The Shamrock Rovers team to play Santa Clara:
The Shelbourne team for tonight:
Here are Gavin Cummiskey’s match previews:
Some sad news for Irish football this afternoon as Ollie Horgan passed away.
[ ‘Proper football man’: Former Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan dies aged 57Opens in new window ]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of a big night for League of Ireland football, and a chance for the league to have two clubs in the league stage of a European competition for the first time in their history. First up it’s Shelbourne against Linfield, Shels go to the intimidating Windsor Park with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg. Shelbourne are looking to make the Conference League proper for the first time. That kicks off at 7.45pm.
Shamrock Rovers are more experienced at this level, having enjoyed a run to the knockout stages last year, and they face a tougher prospect in Santa Clara, from the Portuguese league. They pulled off a famous 2-1 win in the Azores in the first leg, but we have seen Irish clubs overhauled in second legs before so Stephen Bradley’s men will be wary of that in Tallaght. Kick-off there is at 8pm, so there’s a nice bit of overlap between the two games, but enough to gather your thoughts! Should be a fun evening.
