Sam Bone wrote his name into Shelbourne club folklore by scoring the equaliser that gave the club a 3-2 aggregate victory over St Joseph's in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League at Europa Point Stadium, after the home side took the lead through Liam Walker.
Damien Duff and his high flying Reds will now face Swiss side FC Zürich after progressing in a continental competition for the first time since 2006.
Shelbourne will go into that contest without Sean Gannon, as the full-back was shown a straight red card in injury-time.
The Dubliners were determined to get gain a two-goal lead in Gibraltar and build on their 2-1 victory over St Joseph’s at Tolka Park but an early chance for Mark Coyle was stopped by Alejandro Navas Ruiz.
The home side grew into the game, with their first real sight of goal coming in the ninth minute when Javi Paul drew a simple save from Conor Kearns.
The Saints kept going and they equalised on aggregate through a Walker volley in the 25th minute.
St Joseph’s slowed the game down after the restart through tactical fouls from Alvarez, Pablo Rodriguez Moreno, and Barnett.
Each time a free-kick was awarded to Shelbourne and the third attempt ended in Bone forcing in Coote’s set-piece as Shelbourne retook the aggregate lead in the 34th minute.
The Saints pushed for an equaliser during the time left to play in the first half, and the closest they got was a shot from Alvarez hitting the post.
Harry Wood replaced Ledwidge after the break, and the midfielder announced his arrival with an attempt on goal getting blocked by the St Joseph’s defence.
John Martin was the next player in a red jersey to go for goal, and he drew a save from Navas Ruiz in the 55th minute.
The Reds next real chance came from a Will Jarvis corner, but Sean Boyd narrowly missed the target.
St Joseph’s tried to muster something, and use their home comforts to pin Shelbourne into their own half. There was only one real opening, and the resulting shot from Lucas Gaucho went wide.
There were late red cards for Jayce Olivero and Gannon, and Shelbourne responded by digging in and holding their line as the home side rallied for an equaliser.
St Joseph’s: Alejandro Navas Ruiz; Erin Barnett (David Bautista 56), Gabri Cardozo, Javi Paul, Alain Pons (Jayce Olivero 56), Liam Walker, Juanma (Christian Aznar 81), Manuel Sanchez, Facundo Rafael Alvarez (Juan Pena 46), Pablo Rodriguez Moreno (Lucas Gaucho 56), Alvaro Rey.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Sean Gannon, Sam Bone, Paddy Barrett, Kameron Ledwidge (Harry Wood HT), Tyreke Wilson, Jonathan Lunney, Mark Coyle (Matthew Smith 78), Will Jarvis (Shane Griffin 86), John Martin (Sean Boyd 59) (John O’Sullivan 90), Ali Coote (Evan Caffrey HT).
Referee: Ladislav Szikszay (Czech Republic)
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