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Split's Jean Evrard Kouassi and Dane Massey of Dundalk compete for the ball. Josko Ponos/CROPIX
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Dundalk come up just short against Hajduk despite spirited second-half fightback

The Oriel Park outfit became the third Irish side to be knocked out of Europe tonight.

DUNDALK GAINED A hard-earned 2-1 victory over Hajduk Split on the night, but still missed out on Europa League qualification as they lost 3-2 on aggregate.

Having been beaten 2-0 in the first leg at Oriel Park, not many people expected Dundalk to progress ahead of a tricky-looking away tie against the Croatian outfit.

And the pessimism regarding the Irish side’s prospects was compounded after 25 minutes, when Jean Evrard Kouass struck the ball powerfully past Gabriel Sava to extend the hosts’ advantage.

At that stage, the tie looked dead and buried, yet an inspired second-half performance almost saw Dundalk secure an unlikely triumph.

Patrick Hoban’s composed finish on 66 minutes kept the Irish side’s slim hopes of progressing alive, before Kurtis Byrne’s volley with a quarter of an hour remaining put them right back in the contest.

Nevertheless, despite some nervy moments in the home defence, the dying stages did not yield the third goal that Stephen Kenny’s men needed to progress.

HAJDUK SPLIT: Stipica; Nizic, Milovic, Maloca, Jozinovic; Caktas (Bradaric HT), Vlasic (Maloku 76 ), Andelkovic; Kouassi (Maglica 62), Gotal, Jozinovic

DUNDALK: Sava; Gannon, Gartland, Boyle, Massey; Shields, Higgins (Meenan 87); Mountney, Towell, McDermott (Hoban 57); McMillan (Byrne 68)

Referee: Ionut Maruis Avram (Romania)

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