Shelbourne shock Rijeka on the road in Europa League

Second-half goals from Sam Bone and John Martin saw Shelbourne come from behind and defeat Croatian champions Rijeka 2-1 away from the home in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round meeting at the Stadion HNK Rijeka.

Joey O'Brien and his players are now 90 minutes away from securing league phase football through the autumn and winter, going into the return fixture at Tolka Park.

The Reds had to do it the hard way, against a side that were downed in extra time by Bulgarian heavyweights Ludogorets Razgrad last week in the Champions League.

Rijeka were determined to build on this and Shelbourne responded by sitting tight in a conventional 4-4-2 that had Kerr McInroy doing the running between the forward line and midfield.

Wessel Speel was the hero on the night through all of this as the goalkeeper made a number of big saves.

This began with Amer Gojak in the in the 22nd minute when a low shot from the former Bosnia and Herzegovina international was stopped by the Minnesota United loanee.

James Norris of Shelbourne and Rijeka's Merveil Ndockyt battle for possession

Niko Jankovic followed that up after getting around Milan Mbeng and his effort was easily caught at the near post.

The midfielder got into a similar position at the end of the half and this time Speel dived low to deny the midfielder.

O’Brien used half-time to reset and out of this moment of reflection came a change to the forwards, with Daniel Kelly replacing Mipo Udobeko.

As everything settled down after the restart, Merveil Ndockyt was fouled inside the area by Speel and the resulting penalty was fired in by Jankovic in the 56th minute.

Shelbourne equalised just 90 seconds later through a McInroy corner that was knocked on for Martin to turn in.

Justas Lasickas retaliated for Rijeka and his right footed strike from the edge of the area was punched out by Speel, but the resulting set-piece came to nothing.

Sam Bone heads the ball to the roof of the net to give Shels victory on the night

The Reds brushed off this incursion and pushed up the right flank, where Mbeng found an overlapping Harry Wood. The midfielder crossed for Martin to head in at the far post and Shelbourne led 2-1 in the 70th minute.

Everything slowed down after that as the game turned into a war of attrition.

Shelbourne buckled down to navigate this spell as Rijeka pushed for an equaliser, a quest that intensified through three minutes of added time.

It came down to a penalty appeal in the dying seconds, with the home side protesting about a supposed Bone handball, but the referee waved this away.

Rijeka: Martin Zlomislic; Ante Orec, Ante Majstorovic (Anel Husic HT), Stjepan Radeljic, Mladen Devetak (Justas Lasickas HT), Niko Jankovic, Amer Gojak (Luka Menalo 69), Tiago Dantas, Merveil Ndockyt, Simun Butic (Dominic Yankov 76), Ante Matej Juric (Duje Cop 69).

Shelbourne: Wessel Speel; Kameron Ledwidge, Sam Bone, Paddy Barrett, Milan Mbeng (Sean Gannon 87), James Norris; JJ Lunney, Harry Wood (Ellis Chapman 77), Mipo Udobeko (Daniel Kelly HT), Sean Boyd (John Martin 19), Kerr McInroy (Mark Coyle 87).

Referee: Ricardo de Burgos (Spain)

Click here to read article