St Joseph’s Edge Cliftonville After Extra-Time Battle in Belfast

St Joseph’s FC (Gibraltar) progressed to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League after defeating Cliftonville FC (Northern Ireland) 3-2 in the second leg at Solitude, Belfast. The result, following a 5-4 aggregate win after extra time, was sealed in a tense and eventful encounter.

The match began with immediate impact as Pablo Rodriguez opened the scoring for St Joseph’s in the 1st minute. Cliftonville responded in the 32nd minute when Michael Glynn equalised, assisted by Ryan Curran, making it 1-1 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate.

In the 65th minute, Cliftonville went ahead through Joe Gormley, with Rory Hale providing the assist. However, the visitors replied just three minutes later, in the 68th minute, through Juanma, levelling the tie at 2-2 and 4-4 on aggregate.

The match saw its first major turning point in the 61st minute when Cliftonville’s Odhran Casey was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Casey had earlier been booked in the 44th minute and was penalised again for a foul on Alvarez, reducing Cliftonville to ten men for the remainder of the match.

Despite their disadvantage, Cliftonville created opportunities. Notably, efforts on goal by Addis and Falls were saved by St Joseph’s goalkeeper Bradley Banda, who made multiple crucial interventions in both normal time and extra time.

With the aggregate score level at 4-4 after 90 minutes, the match proceeded into extra time. In the 92nd minute, Hugo Jesslen scored for St Joseph’s, giving them a 3-2 lead on the night and a 5-4 advantage overall. Jesslen and teammate Gibson both had subsequent attempts but missed the target.

During extra time, Banda continued to play a key role, saving a shot from Falls in the 115th minute. Cliftonville’s Hawthorne received a yellow card in the 117th minute for a foul on Javi Forján, and a direct free-kick was taken by Amadou in the 118th minute.

Both teams made numerous substitutions across the match, including double changes at the 62nd and 90+3 minute marks for St Joseph’s, and several substitutions for Cliftonville between the 74th and 99th minutes.

The referee concluded the match at the end of the second period of extra time, confirming a 3-2 win for St Joseph’s and their progression with a 5-4 aggregate victory.

St Joseph next face Shamrock Rovers from Ireland. These now sees two Gibraltar sides going into the next phase of their respective competitions with Lincoln Red Imps having beaten Vikingur earlier this week in the Champions League and playing Red Star Belgrade. The wins for St Joseph and Lincoln Red Imps, especially against clubs from associations ranked close to Gibraltar in the Co-efficient rankings could increase Gibraltar’s Co-efficient pushing it closer to a return to four clubs in Europe.