Dundalk grab precious away goal as battling display keeps hopes alive

BATE Borisov 2 Dundalk 1: Dundalk gave themselves every chance of advancing to the third qualifying round of the Champions League after leaving the Borisov Arena last night with a priceless away goal despite going down to BATE Borisov.

While Stephen Kenny’s side will still go into Wednesday’s second leg as underdogs, David McMillan’s strike either side of first half goals from Aleksandr Karnitski and Evgeni Yabionski means the Louth men need just a 1-0 win at Oriel Park to claim the scalp of a side who have been in the group stages in five of the last seven seasons.

While that remains a tall ask for the champions, they can take confidence from an assured display in Belarus with only a couple of fantastic saves from Sergei Chernik denying them further goals.