Irish Premiership side Linfield and Irish Premier League side Derry City are both out of the Europa Conference League in the first qualifying round.
Derry defeated Gibraltar’s part-time side Magpies 2-1 after extra time in the second leg at Brandywell, but lost 3-2 on aggregate.
Mark Connolly’s header put the Candystripes ahead, but the home side saw Adam O’Reilly sent off for a second yellow card late in the first half.
Pat Hoban’s goal made it 2-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate, but Evan De Haro’s goal in the second period of extra time saw the Magpies progress to a two-legged encounter with FC Copenhagen.
Linfield suffered a late headache when an 88th-minute Hilmar Haldrorsson goal was enough to give Stjarnan a 4-3 aggregate victory at Windsor Park, despite the Blues winning the second leg 3-2.
Gudmundur Kristjansson’s own goal in the seventh minute put the Blues ahead, before Emil Atlason equalized in the 57th.
Substitute Matthew Orr restored the hosts’ lead and Matthew Fitzpatrick’s goal extended Linfield’s lead to 3-1 that night, but Haldorsson’s late strike proved decisive in the Icelandic side’s progress to face Estonian side Paide Linnameeskond on Monday. pre-round.
Linfield sent off Chris Shields in the closing stages.
Exit from Linfield with late goal sealing fate
Linfield got off to a dream start when Joel Cooper left-footed a cross from the right and Stjarnan captain Kristjansson misjudged his header with the ball skimming the top of his head and into his own net.
The hosts should have doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Chris Shields’ long pass deflected Chris McKee through on goal. The striker took an early shot and tried to deflect the goalkeeper, but shot wide of the far post.
At the other end, Sam Roscoe made a vital block to save the goal and deny Robert Thorkelsson’s shot inside the box.
The visitors equalized on the night when Atlason bent to head home Thorkelsson’s corner from close range.
Chris Johns made a vital save from close range to deny Thorkelsson, before Linfield regained the lead in the 70th minute when Kirk Millar’s left-footed cross was met with a header from debutant defender Orr.
Six minutes later it was level on aggregate when Fitzpatrick spun to fire an angled shot inside the box.
But disaster struck for the Irish League side two minutes from time when Hakur Brink’s low cross was converted by the advancing Halldorsson, with Johns unable to keep out the shot.
Linfield saw Shields receive a straight red card for stopping a Stjarnan counter-attack in stoppage time, bringing down Hakur Brink and it is the Icelandic side who face Linnameeskond, who defeated Welsh side Bala Town after extra time.
Derry disappointment in extra time
After a disappointing first leg in Gibraltar last week, Derry started well and top scorer Hoban met Michael Duffy’s cross from the left but was unable to clear his header.
The hosts held on to the lead without doing enough to test former Glentoran goalkeeper Dayle Coleing in the Magpies’ goal and in the 25th minute they were almost caught against the run of play. Kevagn Ronco crossed from the right which was deflected by Javi Forjan and hit the outside of Brian Maher’s near post.
Hoban put the ball in the net in the 30th minute with a characteristic header that hit the post, but Andorran referee Antoine Chiaramonti ruled out the goal for an apparent foul on Ruben Diaz.
The Candystripes finally opened the scoring in the 38th minute when Connolly rose to meet Duffy’s corner and buried it into the bottom corner.
However, just before half-time, City were reduced to 10 when O’Reilly received a second yellow card for diving after falling in the box following a challenge from Jean-Carlos Garcia.
O’Reilly was convinced he was cut but the referee disagreed and his sending off meant Ruaidhri Higgins’ side had to play the second half with a man down.
Derry did not come out in the second half like a team reduced to 10 men, as they immediately went on the attack. McMullan had a narrow-angle shot saved less than a minute after the restart, while Hoban was unable to finish his cutback.
The pressure paid off just before the hour from another corner when Hoban met a shot from Ben Doherty. His initial header was blocked by his teammate Will Patching, but the Derry number nine reacted quicker to bury the rebound.
Derry kept pushing but were almost caught when Olatunde Bayode rounded Maher and his cross found Eduardo Salles but the Brazilian fired over from six yards. McMullan also missed a late opportunity to seal the comeback, meaning extra time was needed to separate the teams.
Out of nowhere, in the 111th minute, Juanje’s 30-yard shot hit the post and De Haro was quicker than the home defense to react and bury the rebound past Brian Maher.
Patching hit a headed shot off the line but Derry were unable to find an equalizer which would have sent the game to penalties.
