Dundalk and Derry secure wins in Europa Conference League qualifiers

There were home wins for two of the Irish sides in Europa Conference League action on Thursday night, with Dundalk and Derry City besting FC Bruno's Magpies and Havnar Bóltfelag (HB) in their respective first round qualifiers.

In the fixtures' return leg, Dundalk welcomed Magpies to Oriel Park, where Patrick Hoban opened the scoring after just three minutes.

The visitors replied, with José Manuel Martínes Oliver supplying the leveller just before the break.

However, the second half was one-way traffic, with John Martin netting in the 48th, before a painful blow came for the Gibraltar side in the form of an own goal from André Luiz dos Santos to end the game 3-1.

Meanwhile at the Brandwell, the Candystripes were up against Faroese side HB, where Sadou Siallo supplied the only goal of the evening in the 23rd minute.

In the final fixture of Irish interest, St Patrick's Athletic suffered a 3-2 loss to Diddenleng at Richmond Park, a week after their 2-1 away loss in the first leg.

Although the Dubliners got two on the board, a 22nd minute OG from Didier Pierre Jean-Paul Desprez and a goal from Adam Murphy after the break, a hat-trick from Oege-Sietse van Lingen, the last of which came deep into added time, was too much for St Pats to overcome.