SHELS AZER CROATIAN PRIZE AS A CONSOLATION

EUROPA LG QUALIFIER Qarabag 1 Shelbourne 0 Qarabag win 4-0 on agg

- BY PAUL O'HEHIR

SHELBOURNE will face HNK Rijeka of Croatia in the Europa League after crashing out of the Champions League in Azerbaijan.

Joey O'Brien's men were facing mission implausible in their attempts to overturn a 30 first-leg deficit to Qarabag.

The kingpins of Azerbaijan have reached the group or league phase of European competitions for the last 11 years but, while they pulled clear in Dublin a week ago, Qarabag found Shelbourne to be stubborn opponents and only won on the night after a John Martin own goal.

The Shels striker was defending his near post just before halftime when Brazilian midfielder Kady surged past Mark Coyle and whipped in a cross.