IT was a horrible night of European action for the SSE Airtricity League teams as Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk United both suffered away defeats.
In the first legs of the Uefa Europa Conference League second qualifying round, Rovers and Dundalk lost 4-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Stephen Bradley’s side were up against it from the first whistle against Hungarian Premier Division champions Ferencvaros.
The home side got off the mark as early as the 16th minute when striker Barnabas Varga set up David Siger for the game’s first goal.
Following a wave of attack from the Hungarian side, they eventually doubled their lead, this time through Cristian Ramirez.
Ramirez then turned provider just after the half-time break when Ferencvaros stretched the margin to three, with Adama Traore hitting the net this time around.
The final goal of the night came in the 74th minute when Varga got in on the scoring act and secured a 4-0 win for his side.
Dundalk’s defeat to KA Akureyri wasn’t as one-sided, but they still have a tough task ahead of them in next week’s second leg.
The home side grabbed the game’s first goal just before the half-hour mark through central midfielder Bjarni Adalsteinsson.
But Stephen O’Donnell’s side, who made the long trek to Iceland, levelled the score just four minutes later.
Dundalk winger Daniel Kelly (above) slashed a low drive past the helpless KA Akureyri goalkeeper to get the visitors back on level terms.
But KA Akureyri hit back with two goals just before the break, to carry a 3-1 lead into the half-time interval.
Their goals came through a double from Sveinn Hausson, who followed up his first with a second just seven minutes later.
