NORTHERN IRISH side Linfield missed out on £3m and a place in the group stages of the Conference League after conceding a very late and unfortunate equaliser in their game against Latvian champions RFS.
Linfield led 2-0 away at RFS in the first leg, and in the 89th minute and let in 2 goals with minutes to go
They led 1-0 in the 118th minute of the second leg and did the same in Windsor Park on Thursday
Seconds before the final whistle, Jimmy Callacher attempted to clear a cross from inside the box only to see the ball loop over keeper Chris Johns, hit the cross bar and go over the line.
The late effort saw tie aggregate score go to 3-3 on the night, and with that the game went to penalties.
Absolutely peak bit of Europa Conference League (Linfield subsequently lost on penalties) pic.twitter.com/aLiFS3lT1K — 👍🏻🏴🏆 (@stokaljona) August 25, 2022
The Latvian side won 4-2 in the shootout, which ended Linfield's attempts to become the first Irish League side to make it to the group stages of the Europa Conference League - and indeed in any European competition
What made it worse was that Linfield had gone close to securing a second just moments earlier with a three-on-one at the other end only for Cameron Palmer to see his effort saved.
Linfield boss David Healy spoke after the game and admitted it would be hard to lift the team after the setback
"For now, I can't," the 43-year-old said
"I don't think I've been as disappointed in any time. Certainly, in my managerial career. In my playing career I lost in a couple of play-off finals and when you commit to 46 games in the Championship and you lose, it is hard, because you have the summer to reflect before you return to pre-season and get back at it.
"It's gut-wrenching. I feel for the staff, I feel for the players, the supporters and everybody involved in the football club. The group stage is where we wanted to be and could - and should - have been there tonight."
The group stages for both the Europa League and Europa Conference League will take place at 12pm today.
