Reasonable draws for Irish sides

Following their incredible European escapades last year, Shamrock Rovers have been handed a reasonable draw in the qualifying round of this year’s Champions League against FK Ekranas of Lithuania.

The first leg of the tie will take place in Tallaght Stadium on July 17 or 18, while Rovers fans have immediately began the feverish scramble for flights for the away leg a week later in the town of Panev?žys, Lithuania.

FK Ekranas have faced League of Ireland opposition in recent years, with Cork City beating the current Lithuanian champions 2-1 in 2005.

This will be seen as certainly a favourable draw for the Hoops, even though Ekranas have dominated Lithuanian football in recent years, winning the last four Lyga A championships.

Meanwhile in the first round of the Europa League, both St. Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians will be off to Iceland in the coming weeks, with the Saints drawn against IBV for the second time in two years, while Bohemians will face Thor Akureyri from the Icelandic Second Division.

Last year, Pats dismissed IBV 2-1 on aggregate. After losing 1-0 in Iceland, the Supersaints beat the Icelandic side 2-0 in Richmond Park to seal theirprogression.

As it stands, the first leg of St. Patrick's Athletic's tie against IBV will be played at Richmond Park on July 5, with the return leg a week later on July 12, although this is subject to change.

As far as progression goes, certainly both ties for St. Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians in the first qualification round are winnable, and both sides will be hoping to progress to the second round, where they will hopefully join Sligo Rovers.

The second round of the Europa League Qualifying Round drew Sligo Rovers against Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, while St. Patrick's Athletic will face NK Široki Brijeg of Bosnia if they manage to see off IBV in the first round. Bohemains, should they progress, will face FK Mladá Boleslav of the Czech Republic.

The first leg of the Sligo Rovers tie will be played in Slovakia on July 19, while the return leg will take place a week later on July 26 in the Showgrounds.

Trnava have quite the pedigree in European competition, and this is a tie that the Bit O'Red will find tough. Spartak Trnava progressed through three rounds in the Europa League last year, losing to Lokomotiv Moskva 3-1 on aggregate in the playoff stages.

St. Patrick's Athletic, on the other hand, will fancy their chances of reaching the third round of qualification because NK Široki Brijeg were dumped out of the first round of qualification last year and have never progressed past the second round.

Bohemians will find the going tricky in Czech Republic if they make it past Thor in the first round. Mladá Boleslav have made the group stages of UEFA Cup twice in recent years, but were knocked out of the Europa League at the stage they entered it last year, losing 5-2 to AEK Larnaca on aggregate.