Winning start for Jol at Fulham

THE Martin Jol era at Fulham got off to an encouraging start last night as Fulham secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Faroese minnows NSI Runavik in the Europa League first qualifying round first leg at Craven Cottage.

Damien Duff looked sharp and was unfortunate not to net the opener in the 23rd minute, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before unleashing a right-footed drive that went just wide. He didn’t have long to wait. On 33 minutes Duff blasted home.

Fulham peppered NSI’s goal in the second half with Danny Murphy’s penalty and Andy Johnson’s drive giving Jol’s side a healthy lead heading into next week’s second leg. Jol handed a debut to ex-Liverpool man Lauri Dalla Valle.

* In an all-Celtic clash, Welsh side The New Saints and Irish League side Cliftonville drew 1-1. Alex Darlington gave TNS a 28th-minute lead. Barry Johnston equalised on 40 minutes.

Glentoran finished with nine men as they went down 2-1 at Macedonian side Renova as Jamie McGovern and Elliott Morris saw red. Boban Jancevski’s penalty gave Renova the lead. Colin Nixon equalised but Muarem Bajrami grabbed a winner three minutes from time.

FULHAM: Schwarzer, Baird, Hangeland, Hughes, Briggs, Davies (Riise 69), Murphy, Etuhu (Sidwell 73), Duff, Andrew Johnson, Zamora (D Valle 79).

NSI RUNAVIK: Gango, Joensen, Mortensen (M Olsen 86), J Hansen, K Olsen (Liknargotu 90), HL Petersen, Lakjuni, Mikkelsen, Frederiksberg, D Danielsen (Fredriksberg 78), CH Jacobsen.

Referee: B Brugger (Austria).