Joey O'Brien's tactical change swings Champions League qualifier in Shelbourne's favour
TACTICAL TWEAK: Shelbourne head coach Joey O'Brien after the UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round first leg. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
A decision to be brave and bold by new Shelbourne manager Joey O’Brien was vindicated as it resulted in them taking a first leg advantage to Belfast next week.
Seán Boyd’s introduction as a substitute to partner Mipo Odubeko in attack against an ailing Linfield side yielded dividends within two minutes with the latter rifling home.
His 58th minute solitary goal at Tolka Park puts the League of Ireland champions in command heading into next Wednesday’s return leg at Windsor Park.
Should they complete that derby mission, the guaranteed €1m of prize-money trebles, along with the pocketing of a playoff shot at reaching the Conference League group stage as a back-up.
O’Brien is only a week into life as a senior permanent manager and the man he replaced, Damien Duff, wasn’t there to witness the win – but his Dad Gerry was.
This was the first meeting of the teams since the 2006 Setanta Cup but the passing of time hasn’t quelled the cross-border hostility.
Uefa’s seating-only rule meant the visiting section of 280 fans were housed at the end of the main stand.
Their proximity to the Shels fanbase created tensions, heightened when an attempt to affix a Union Jack flag to a Shels one was stopped by An Garda Síochána.
Needle in the stands as kick-off approached was soon matched on the pitch. Fouls by Josh Archer and Jamie Mulgrew two minutes apart saw each incur yellow cards from Luis Godinho and the Portuguese whistler would soon be in the thick of controversy.
Mistimed tackles could be explained by the contrasting fitness levels of the season, arising from the different seasons they operate. Whereas Shels are into the second half of their title defence campaign, all Linfield had in their legs were a couple of pre-season friendlies.
That was reflected by a first half of dominance by the Reds. A corner count of nine to zero illustrated the trend further, only the hosts didn’t translate the pattern into testing Chris Jones.
Set pieces became their most productive outlet.
Harry Wood directing his corners to the near post was a recurrent ploy, the first of which on seven minutes reached Evan Caffrey but his flicked header rebounded off the corner of the crossbar.
Another corner was earned on 22 minutes when Kerr McInroy’s pildriver was deflected wide. When the ball pinballed around, JJ Lunney was first to react, smashing a shot which struck the arm of Ben Hall.
Although the referee was ideally positioned to call a penalty, he was urged to review the decision by his VAR team, leading to the first-ever technology-assisted overturned decision in Tolka Park.
Hall was deemed to have kept his arm by his side. VAR wasn’t in operation when Shels were last in Uefa’s Premeir competition 18 years ago.
Odubeko cut a frustrated figure after readying himself to take the spot-kick but he would have his opportunity of being the match-winner.
Linfield were content to sit deep, protected by a bank of five in defence with two pivot midfielders not far ahead.
Lapses by Shels afforded them glimpses of goal they probably didn’t expect. Ethan McGee's 33rd-minute shot wide from sloppy home passing was their first attempt while Callumn Morrison didn’t apply the necessary power to lob Conor Kearns on the stroke of half-time.
Their strategy to contain could only succeed if Shels remained pedestrian. Wood ballooned a shot over the crossbar shortly after the restart while the visitors finally got their first corner on 52 minutes.
It would represent an anomaly in an otherwise one-sided half. O’Brien just required the means to penetrate a static rearguard.
Boyd provided the antidote when coming on to add a second striker. His lay-off allowed Obubeko bury the only goal, though Boyd ought to have added a second later when sending his close-range flick over the bar.
Only next week will it be known whether that miss is relevant.
C Kearns; E Caffrey (T Wilson 56), P Barrett, K Ledwidge, J Norris (S Boyd 56); M Coyle, K McInroy, JJ Lunney; A Coote (D Kelly 56), M Odubeko (J Martin 86), H Wood (E Chapman 78).
C Johns; E McGee, E East, M Orr, B Hall, D McCullough; K Miller, J Mulgrew (K Offord 72), J Archer; C Morrison (C McKee 72), M Fitzpatrick.
Luis Godinho (POR).
3500.
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