Duff: ‘I’m the proudest man in Ireland tonight’

Shelbourne’s winning return to European football left manager Damian Duff “the proudest man in Ireland” and his players “high as kites” after a 2-1 victory over Gibraltar outfit St Joseph’s in their UEFA Conference League first qualifying round first leg at Tolka Park.

Mark Coyle gave the home side the a dream start inside a minute as his low shot found the back of the net following a jinking run forward from Will Jarvis.

Francisco Paul Curado’s equalised for the visitors five minutes before the break, but Jarvis sent Shels supporters home happy with his second-half penalty.

“It’s a very special night for the club and everyone who is involved with the club,” Duff told RTÉ Sport after the final whistle.

“Knowing what we know now, I know everyone is saying can we get a bigger cushion going across there, but they’re a technical team, they’re very well-organised, they’re hard to break down, so it’s a brilliant win.

“I’m so proud of the players and we absolutely can’t wait for next week already.

“We travel Tuesday to get there early and prepare and it’s the most exciting time of a lot of our players lives, so I’m sure they’re high as kites.”

“I’m the proudest man in Ireland tonight. I’ve said many times before that playing football for Ireland and playing in England for many years was great, but nothing has made me prouder than managing Shelbourne. It was a great night.”

Reflecting on the perfect start, Duff added: “It was an amazing start to the game and an amazing return to European football. Eighteen years and then you score within 25 seconds! It’s fabulous and I’m really pleased for Mark.”

Shelbourne’s focus now shifts to the second leg at Europa Sports Park, where Derry City suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to FCB Magpies on Thursday night.

“We’ll have to respect the heat, the pitch and the conditions next week, and respect the opposition, obviously,” the 45-year-old manager said of next week’s game.

“I think people hear ‘Gibraltar’ and they maybe slightly disrespect them, but 90% of the team are Spanish. Spanish footballers, as we know, have wonderful technique.

“We’ll recover, we’ll review and we’ll gradually ramp it up to next week.

“We travel Tuesday to get there early and prepare and it’s the most exciting time of a lot of our players lives, so I’m sure they’re high as kites.”