Victorious evening for Vaduz
Thursday, 29 July 2004
By Aidan Fitzmaurice at Tolka Park
[1] FC Vaduz won a European tie for the first time at their eleventh attempt as victory tonight at Longford Town FC built on their 1-0 lead from the first leg to see the team from Liechtenstein through to the UEFA Cup second qualifying round.
Irish disappointment
[2] The Republic of Ireland had already lost Bohemian FC from this competition on Tuesday, and Longford followed tonight with the third defeat in four European matches in the history of the club.
Zarn scores
[3] Vaduz's home win a fortnight ago had been their first in 21 games in continental competition, and they proved it was no fluke within five minutes tonight when Marius Zarn put them ahead. Michael Stocklasa's cross troubled the Longford defence and Swiss striker Zarn pounced to finish past Stephen O'Brien.
Lavine goes close
[4] Longford almost got level on ten minutes but Eric Lavine could not get his header from Desmond Baker's clever cross on target. The home side, who lost both Darragh Sheridan and Stephen Paisley to injury in the first half, almost went 2-0 down when an Alan Murphy back-pass almost beat O'Brien on 45 minutes.
Vaduz streak away
[5] Three minutes after the break Vaduz did get their second of the night, Franz Burgmeier easily beating Barry Ferguson and shooting past O'Brien from a tight angle. Vaduz substitue Thomas Weller then scored with his first touch five minutes as he reacted quickest to poke in from two metres when O'Brien could only parry a Martin Stocklasa header.
Late consolations
[6] Dean Fitzgerald pulled a goal back on 85 minutes from Baker's cross. Longford captain Barry Ferguson turned in Alan Murphy's pass to reduce arrears further two minutes later, but Liechtenstein Cup holders Vaduz, who only narrowly missed out on promotion to the Swiss top-flight last season, were able to celebrate their progress into Friday's draw.