Chris Johns (GK), Daniel Finlayson, Ben Hall (Jimmy Callacher 45’), Sam Roscoe, Matthew Clarke, Kyle McClean, Chris Shields (Niall Quinn 116’), Stephen Fallon (Cameron Palmer 100’), Jamie Mulgrew © (Eetu Vertainen 71’), Kirk Millar (Jordan Stewart 105’), Robbie McDaid (Ethan Devine 71’)
Football can be a cruel game and unfortunately, Linfield learned that tonight. The Blues were seconds away from the prestige of the UEFA Conference League group stage and the healthy sum of money that comes with it, before late heartbreak against RFS Riga at Windsor Park.
The Blues fully deserved to become the first Irish League team to play group stage European football, but it just wasn’t to be. It was the lowest of lows, similar to – if not worse than - the devastation of FC Copenhagen in 1993.
Right from the off, David Healy’s men were the better team but they somehow didn’t find a breakthrough in normal time. Sam Roscoe wondered how he didn’t score after 14 minutes when he met a pinpoint left wing delivery from Kirk Millar, only to see his effort well saved by the goalkeeper, although he will feel he should have directed it either side of the ‘keeper.
Robbie McDaid had three or four separate headers go close in the first half, either heading just over or seeing his header saved by the ‘keeper. As the Blues went in to the break level, central defender Ben Hall – who’d been magnificent – was feeling a knock and couldn’t carry on, which paved the way for the return of vice-captain Jimmy Callacher who was returning after a few months on the sidelines. Callacher was only on the pitch a few minutes before threatening when he met Kirk Millar’s free-kick delivery, but the defender’s effort found the roof of the net.
On one of a number of occasions where Linfield couldn’t believe they hadn’t scored, Robbie McDaid robbed a defender of the ball on the face of his own goal. Faced with a goalkeeper at close range, the ‘keeper came out on top with a block, and from there it was a case of Kirk Millar being crowded out as he tried to get a shot away on the rebound.
In a rare chance for RFS Riga, pacey Brazilian winger Emerson Santana ran off the left touchline through the middle to race clear onto a pinpoint through ball to be faced with Chris Johns who came out on top with a good save.
Two minutes before the end of normal time, again, the ball simply wouldn’t go into the net for Linfield. A cross wasn’t dealt with and Eetu Vertainen won the header at close range as he attempted to force the ball over the line. The goalkeeper hooked the ball out, with claims that it had crossed the line waved away by the referee, who also waved away Linfield’s penalty appeals a minute prior when Chris Shields’ strike struck a hand.
In the last action of normal time, Linfield were a whisker away from a winner as Kyle McClean’s inswinging cross found Daniel Finlayson whose header struck the outside of the post.
As the game went into two 15 minute periods of extra time, Linfield continued to be the better and sharper team, as shown instantly from the off as Eetu Vertainen fired wide from a good position following Ethan Devine’s accurate cutback.
The long-awaited breakthrough finally arrived a minute before half time in extra time, deservedly for Linfield. Kirk Millar’s deep cross wasn’t dealt with by the goalkeeper and it was retrieved at the back post area by Kyle McClean who showed composure to control the ball and hammer into the net, sending the 5,000 Blues fans into wild celebrations.
The Blues managed the game excellently until the toughest of sucker-punches a minute from the end. Linfield broke away on a 4v1 counter attack which end with a tame effort from Cammy Palmer who was found by Eetu Vertainen to his right, when the Blues should have killed the contest. The Latvian champions then went up the other end and a hopeful low cross was met by an attempted clearance by Jimmy Callalcher who slipped and the ball struck the underside of the crossbar, crossing the line in the process, according to the referee. So near yet so far and the Blues had to lift themselves for the lottery of a penalty shootout which didn’t go to plan.
Matthew Clarke was denied and Ethan Devine fired wide as RFS Riga won 4-2 on penalties to progress. What will make it even tougher is the way the Blues conceded twice in the last 10 minutes from 2-0 ahead in Latvia last week – a comeback which stemmed from a corner that never was.
What should not go unnoticed is the effort and performance put in by the Linfield players who deserved a better outcome. The only way to move forward from this bitter disappointment is to have another crack next year, and to go down this route again you must win the Danske Bank Premiership. That’s never an easy task by any means, but hopefully, the Linfield supporters will make their way to Carrickfergus on Sunday as the fightback begins, together, with the bit between our teeth.
Full Time AET: Linfield (3) 1-1 (3) RFS Riga
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