Brave Derry missed out on a place in the Europa Conference League play-off round after they suffered a heartbreaking penalties defeat to Kazakh side Tobol after a 1-1 aggregate draw at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Kostanay, Ruaidhri Higgins’ side got back on level terms in the tie through an early spot-kick from Will Patching.
Neither side were able to do enough to win through in 90 minutes or extra time, so it was settled in a cruel penalty shootout – with Derry goalkeeper Brian Maher seeing his effort saved by opposite number Ivan Konovalov as Tobol went through 6-5.
Tobol go on to play play Viktoria Plzen after the Czechs beat Gzira of Malta 2-0 to complete a 6-0 aggregate victory.
With their Brandywell ground not meeting the required criteria to host the European tie, Derry had explored playing the fixture at Windsor Park in Belfast to help minimise travel for supporters. The request, though, was turned down by governing body UEFA.
Nevertheless, plenty of Candystripes’ fans made the trip to Dublin and they were soon in full voice when Patching converted from the spot in the 15th minute after Michael Duffy had been brought down.
There was a stoppage around the hour mark as Derry keeper Maher needed treatment following a hefty collision with Tobol midfielder Jovan Ilic which saw him land on his neck, but he was able to continue.
Paul McMullan was denied when Konovalov stuck out a boot and Cian Kavanagh shot wide late on.
With neither side able to make the breakthrough in extra time, it went to penalties.
After Ben Doherty’s fifth spot-kick was saved, with the scores at 4-4, Tobol had the chance to win it – but Jovan Ilic struck the crossbar.
Kavanagh put Derry 5-4 up and after Bojan Mladjovic levelled again, Maher saw his penalty saved, leaving Pavel Kireenko to send Tobol through.
The Euro journey is now over and next up for the Candystripes is a crucial league game against fourth placed Bohemians at Dalymount Park next Friday, August 25 (kick off 7.45 pm).
