Odubeko feared being taken off before handing Shels advantage over Linfield

Shels’ Mipo Odubeko celebrates scoring. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Mipo Odubeko admits he feared being substituted before he got the chance to fire Shelbourne into a first-leg Champions League advantage.

Instead, Reds boss Joey O’Brien chose to help the forward with his treble substitution against Linfield, bolstering his strikeforce with a view to forging that breakthrough.

That unfolded within two minutes of Seán Boyd joining Odubeko upfront, the experienced campaigner flicking on a header that eventually created space for him to drill a deflected effort beyond Chris Johns.

A slender 1-0 lead probably flattered Linfield in this All-Ireland derby, but former Manchester United and Manchester City trainee Odubeko was just relieved about the League of Ireland champions bringing a lead to Windsor Park next Wednesday.

Progression in Europe’s premier competition is worth €3m of prize-money through the three ties it guarantees within UEFA’s structure.

A playoff to reach the Conference League group phase, as Shamrock Rovers conquered last year, is another reward for hurdling the first round.

“I was thinking that, to be fair,” said the 22-year-old about his feelings when the substitutes’ board was raised 10 minutes into the second half.

“The two upfront works well. Seán and I have a great relationship. He’s sort of a big brother figure for me. When we’re on the pitch together, we work really well. I was happy to see him come on. He did the right thing and I scored.

“We are gutted because we had enough chances to score more than one. Sometimes that happens. There’s been games this season where we dominated more but came away with no goals. Listen, we’re happy with one and the win.” 

Linfield’s game was to drop deep to frustrate their hosts. Shels struggled to perforate the blanket defence in the first half, bar Evan Caffrey’s close-range header which was saved, but Odubeko was also denied taking a penalty midway through the first half.

“I was going to take the penalty,” he said, discussing those minutes of purgatory when he held the ball in his hands awaiting the Portuguese referee’s review of the monitor.

“I wasn’t thinking much about VAR, only about where I was going to put it. It was overturned but we got there in the end.

“It was just about focusing after that. A lot of people said to me at half-time: “I know you haven’t touched the ball much in the first half but the chance will fall and make sure you’re ready.”

“The first half was really difficult. They made it tight for us and hard to play against. It was hard to get shots off but I knew the chance would fall for me. I was there to take it so I’m really happy.”