Glentoran 1-1 Gzira United (13-14 on pens): Hosts exit on penalties

Warren Feeney’s Glentoran suffered penalty heartbreak after a dramatic Europa Conference League first qualifying round clash with Gzira United ended in a 14-13 shootout defeat.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Malta, Glentoran saw Bobby Burns miss a first-half spot-kick before James Singleton had a 94th-minute effort ruled out.

Burns would redeem himself and spark wild celebrations when he fired home from close range in the 13th minute of stoppage-time to force extra-time.

After the two sides could not be separated, penalties were required and, following 27 successful spot-kicks, it was substitute Leon Boyd who had his second attempt from 12 yards saved by David Cassar to bring an extraordinary tie to its conclusion.

Zac Jones was the hero for Haverfordwest after he saved two penalties to inspire them to a 3-2 shootout win against Shkendija.

The Cymru Premier outfit were playing in Europe for only the second time in their history and, after losing the first leg 1-0, were indebted to Lee Jenkins’ 89th-minute effort which forced extra-time at their adopted Cardiff City Stadium home.

No further goals were forthcoming in the additional half-an-hour as penalties were required, but Daniel Hawkins missed Haverfordwest’s first attempt.

Goalkeeper Jones was able to thwart Shkendija’s second effort from Eraldo Cinari and Mevlan Adili’s miss gave Ben Fawcett the chance to send the Welsh club through, but he fired wide.

But it did not matter as Jones, following some pre-penalty dance moves on his goal-line, made an outstanding save diving to his left to deny Florent Ramadani and spark jubilant scenes in Cardiff, with B36 Torshavn up next.

Elsewhere, Northern Irish clubs Linfield and Crusaders booked their spots in the next round, despite contrasting fortunes on Thursday.

Linfield lost 1-0 away to Vllaznia Shkoder, but moved into the second qualifying round with a 3-2 victory on aggregate.

Crusaders drew 2-2 away to Haka and Paul Heatley’s goal with 17 minutes left at Seaview earned them a narrow win on aggregate.

Irish clubs Dundalk and Derry City progressed into the second qualifying round after home wins.

Dundalk, who reached the group stage of the Europa League in 2020, beat FCB Magpies 3-1 after a goalless first leg, while Sadou Diallo struck the only goal across two legs to send Derry through at the expense of HB Torshavn.

Penybont’s first ever European adventure ended in a 2-0 aggregate defeat, but took Santa Coloma to extra-time before the Andorrans scored twice in the addition 30 minutes.

St Patrick’s Athletic also bowed out, despite an extraordinary own goal from F91 Dudelange goalkeeper Didier Desprez, who completely misjudged a high ball on the edge of his area and inadvertently headed it into his own goal.

It could not prevent the Richmond Park club losing 3-2 and going out 5-3 on aggregate, with Oege van Lingen scoring a hat-trick for the visitors.

Connah’s Quay suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Iceland’s KA Akureyri to bow out after losing the first leg by the same score.