Wasteful Rovers left facing uphill task

A host of missed late chances on a frustrating night for Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium leaves Ekranas holding a distinct advantage ahead of the second leg in Lithuania next week.

While they will be in the draw for the third qualifying round to be made at Uefa headquarters in Nyon this Friday lunchtime, Rovers face an uphill task to ensure they will be still in the competition come next Tuesday evening as they face a side that hasn’t lost the home leg of their last five European ties.

It might have been so different as all Rovers’ best work in the final third came in the last 10 minutes as they wasted four clear-cut scoring openings as they finally had Ekranas on the rack.