Shamrock Rovers dig deep to draw with Vikingur

Shamrock Rovers’ Champions League first qualifying round tie with Víkingur Reykjavík is evenly poised going into the second leg at Tallaght Stadium, after the two teams drew 0-0 in their first leg meeting at the Víkingsvöllur in Iceland.

The Hoops had to dig deep to make sure they got the result, as Darragh Nugent was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 81st minute.

Víkingur went into the qualifier looking to extend a twelve game unbeaten run in all competitions, and they used home comforts to dominate possession.

Stephen Bradley reacted accordingly by turning his back-three into a back-five when defending, and this forced the Icelandic side to go wide.

The Hoops still created chances, with the first coming from a Josh Honohan cross inside the first minute. Karl Fridleifur Gunnarsson put this out for a corner which was cleared to Dylan Watts, and the midfielder had a cross headed wide by Roberto Lopes.

Víkingur won their first corner in the 10th minute and Pablo Punyed’s in-swinging set piece was turned towards goal by Jón Guðni Fjóluson. Leon Pohls managed to get a hand to this, and the loose ball was rebounded off the post by Erlingur Agnarsson.

An explosive opening petered out into a prolonged period in possession for the home side.

Rovers stood their ground and forced the likes of Danijel Djuric to try his luck from distance, and that attempt rolled harmlessly wide.

The dividend for Bradley and his players’ was a stalemate at half-time, and the game restarted with Watts picking out Nugent with a long-ball over the top. The midfielder, who was standing on the penalty spot, had no time to get a shot away as Oliver Ekroth and Gunnarsson closed down and won possession back for their side.

Víkingur almost took the lead during the first spell in possession in the second half as an Agnarsson shot deflected off Trevor Clarke and floated towards goal, and the resulting corner came to nothing.

Bradley brought on Johnny Kenny in the 66th minute and the striker marked his arrival by breaking down the left wing with Jack Byrne in support. The Celtic loanee took it on himself, and he narrowly missed the intended target.

The game closed out with chances for Kenny and Agnarsson, but no one was able to find the target in added time.

Víkingur Reykjavík: Ingvar Jónsson; Karl Fridleifur Gunnarsson, Gunnar Vatnhamar, Oliver Ekroth, Jón Guðni Fjóluson, Erlingur Agnarsson, Pablo Punyed (Viktor Örlygur Andrason 81), Helgi Guðjónsson (Ari Sigurpálsson 66), Valdimar Þór Ingimundarson (Gísli Gottskálk Þórðarson 81), Nikolaj Hansen (Matthías Vilhjálmsson 66), Danijel Djuric.

Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pöhls; Josh Honohan, Roberto Lopes, Daniel Cleary, Sean Hoare, Trevor Clarke (Neil Farrugia 73), Gary O’Neill, Dylan Watts (Richie Towell 90), Darragh Nugent, Jack Byrne (Darragh Burns 73), Aaron Greene (Johnny Kenny 66).

Referee: Sigurd Kringstad (Norway)

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