By Gavin McLaughlin
BATE Borisov 1-0 Dundalk
If Dundalk are to keep their Champions League hopes alive then they will have to overturn a one-goal deficit in Tallaght next week after Mikhail Gordeychuk’s strike gave BATE Borisov a deserved 1-0 victory at the Borisov Arena.
The Belarusian champions dominated the game from the off but it took 70 minutes for them to open Dundalk up, Gordeychuk combining brilliantly with fellow substitute Alexander Hleb before smashing a low drive past Gary Rogers.
Lilywhites manager Stephen Kenny selected an adventurous looking line up but the pattern of play was set right from the off as BATE dominated possession and the territorial stakes with Dundalk guilty of squandering possession on numerous occasions in the opening 45 minutes.
Captain Stephen O’Donnell was the culprit in the third minute, giving the ball away in the centre of the park, and he was almost punished when Igor Stasevich let fly with a 25-yard drive that flew over Rogers’ crossbar.
Dundalk were given encouragement five minutes later when Robbie Benson hunted down Maksim Zhaverchik on the left. The ball broke kindly for Daryl Horgan but his burst into the BATE penalty area ended with him unlucky not to win a corner.
Aleksandr Yermakovich’s side took the game by the scruff of the neck after that with Stasevich causing Dundalk serious problems on the BATE left.
And hearts were fluttering in the Dundalk back four again when Paddy Barrett slipped with Rodionov hovering just outside the Lilywhites penalty area but the Waterford man recovered well to dispossess the BATE captain in tandem with O’Donnell.
The Dundalk skipper then made a good block on his opposite number, Rodionov, and from the resulting corner Denis Polyakov just couldn't stretch enough to divert the ball on target.
BATE continued to crank up the pressure and they went within a lick of paint from opening the scoring in the 18th minute when Barrett did well to deflect a wicked Maksim Zhaverchik cross against his own bar with Rodionov waiting to tap home.
Zhavnerchik was the centre of attention again on the half hour mark, the BATE right back incredibly lucky not to receive his marching orders for a forearm smash on O’Donnell. Ukrainian referee, Yevhen Aranovskiy, somehow deciding that a yellow card was sufficient punishment.
O’Donnell required treatment again minutes later when he was caught by Rodionov and those stoppages in play seemed to take the wind out of BATE’s sails for a short period.
Dundalk enjoyed a brief spell of possession and they created the most clear cut chance of the half in the 34th minute.
Daryl Horgan and Robbie Benson punctured the right side of the Borisov defence and when Horgan cut the ball back for the former UCD man, his left footed effort was unconvincingly turned around the post by Belarusian international goalkeeper, Sergei Veremko.
Dundalk were left clinging on for the remainder of the half with Stasevich asking more questions of the Lilywhites back four in the 41st minute, skipping past Patrick McEleney with ease only to see his shot safely gathered by Rogers at the near post.
Dane Massey then produced a fantastic tackle to stop Aleksandr Karnitski tapping home after Rodionov dummied Marko Ivanic’s cross.
Yet again, the route for the attack was BATE’s left flank but Dundalk managed to get to the break with their goal intact.
Kenny responded at the interval by introducing Chris Shields and John Mountney for Benson and McEleney respectively but just 49 seconds of the second half had elapsed before BATE were knocking on the door again, Rogers getting down to clutch Marko Ivanic’s drive from 18-yards.
The hosts continued to pen Dundalk in but with the back four and midfield keeping their shape well, Rogers didn’t look too flustered. The Meathman’s biggest headache coming when a mix up with Andy Boyle almost let Rodionov in for an open goal, but play was called back for a foul against the BATE striker.
Yermakovich turned to his bench with former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder, Hleb and top scorer, Gordeychuk both sent on and they combined to devastating effect in the 70th minute.
The League of Ireland champions were the architects of their own downfall again. Sean Gannon gave the ball away cheaply inside his own half and Dundalk paid the ultimate price as Hleb picked out Gordeychuk who rifled a left footed drive past Rogers at his near post.
BATE pushed for a killer second goal and Stasevich forced a good stop out of Rogers in the 83rd minute before Latvian centre-back Kaspars Dubra glanced a Gordeychuk cross onto the bar less than 60 seconds later.
Dundalk looked dead on their feet but they stood firm to set up what could be a cracking second leg in Tallaght next Tuesday night.
BATE Borisov: Sergei Veremko, Maksim Zhavnerchik (Alexander Hleb 60), Denis Polyakov, Kaspars Dubra, Artur Pikk; Aleksei Rios, Mirko Ivanić (Mikhail Gordeychuk 68), Yuri Kendysh; Aleksandr Karnitski (Aleksandr Volodko 88), Vitali Rodionov, Igor Stasevich.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Paddy Barrett, Dane Massey; Stephen O’Donnell, Robbie Benson (Chris Shields HT); Patrick McEleney (John Mountney HT), Ronan Finn, Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (Ciaran Kilduff 78).
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (Ukraine).
