Shelbourne’s Ali Coote celebrates his goal against Linfield(Image: INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

Shelbourne bank €1.7m Champions League progress and edge closer to league phase

16 Jul 2025, 21:10 by Mark McCadden · Irish Mirror

Linfield 1-1 Shelbourne (Shelbourne won 2-1 on aggregate)

Shelbourne took a big step towards the Promised Land of league phase football - but they didn’t make it easy on themselves.

A draw with ten-man Linfield at Windsor Park earned them a 2-1 aggregate win and a Champions League second qualifying round tie with Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag, with the home leg in Dublin next week.

It also took their guaranteed earnings from Europe this season to €1.7million - but now with Europa and Conference League safety nets, the prospect of an even bigger windfall is now on the cards.

Their progress came with plenty of nervy moments, however.

Shels seemed determined to give Linfield every opportunity to get back into the tie with a series of unforced errors that, had their opponents been more clinical, would have turned this tie on its head.

Both their goalkeepers, Conor Kearns and his first-half replacement Lorcan Healy, gifted shooting chances with passes direct to Blue-shirted forwards.

The two netminders were lucky that Matthew Fitzpatrick and Callum Morrison were both still shaking off the rust from the close-season, as they passed up a pair of golden opportunities.

And Paddy Barrett had Sean Gannon to thank for sparing his blushes after a lazy square ball was intercepted, leading to a chance for Morrison to break into the area.

Gannon and Healy were two enforced first-half changes, replacing captain Mark Coyle and first-choice keeper Kearns, who both failed to run off early knocks.

It wasn’t long after Kearns’ 12th minute lapse that he called to the bench for treatment.

Moments earlier, and five yards outside his area, he played the ball straight to Fitzpatrick, who then had the simple task of lifting the ball over the retreating number one.

That’s what Fitzpatrick tried to do, but he got his angles all wrong and the ball sailed harmlessly wide.

Then when Healy played the ball straight to Morrison just seconds into the second-half, he was at least well positioned to block the striker’s first-time effort with his outstretched right boot.

Between those two lapses, there was plenty of drama at either end - a goal for Shelbourne, a reply from the spot by Linfield and a VAR controversy.

Shels widened the aggregate gap between the two sides in the 25th minute when Coote struck the opening goal of the night.

Harry Wood thought he’d have the honour when his fancy footwork opened up space for a shot that beat goalkeeper Chris Johns, but not Chris Shields on the goalline.

Unfortunately for the former Dundalk midfielder, returning from suspension, his efforts were for nothing, as Ethan McGee’s attempt to further clear the ball saw him head straight to Coote at the edge of the area.

The Reds attacker took one touch to sidestep a challenge and then he drove the ball low inside the left-hand post.

Shels continued to make errors at the back and, as the game drifted into first-half injury-time, a Tyreke Wilson handball at the back post gave Premier League referee Andrew Madley no choice but to point to the spot.

Up stepped Shields to send sub goalie Healy the wrong way and reduce the deficit again to a single goal.

There was still time for more drama as, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Kerr McInroy thought he had restored Shels’ two-goal aggregate lead when he swept the ball home from a training ground corner routine, involving Wood and Wilson.

With both sides back in their own halves and ready to restart the game, Madley was called over to review the build-up by VAR official Darren England, and he agreed that Barrett’s tug on Euan East prevented the defender from tracking McInroy’s run from the back post to the penalty spot.

The poor defensive play was contagious and a Matthew Orr mistake in the 63rd minute saw the hosts play the remainder with just 10 men.

His pass was intercepted by Mipo Odubeko and as he raced towards goal he was clipped by Ben Hall and sent tumbling. No chance of VAR overturning this one.

Shelbourne’s progression became far more comfortable after that and they should have won on the night, with Odubeko and Evan Caffrey among those to pass up scoring chances.

LINFIELD:

Chris Johns 6

Matthew Orr 6

Euan East 6

Ben Hall 6

Chris Shields 8

Joshua Archer 6

Jamie Mulgrew 6

Ethan McGee 5

Kirk Millar 6

Matthew Fitzpatrick 5

Callum Morrison 5

SUBS:

Chris McKee (for Morrison 68) 6

Dane McCullough (for McGee 77)

Kieran Offord (for Mulgrew 77)

Charlie Allen (for Millar 83)

SHELBOURNE:

Conor Kearns 5

Mark Coyle 6

Paddy Barrett 5

Kameron Ledwidge 7

Evan Caffrey 6

JJ Lunney 7

Kerr McInroy 7

Tyreke Wilson 6

Harry Wood 7

Ali Coote 6

Mipo Odubeko 6

SUBS:

Sean Gannon (for Coyle 22) 7

Lorcan Healy (for Kearns 32) 6

Sean Boyd (for Coote 83)

James Norris (for Wilson 83)

Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.