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Fingal give themselves a Sporting chance
Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:53
Sporting Fingal scored twice in the Estadio da Madeira as they narrowly lost 3-2 to CS Maritimo in their Europa League second round qualifier.



Glen Crowe headed the Ravens into a surprise, but deserved lead on 33 minutes when he connected with Ronan Finn’s cross to net his 11th European goal.



The Portuguese hosts hit back with two goals through Santos Esteves and Abdelmalek Cherrad before Lorcan Fitzgerald got Sporting’s second of the night.



But Liam Buckley’s men were denied a draw when Tcho slid in to score in injury time as the Ravens defence was caught offguard.



Despite losing, Sporting have two crucial away goals to bring into Thursday’s return leg at Dalymount Park and that could swing the tie in their favour.



The performance registered by the Dublin club was hugely encouraging with Finn testing the alertness of keeper Pecanha on the half hour mark after a burst forward.



Just three minutes after that the midfielder turned provider for Crowe when he whipped in a cross and the veteran marksman did the rest with a cushioned header.



Maritimo, who finished fifth in the Liga Sagres last year, were booed off at half-time by their supporters and they responded to that in the second period with a more ruthless approach.



They began to threaten with shots from distance before they eventually scored when Luciano’s cross was met by Esteves at the back post as he headed in.



Then Cherrad fired in to put the home team ahead for the first time after Robson’s ball forward caused trouble for the visiting defence.



But Fitzgerald stunned the Maritimo supporters into silence just three minutes later when he latched onto a long ball to lob Pecanha and score his first goal of the season.



However, they suffered a hammer blow deep into injury time when Tcho scored. But there is still a lot to play for and Sporting will be pleased with their first ever performance in Europe.



CS Maritimo: Pecanha; Esteves, Guilherme, Robson, Alonso; Marquinho (Danilo Dias HT), Tcho, Sousa, Djalma (Luciano 74); Kanu (Cherrad HT), Baba.



Substitutes Not Used: Marcelo, Dylan, Luis Olim, Briguel.



Sporting Fingal: Clarke; O’Brien, Hawkins (Maher 73), Browne, Fitzgerald; Finn, McFaul, Williams; Byrne (Cahill 88), Crowe (Zayed 64), Kirby.



Substitutes Not Used: Quigley, Gannon, Dawson, James.



Referee: Luc Wilmes (Luxembourg)
 
 
 
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