Sporting Fingal 2 - 3 Maritimo

Sporting Fingal went out of the Europa League with their heads held high tonight after an entertaining 3-2 loss to Maritimo, leaving the tie at 6-4 on aggregate. Two late Eamon Zayed goals proved to be only consolation for Fingal, as their more illustrious counterparts outclassed them in attack.

Maritimo nearly enjoyed a dream start with Algerian international Abdelmalek Cherrad rounding Brendan Clarke and shooting toward the open goal, only for Lorcan Fitzgerald to make a last-gasp clearance. The Portuguese side had set their stall out to attack from early on, with Brazillian under-21 midfielder Tcho forcing Clarke to tip a long- range effort over the bar on four minutes.

Fingal did manage to mount a few credible attacks early on, and were the dominant side for a period. For all of Fingal’s eloquent passing, they were unable to break Maritimo down. Peterson Pecanha, in goal for Maritimo, almost gifted Sporting an opener when he spilled the ball on seventeen minutes. He recovered only just in time to shield the ball from Glen Crowe.

Three minutes later and Maritimo got the opening goal. Tcho broke in to the Fingal area with menace and Shaun Maher hauled him down- leaving Alonso to slot the resulting penalty in.

Maritimo had another chance minutes later, as Shaun Williams allowed the Portuguese side to break forward on a counter-attack. The move was wasted though, when they tried to lob the ball over the Fingal full back and Clarke came out to claim the ball.

Mitchell Van Der Gaag’s side never really relinquished control of the match for the rest of the half, with Fingal being largely restricted to half-chances from set pieces and long-range shots.

After the interval, Fingal looked to hit Maritimo on the break as they surged forward. Conan Byrne could have done better on fifty-five minutes when he was presented with a clear shot on goal, but blazed the shot over. Five minutes later Ronan Finn had a shot ruled out for offside after Glen Crowe put him through on goal.

Playmaker Tcho was at the fulcrum of all of Maritimo’s attacks, and helped them get their second goal on sixty-seven minutes. Short connecting passes allowed Marquinho some space yards outside the Fingal box, and the midfielder shot low and hard at Brendan Clarke. Clarke was unable to keep hold of the ball and it ended up a second Maritimo goal.

Minutes later Marquinho hit the crossbar with a looping shot, and it seemed to be all Maritimo attacks for a period in the match.

To their credit, Sporting never gave up despite Maritimo being in a strong position. Substitute Eamon Zayed had a free header from a Fingal corner with ten minutes remaining, but headed disappointingly wide. Zayed put that disappointment behind him a minute later with a sublime goal. The striker turned past three Maritimo defenders before finishing well past Peterson Pecanha in goal.

Kanu should have finished Sporting off on eighty-three minutes, the substitute somehow shot wide with an open goal in front of him.

Eamon Zayed gave Fingal a glimmer of hope with a minute left on the clock: the former Drogheda player tapping in simply past Pecanha to set up a frantic finish. It finished 3-2 though, and Fingal went out of the Europa League with their pride intact after a spirited display.

Sporting Fingal: Brendan Clarke; Ger O'Brien, Shaun Maher, Kenny Browne, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Conan Byrne, Shaun Williams, Ronan Finn, Shane McFaul (Eamon Zayed ‘63), Alan Kirby; Glen Crowe.
Subs not used: Darren Quigley, Brian Gannon, John Frost, Ollie Cahill, Kevin Dawson, Colm James.

CS Marítimo: Peterson Pecanha, Alonso de Matos, Robson da Silva, Ricardo Esteves, Marquinho (Luciano Amaral 73), Roberto Sousa, Papa Diawara, Abdelmalek Cherrad (Philipe Fidelis 90), Tcho (Kanu 83), Danilo Dias, Joao Guilherme.
Subs not used: Marcelo Boek, Luis Olim, Briguel, Dylan Duventru.

Referee: Marco Borg (Malta)

Attendance: 2,150

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Tcho (Maritimo).