Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley hailed a "brilliant night" for the League of Ireland after his side secured group stage European football for 2024 with a landmark extra-time victory over Slovenian champions NK Celje in Tallaght Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Rovers had turned the course of the tie by half-time, Dylan Watts slotting home a penalty after VAR spotted a clumsy foul on Aaron Greene before the rampant Neil Farrugia doubled the lead on the night with a rasping shot from distance four minutes later.
While Zan Karnicnik's 83rd minute cushioned volley levelled the tie and sent the game to extra-time, substitute Graham Burke would land the decisive blow, the inexperienced Celje keeper Lovro Stubljar allowing the Dubliner's shot slither under his body as Rovers re-took the lead. This time, they wouldn't relinquish it.
The result capped a memorable day from the League of Ireland in Europe, Stephen Kenny's St Patrick's Athletic earlier winning away in Azerbaijan to put themselves within one more round of the Conference League group stage, with Turkish outfit Istanbul Basakehir standing in the way.
"It's a brilliant night," Bradley told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after his side's win.
"Myself and Stephen were texting earlier. Wishing each other luck obviously and saying how good it would be if both of us could get through to the groups.
"We've done it and I hope Pat's can follow us. It can only be a good thing for the league as a whole."
On the night, it was Farrugia, deployed in a more central role these days, who caused the most grief for the visitors, with Bradley arguing afterwards that Celje paid the price for their dispectfully cavalier approach to the game.
"(Farrugia was) incredible. You're just trying to free up that mind of his in the final third to go and do what he's done. Because he has that quality.
"There were times tonight, he was unplayable for them. They couldn't get near him. He kept penetrating them.
"Over there, even on their pitch, you could see he had the beating of them. And we felt on this pitch he'd cause them real problems and he did that."
"We've been trying to get Graham and Jack (Byrne) up to speed for us. They're slowly getting there but I did say to Graham during the week that he'd win us the game tonight. Because you know, you put him in front of goal from 25 yards with that left foot, then it's danger.
"They didn't respect us all night. They didn't respect us pre-game. You could see their press was leaving big spaces. And Graham exploited them."
"They didn't respect us all night. They didn't respect us pre-game. You could see their press was leaving big spaces. And Graham exploited them."
Aside from ensuring that Shamrock Rovers are guaranteed at least group stage football in the Conference League, the victory tees up a meeting next week with Greek champions PAOK for a crack at the Europa League group stage and the second tier of elite European competition.
In a neat bit of synchronicity, PAOK were drawn in Shamrock Rovers' group for their only appearance in the Europa League group stage during Michael O'Neill's reign back in 2011-12.
While the broad, original target of group stage football has been met, Bradley is keen for them to have a shot at the second tier competition.
"I spoke when we got groups the last time (2022), we didn't want to wait 10-15 years as a club to be back there.
"We've guaranteed that now. But we want to try and go one better and see if we can go Europa League. That's the aim. Can we go over there and bring it back to Tallaght like tonight? Bring it back here and anything is possible."
The European adventure comes amidst an otherwise messy campaign for the champions, their bid for an unprecedented five-in-a-row continuing to run out of road following a disappointing draw at home to Drogheda United at the weekend.
Bradley paid tribute to the home fans, acknowledging that they had been forced to endure plenty of sub-par performances in 2024.
"We owe them that. They've been brilliant for us. There's been times we've let them down this year in terms of performances. They've stayed with us, they've backed us to the hilt.
"Nights like tonight don't happen very often. I thought it was important we shared that moment with them."
