In a dramatic night for Irish domestic soccer, St Patrick's Athletic earned a surprise scoreless draw playing away to Glasgow Celtic at Celtic Park, while Shelbourne suffered a spectacular 5-3 defeat by Rangers, the other half of the Glasgow Old Firm.
The Dublin club led Rangers 3-0 after 60 minutes, and one of the biggest shocks in European competition seemed to be on the cards. Then, in a 25-minute period, Shelbourne conceded five goals, two from penalties following handballs by centre-half Tony McCarthy.
Shelbourne had taken the lead in their first attack through an own-goal by Sergio Porrini, Rangers' Italian defender. Expectations of a shock increased when Mark Rutherford added a second before half-time and Pat Morley a third in the 58th minute.
Rangers, who spent £21 million on five players this summer, were facing an embarrassing defeat to a semi-professional Shelbourne side valued at no more than £200,000 in total. Unfortunately, Shelbourne then pressed the self-destruct button.
The UEFA Cup qualifying match was played in Liverpool at Tranmere Rovers' Prenton Park ground after security fears about playing the match in Dublin prompted Shelbourne to forsake their home leg and seek a venue far removed from Drumcree.
The security fears were realised when some violence broke out last night. Police said initially that fans had been well-behaved, but reinforcements had to be summoned after clashes outside the ground and at the nearby Clipper pub. The Shelbourne team coach was also struck by missiles before the game.
Shelbourne travel to Glasgow for the second leg at Ibrox next Wednesday.
St Patrick's Athletic's draw against Celtic in the European Cup qualifying round was highly creditable, with the National League champions staging a brave rearguard action against the might of Celtic for most of the 90 minutes. Goalkeeper Trevor Woods made a series of outstanding first-half saves.
St Patrick's almost snatched victory and a vital away goal in front of the 56,864 home crowd when Martin Reilly shot wide with 10 minutes remaining.
The second leg takes place at Tolka Park in Dublin next Wednesday.