'We don't need to take chances with players that have niggles or who are borderline fit. We don't need to take those chances and sit on a plane for three-and-a-half hours.'Rovers want to get back to the Conference League league phase, having reached the playoff round in February only to lose on penalties to having missed out on the Premier Division title last season, they don't have the benefit of the 'champions path' in Europe, currently being enjoyed by this tie, and Rovers will be sent packing but Bradley feels the experience his team has gained in Europe will stand to said: 'We knew it was going to be hard but our aim is to get into the group phase, the league phase. Can we do it? Time will tell, but for now it's about getting ready for a tough tie and getting through that.'Shamrock Rovers defender Dan Cleary echoed Bradley, by insisting the players can rise to the challenge of securing another prolonged run in said: 'We don't have the champions path, so it's everything or nothing. Mentally, it's obviously different, but we're still doing the same thing. 'We want to win tonight, bring it back to Tallaght next week and take them on. We can't look too far ahead because it's a big game tonight and these are a good side.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
