Sport

Davy McDaid and Jay Donnelly seal Cliftonville progress

Cliftonville's Jay Donnelly scores during Thursday's Europa League qualifier at Solitude<br/>Picture by Pacemaker&nbsp;
Cliftonville's Jay Donnelly scores during Thursday's Europa League qualifier at Solitude
Picture by Pacemaker 
Cliftonville's Jay Donnelly scores during Thursday's Europa League qualifier at Solitude
Picture by Pacemaker 

Uefa Europa League first qualifying round, second leg: 


Cliftonville 2 FC Differdange 0 (agg: 3-1)

CLIFTONVILLE advanced in Europe for the first time since 2010 when goals in either half from David McDaid and Jay Donnelly sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory over Luxembourg’s FC Differdange 03 in the Europa League qualifying first round at Solitude.

The visitors played the majority of the second half with 10 players following the dismissal of Tom Siebenaler for a professional foul that really killed their challenge, but the hosts were full value for the win that means they advance into the next round, where they will face AEK Larnaca of Cyprus and receive the added financial bonus that comes with it.

The Reds made a dream start as they hit the front after just 72 seconds when Jay Donnelly’s glancing header from a throw-in sent McDaid clear and the striker made no mistake, coolly finishing to the far corner.

It was almost two on five minutes when Martin Donnelly’s cross from the right was met on the volley by his namesake, Jay, but the effort just cleared the crossbar. The visitors looked rattled, but on 10 minutes went close to levelling the tie when Devijvid Sinani’s header forced a brilliant stop from Jason Mooney.

The game entered something of a lull after with the Reds looking a little jittery at times and while Differdange probed, they were unable to create any real chances. Chris Curran had a 44th minute goal chalked off as Jude Winchester was adjudged to have fouled Differdange goalkeeper, Andre Almeida Rodrigues who fumbled a cross, while the hosts had a lucky escape on half-time when Geoffrey Franzoni’s low ball in from the right was missed by Ryan Catney but nobody in black was able to turn it into the net.

Differdange had a glorious opportunity to level four minutes after the restart when Jordan Yeye skipped past Tomás Cosgrove on the left and bore in on goal. The winger pulled back to Sinani, but the striker dragged the ball wide with the goal at his mercy.

It was to get worse for the Luxembourg side on 56 minutes when Siebenaler was issued a straight red - perhaps harshly - when taking down Jay Donnelly who was stretching to poke the ball home from the edge of the box.

This killed their hoped and the tie was put beyond doubt on 75 minutes when Chris Curran did well to pounce on a loose ball and cut back to Jay Donnelly  who had a simple task to guide the ball home and seal Cliftonville’s passage into the second qualifying round.