Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Sean Gannon strikes the post early on.Ryan Byrne/INPHO FreeRuthless Late Shelbourne collapse sees Qarabag take control of Champions League tie Two goals inside last 10 minutes give Azeris 3-0 lead ahead of second leg next week. 9.48pm, 23 Jul 2025 Share options David Sneyd reports from Tolka Park Champions League second-round qualifier (first leg) Shelbourne 0 JOEY O’BRIEN WANTED his Shelbourne players to summon the spirit of the Tipperary hurlers and deliver another underdog story worth retelling. Instead this was a tale as old as time itself as a mixture of Qarabag’s quality and brutal defensive lapses saw this tie slip away from the League of Ireland champions. They hit the woodwork twice and showed great spirit for much of the second half but, ultimately, mistakes cost them. Up until the 81st minute things were still alive heading to Azerbaijan next week. The visitors did have a one-goal lead courtesy of Leandro Andrade’s first-half tap in, but a stirring performance after the break from Joey O’Brien’s side meant it looked like being the narrowest of margins. Now it’s an uphill battle and the next destination will surely be the Europa League after Shels switched off to gift two goals to the visitors. Kameron Ledwidge must have thought Nariman Akhundzadze’s scooped finish was drifting wide as the centre back stopped in his tracks, only for the ball to strike the post and gift substitute Olexiy an open goal. Ledwidge and goalkeeper Lorcan Healy then got their positions mixed up on 86 minutes and the header back looped over the stand-in stopper and allowed Akhundzadze make it three. It ends O’Brien’s unbeaten start to life as boss and also an 11-game run without losing at home in Europe for Shels that stretches back 20 years. Advertisement That’s an indication of how rare these occasions are but at least their place in Europe wasn’t on the line completely. Regardless, though, mistakes like the ones at the end when the tie was still in the balance cannot be repeated. These are the kind of regrets that O’Brien was talking about beforehand, and the anguish of those final moments a brutal distillation of their season so far. Qarabag’s first goal came at the end of a frenetic opening 10 minutes when both sides were rash and lacking composure in the box. Zoubir was guilty of spurning two opportunities for the visitors – firing wide and blazing over – either side of Sean Gannon snatching at the ball with his left foot and striking the post from just outside the six-yard box, Qarabag cleared the rebound off the line and it looked as though a dangerous corner routine like that, with Ali Coote peeling off to the back post, could catch the away side cold. In truth they were only warming up, and the build up to their opener illustrated the class in the ranks. Abdellah Zoubir may have been wild with his own attempts inside the area but his precision and weight of pass carved Shels open down their right and allowed Toral Bayramov stride onto it to deliver the ball along the ground for Andrade to tap in after edging in front of Kameron Ledwidge. A VAR check for offside followed but the goal stood and Qarabag assumed control. Just like in Belfast during the second leg against Linfield last week, O’Brien was forced into a first-half change when left wing back Tyreke Wilson suffered a nasty leg injury that required treatment from paramedics and oxygen as he was helped towards a waiting ambulance. Lorcan Healy started in goal after replacing Conor Kearns in the previous tie but captain Mark Coyle had to make do with a place on the bench after his injury, although he was introduced for Sean Gannon at half-time after a torrid 45 minutes that led to the experienced defender picking up a yellow card. Qarabag started the second half with purpose and a header from Emmanuel Addai required Healy to stretch and keep it out with a strong hand. Shels didn’t wilt, though, and took the game to the Azeris with renewed vigour. A first-time passing sequence with the ball in the air on 54 minutes highlighted their increased confidence. Evan Caffrey switched a diagonal from the right, Norris cushioned the ball at the corner of the box straight to Kerr McInroy who sharply changed direction with a looping pass across where Harry Wood was coming onto the dropping ball unmarked. It was a tough chance to execute but the manner in which he miscued the effort completely made it feel like even more of an opportunity missed. Ali Coote worked space on the edge of the box on 57 minutes and his deflected shot had Fabijan Buntic scrambling to make sure it didn’t creep in, and the goalkeeper looked on helplessly when Paddy Barrett’s deep cross with just over quarter of an hour to go caught everyone by surprise and struck the upright. Qarabag weren’t exactly on the ropes but they were wise enough to know they needed to take the sting out of the game, so the sight of two players dropping with cramp at the same time 50 yards apart on the pitch resulted in furious chants of “cheat, cheat, cheat” from many inside Tolka Park. There was fire in their bellies but that was extinguished by the nature of the mistakes late on, and all hope of something dramatic went with it too. Shelbourne: Lorcan Healy; Sean Gannon (Mark Coyle HT), Paddy Barrett (captain), Kameron Ledwidge; Evan Caffrey (John O’Sullivan 66), JJ Lunney, Kerr McInroy, Harry Wood, Ali Coote (John Martin 66), Tyreke Wilson (James Norris 18); Mipo Odubeko (Sean Boyd 77). Qarabag: Fabijan Buntic; Dani Bolt (Abbas Huseynov 77), Bahlul Mustafazade, Matheus Silva, Toral Bayramov; Pedro Bicalho, Kady; Leandro Andrade (Olexiy Kashchuk 77), Emmanuel Addai, Abdellah Zoubir (captain); Nariman Akhundzade. David Sneyd View 4 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Late Shelbourne collapse sees Qarabag take control of Champions League tie”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Late Shelbourne collapse sees Qarabag take control of Champions League tie”. 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