Levadia Tallinn 0-1 Drogheda United (Agg 1-3)
Drogheda United booked a Champions League second qualifying round date with mighty Dynamo Kiev after Graham Gartland struck to give them a superb aggregate victory over Estonian club Levadia Tallinn.
The centre-half, villain of the first leg when his mistake led to Levadia's goal, proved the hero when he fired home from close range just after the break to send the 200 away supporters into raptures.
The Boynesiders kicked-off with Jamie Ewings in goal after Dan Connor suffered a recurrence of a hip injury at training the night before.
And in the early stages Ewings saw plenty of action as Levadia pushed for the goal they needed. Much of the Estonians' attacking threat emanated from Tarmo Kink, their scorer from the first leg.
His enthusiasm to make runs at Drogheda right-back Stuart Byrne led to a number of opportunities in the opening quarter.
Kink himself dragged a shot wide after only two minutes, before he turned provider for Konstantin Nahk who bore down on goal, only to blast well wide of the target.
But for the most part the Estonians were restricted to long-range shooting, Nahk and Andrei Kalimullin both trying their luck from some 40 yards out but failing to find a way a route through the Drogheda defence to Ewings.
The Boynesiders had their moments too, with Fahrudin Kuduzovic having claims for a penalty turned down in the 10th minute as he attempted to muscle his way past three defenders.
Ollie Cahill had their best chance of the half just before the interval, but his shot from 12 yards was blocked by Taijo Teniste.
The second half was only in progress for one minute, however, when the League of Ireland side struck. Paul Keegan swung in a corner from the left and Graham Gartland ghosted in at the back post unchallenged to bundle the ball in from almost on the line.
Incredibly, Drogheda could have added two more to their tally within three minutes. Gartland again almost got a touch to a Kuduzovic flick inside the six-yard box, before Adam Hughes ran onto a breaking ball and sent a shot narrowly wide of Martin Kaalma's right-hand post.
Levadia showed no sign of battling their way into the game, but the introduction of veteran international Indrek Zelinski almost paid off instantly when the substitute hooked a close-range shot into the side netting. He was then involved in a move that ended with Kink driving a shot across the face of goal.
But Levadia's hopes suffered another setback when Vadim Petrenko was punished for a second bookable offence and sent off by the Serbian referee.
As gaps began to open up in the home defence, Drogheda should have added to their tally. On three occasions Zayed had the goal in his sights, but he was thwarted by Kaalma twice and on the third occasion he took the ball round the keeper but then somehow shot wide of the empty net.
Levadia Tallinn: Kaalma, Sisov, Kalimullin, Lemsalu, Teniste, S Puri, Petrenko, Nahk, Leitan, Andreev. Kink.
Subs: Zelinski for Leitan (61min), Malov for Sisov (70min), Marmor for S Puri (82min).
Drogheda United: Ewings, Byrne, Maher, Gartland, Kendrick, Baker, Hughes, Keegan, Cahill, Kuduzovic, Zayed.
Subs: O’Brien for Zayed (89min), Ristila for Kuduzovic (90min).
Referee: Bosko Jovanetic (Serbia)
