In the aftermath of a painful near miss, all Stephen Kenny could reflect upon was the fine margins.
Dundalk took Rosenborg the distance on their own patch, with the League of Ireland champions giving another opponent with vastly superior resources some nervous moments over the course of 120 minutes.
“If we got two, they needed three and we had chances
But when the full-time whistle blew, the Norwegians were celebrating. Relief was an emotion too. They got the win they deserved for their overall performance, but Dundalk will reflect on missed chances at key points in the Lerkendal Stadium.
Another away goal would have put them through yet they fell short and were out of gas in the dying stages. It means there will be no repeat of last year’s memorable European run that went all the way into December.
From 2018, the Irish champions will get a chance in the Europa League if they lose their first Champions League tie. This year, there is no such safety net.
Advertisement
Dundalk are out and that is doubly tough to take for Kenny’s side because they know it will require a spectacular collapse from Cork City to get another crack at Europe’s premier competition 12 months from now.
“Rosenborg are obviously a terrific team and in the second half they put us under a lot of pressure; we were hanging in there really,” said Kenny. “But if we got two, they needed three and we had chances. We gave it a right go. We were the better team last week, today we weren’t. But we hung in there overall and it’s just the fine margins.”
If they had brought their performance level from the first half of these two legs into all of their league games in the early months of the season then they wouldn’t be 15 points off the pace with a game more played than the runaway leaders.
The penny has dropped too late and it will cost them much more than that. Mistakes at vital times cost them in this tie.
Rosenborg were rattled in the first leg when sloppy defending from a routine set piece allowed them to escape and they were toiling last night after Brian Gartland put them ahead. In the period that followed, Dundalk could have put them to the swords. But they ran out of juice with concessions before half-time in both legs proving costly. Kenny described the repetition as “crazy”.
Advertisement
Rosenborg had promised a sprightly start but it was an unchanged side Dundalk that broke out of the blocks with real purpose. By ten minutes, they had really settled into the game and two minutes later they were in front when John Mountney won a corner that was sent into the area by Michael Duffy and headed past Andre Hansen by Gartland.
Last week’s away goal was chalked off but, more importantly, the visitors were ahead. And they quickly had an opportunity to strike a dagger blow when another corner found David McMillan with his header pushed over the bar by Hansen. A fine stop or a missed opportunity depending on your perspective.
It was encouraging for a Dundalk side that again looked incredibly comfortable in this sphere, specifically in the area of ball retention. Rosenborg, the heavy pre-match favourites, were floundering. But their application improved in the lead-up to half time and they got their reward.
One of their strengths is breaking quickly from a counter and this was a textbook example with a lay-off from Nicklas Bendtner finding Mike Jensen who sent through Yann-Erik De Lanlay - one of three changes to their side - and he got away from Sean Gannon before diverting past Gary Rogers.
The away goalkeeper didn’t have a great body position and was perhaps fearful of giving away a penalty by diving in. Either way, it was honours even at the break and Dundalk needed to regroup.
“We hung in there overall and it’s just the fine margins
Advertisement
They found it difficult in the period that followed, though, with Rosenborg well on top for the third quarter of this encounter even though the chance count was relatively low. In fact, their best chance of the second half came when Dundalk had introduced Stephen O’Donnell and actually calmed things down a bit.
A free kick fell to centre half Tore Reginiussen who fresh aired. Dundalk have so often been praised for their attacking ambition but the key in bringing this game to extra time was strong concentration defensively with pre-match doubt Niclas Vemmelund excellent.
However, they were broken down in the extra 30 from a relatively unthreatening position. Rosenborg sub Matthias Vilhjalmsson was brought in to support Bendtner and he soared above Gartland to dispatch a cross from right full Vegar Hedenstad.
Dundalk were flagging and the loss of Patrick McEleney to injury was a major blow. Ciarán Kilduff came in for McMillan and, as usual, found himself in the right position for one big chance. Last season, he took them all.
On this occasion, he swiped from eight yards and struck the bar - with the ref spotting a slight touch from Hansen - with Rosenborg all at sea.
Advertisement
They recovered to see this one out, with their celebrations at the end telling a story that Dundalk will want to forget.