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The Irish Sun

Much-changed Shelbourne out of Champions League and into Europa League after aggregate defeat to Qarabag

SHELBOURNE slipped out of the Champions League after their second string were edged out in Baku. The Reds will now face either Rijeka or Ludogorets in the 2 Shelbourne are out of the Champions League Credit: Aziz Karimov/Sportsfile The Croatian and Bulgarian title-holders are currently in action in the second leg after a 0-0 draw first time out. A John Martin own goal was all that separated the sides in this return game with keeper Wessel Speel saving a penalty on his debut. Joey O'Brien sprung a surprise by making eight changes to the team which had been beaten 3-0 at Tolka Park a week earlier. Defender Kameron Ledwidge, midfielder Kerr McInroy and striker Mipo Odubeko were the only survivors. Read More on Shelbourne He handed a debut to Dutch keeper Speel who was signed just before the first leg with Lorcan Healy making way. And fringe players such as Daniel Kelly, Lewis Temple, Sam Bone, Ellis Chapman and John Martin also came in, as did James Norris and captain Mark Coyle. It went against the pre-match talk of learning lessons from the second leg but made sense given the 5,000km trek on an eight-hour flight to get to Baku with the same on the way back with a game in Sligo Rovers to come on Saturday. Whatever team he had put out was unlikely to be able to undo the damage which had been done in the final 10 minutes in Drumcondra last week. Most read in Football But there was a fear that putting out a team with limited game-time under their belts and even more restricted experience of playing alongside each other could lead to them being given the runaround and losing by an even bigger margin the second time around. They came close to achieving what the frontliners had not managed last week, getting to half-time without conceding. RTE pundit's one-liner about Damien Duff makes Joey O'Brien laugh after Shelbourne's win vs Linfield But they did leak a goal just before the interval when Martin inadvertently put the ball into his own net. Kady burst past Coyle on the right before drilling a cross to the far post where the striker got the telling touch under pressure from Naramin Akhundzade. It was a bitter blow, especially considering that, despite all of their possession and chances, the home side had struggled to really work Speel. Pedro Bacalho had twice fired off-target with Kady also failing to force a save out of the Dutchman with a long-range effort and a volley closer to goal with captain Abdellah Zoubir missing from point-blank range. Shels needed a reaction after the break but, before they provided one, they could have fallen further behind with Coyle again finding one of his opponents too hot to handle . Leandro Andrade cut inside him with his shot pushed around the post by Speel. 2 Pedro Bicalho of Qarabag FK in action against Ellis Chapman of Shelbourne Credit: Aziz Karimov/Sportsfile His opposite number Mateusz Kochalski had been a virtual spectator but, eventually, he was forced into action and Kerr McInroy will feel he should have done better with his first-time effort. He shot straight at the Pole after Norris had done well to get forward and pull the ball back into his path. Ledwidge then let fly from distance as Shels carried more of a threat after the restart, as had been the case in the home leg. Bringing on Sean Boyd, Harry Wood and JJ Lunney shortly after the hour mark were not exactly defensive substitutions either but Qarabag did continue to create goal-scoring opportunities of their own. The most clearcut of them again involved a helping hand from Shels with Ledwidge conceding a penalty for raising his arm as he jumped to block Matheus Silva's cross. Kady took responsibility from 12 yards but after a staggered run, Speel dived to his right to keep out his spot-kick. With both sides going on to use their five permitted substitutes, the game petered out with no further goals. Emmanuel Addai went closest for the home side but his effort was smothered by Speel with Kelly volleying over for the visitors in stoppage time. QARABAG : Kochalski; Silva, Mustafazade, Medina (Mmaee 72), Jafarguliyev (Bayramov 80); Bicalho, Kady (Kashchuk 80); Andrada, Addai, Zoubir (Kouakou 72); Akhundzade (Gurbanli 72). SHELBOURNE : Speel; Kelly, Temple, Bone, Ledwidge, Norris (Caffrey 72); McInroy 6 (Lunney 62), Coyle, Chapman (Coote 80); Odubeko (Wood 62), Martin 5 (Boyd 62). REFEREE A Colombo (Italy)