Shelbourne crash out of Europe

Lille 2 Shelbourne 0 (Lille win 4-2 on aggregate)

Pat Fenlon's Shelbourne failed to complete another dramatic comeback and bowed out of the UEFA Cup’s first round tonight after a 2-0 second leg defeat to French Ligue 1 hot-shots Lille.

Two first-half goals from Milenko Acimovic and Matt Moussilou shattered Shelbourne’s hopes of booking their place in the UEFA Cup group stages at Lille’s Metropole Arena tonight.

Lille started strongly and it needed strong Irish defending to repel attempts from Matt Moussilou and Christophe Landrin.

Dave Rogers fouled Moussilou in the eighth minute and the hosts were awarded a free-kick which Milenko Acimovic fired past the top left of Steve Williams’ nets.

Shels avoided another setback seven minutes later when former Tottenham midfielder Acimovic paired well again with Moussilou – but the striker missed his shot and the ball rolled over the bar.

Lille found the back of the net after 17 minutes thanks to Acimovic, following a cross from Mathieu Bodmer on the right.

Lille doubled their lead when Moussilou completed a fantastic run from midfield before shooting past Williams in the 27th minute.

Acimovic, who went close with a free-kick in the 31st minute, almost got another goal for the hosts but saw his clinical strike go just the wrong side of the woodwork.

Four minutes later Moussilou received a cross from the right from Landrin but the French striker, who was ideally posted in front of the visitors’ goal, missed the ball.

Shelbourne tried to fight back but were unable to produce a worthwhile effort on goal before the break.

Shelbourne looked unable to turn things round at the start of the second half as Lille resumed control.

Moussilou started from the right but was stopped by Shels defender David Crawley in the 49th minute.

A minute later Moussilou again found himself in front of the Irish net but his strike was saved by Williams.

Landrin and Moussilou had two other chances shortly afterwards but failed to make their shots count.

The rain started to pour as Shelbourne’s various attempts to take control of the match continued to fail.

Shelbourne's defence remained solid when Jamie Harris deviated a dangerous cross from Landrin towards Moussilou in the 56th minute.

Moussilou missed out on a golden opportunity in the 63rd minute when, after Williams came off his line, he found himself in ideal position to score – but his shot bounced back off the base of a post.

Striker Glen Fitzpatrick, Shelbourne’s first leg’s saviour, came on for Alan Byrne in the 65th minute in a bid to boost the Irish team’s fortunes up front.

Ollie Cahill fired in a corner in the 77th minute but it was clinically deflected away from trouble by a Lille defender.

The last 10 minutes of the game – so productive for the Irish side two weeks ago – brought no goals to Pat Fenlon’s troops this time.

Mathieu Chalme, who came on for Acimovic in the 83rd minute, almost got a third goal for Lille but his shot was blocked by David Crawley.

Jamie Harris fired a header in the 87th minute but his shot was saved by Tony Sylva.