Shamrock Rovers suffered defeat in the third round Champions League qualifier second leg tie with FC Copenhagen at Tallaght Stadium, ending their interest in the competition.
Dame N’Doye’s 41st-minute strike left Rovers with a mountain to climb at the break as they struggled to open up the Copenhagen defence for large parts of the game, despite Chris Turner hitting the crossbar in the early stages.
Christian Bolanos’s close-range effort sealed the win for the Danish side in the 73rd minute and consigned the Hoops to the Europa League play-off round later this month.
Despite an electric atmosphere, it was a relatively quiet start on the field, with Turner’s looping header in the sixth minute the only chance of note.
Pat Sullivan’s fine cross from the right caused panic in the Copenhagen penalty area, with Dennehy almost connecting before the ball was cleared.
Rovers were enjoying plenty of possession and nearly took the lead in the 18th minute.
Enda Stevens’ pinpoint cross was headed onto the crossbar by Chris Turner from 10 yards out and the follow-up was knocked over by the former Bohemians player.
Twigg was the next to threaten as the home crowd grew increasingly excited, but the striker was beaten to the ball by Ottesen from another Stevens cross.
Rovers disappointed in their efforts to carve open more chances and Copenhagen were happy to afford them the ball.
Michael O’Neill’s side received a warning in the 28th minute as a quick free-kick gave Dame N’Doye the time and space to shoot from 25 yards, forcing Ryan Thompson into a smart save as he pushed it out for a corner.
Turner then flicked on Stevens’ long throw, handing a tough opening to Twigg but he couldn’t get over the ball and it ended up well off-target.
Claudemir showed tremendous skill to turn and shoot on the volley following a Copenhagen corner as his shot landed just over the bar with Thompson at full-stretch.
N’Doye was again picked out by Claudemir on the edge of the area forcing Sives to block it out for a corner moments later.
From the set-piece, Copenhagen silenced Tallaght Stadium.
Bolanos whipped the ball in and N’Doye struck the ball in off Turner in a cruel blow to the home side four minutes before the break.
Twigg tried in vain to help the home side recover but referee Halis Ozkahya blew for half-time shortly afterwards and even with 45 minutes left, it looked as if Irish interest in the Champions League was coming to an end.
Ronan Finn’s fine run at the start of second half allowed Turner a shot from the edge of the area but it was straight at Copenhagen goalkeeper Johan Wieland.
Rovers needed a boost now with Copenhagen looking comfortable on the ball and the atmosphere was flat compared to the beginning of the game.
In the 56th minute McCabe floated in a delightful free-kick that Twigg flicked just past the top left corner.
Rovers needed to commit more numbers forward - and on a rare occasion they did - Copenhagen were left panicking as Turner’s drilled cross was directed away from the Hoops players in the area.
Thompson had to acrobatically dive to make sure Pape Diouf couldn’t finish from close range after another testing Danish set-piece.
Rovers brought in Dean Kelly for Gary McCabe with 25 minutes left but Gary Twigg remained an isolated figure, struggling to compete with three Danish defenders and support from midfield arriving too late.
Bolanos forced Thompson to get down low at his near post as the winger cut back on his right foot inside the penalty area.
Copenhagen were looking the more likely to score even with the home side needing three goals to rescue the game.
The visitors sealed their qualification for the next round in the 73rd minute as Thomas Kristensen’s picked out N’Doye who’s header was brilliantly saved by Thompson, but Bolanos was there to convert the rebound from close range.
Gary Twigg and Ronan Finn were withdrawn shortly afterwards with an eye on Friday’s Dublin derby with Bohemians.
Dan Murray prevented another Copenhagen strike as he got in the way of N’Doye and Diouf from a fantastic cross by Delaney with nine minutes to go.
Substitute Cesar Santin went close to notching the third goal but Thompson did well to get behind the shot on a disappointing night for Michael O’Neill’s team.
The Hoops will now playing in the Europa League play-off round in two weeks time as the Champions League dream continues to elude Irish teams, but they could be without Pat Sullivan who was stretchered off just before the full-time whistle.
Shamrock Rovers: Ryan Thompson, Pat Sullivan, Craig Sives, Dan Murray, Enda Stevens, Gary McCabe (Dean Kelly 65), Conor McCormack, Chris Turner, Ronan Finn (Stephen Rice 75), Billy Dennehy, Gary Twigg (Ciaran Kilduff 75).
FC Copenhagen: John Wiland, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Solvi Ottesen, Mathias Zanka Jorgensen, Pierre Bengtsson, Claudemir De Souza, Christian Grindheim, Thomas Kristensen, Christian Bolanos (Thomas Delaney 78), Dame N’doye, Pape Diouf (Cesar Santin 83).
Referee: Halis Ozkahya.
