An emphatic 4-1 defeat of Northern Ireland champions, Glentoran in the second leg of the opening round of the UEFA Champions League sent Shelbourne through the next stage where they will entertain Steaua Bucharest at Tolka Park on Wednesday evening next, 27th July 2005. The second leg of the tie will take place in Romania one week later.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg played in Belfast last week, Shelbourne were quickly into their stride and extended their aggregate lead in the 14th minute when captain, Owen Heary powered home a header from a free kick taken by fellow full back, David Crawley.

Shelbourne relaxed a little too much and six minutes later, some poor defending allowed Glentoran to score the equaliser on the night and give them a glimmer of hope in the overall tie. The shaft of light was brief, as some ten minutes later a shot from midfield dynamo, Stuart Byrne was handled in the area by Glentoran centre back Leeman, who was sent off for a second bookable offence, he had already been booked for an earlier foul. The resultant penalty was confidently dispatched by Jason Byrne and Shelbourne never looked back.

With an extra man and their superior fitness being evident, Shelbourne took total control and might have scored twice more before half time with shots from Richie Baker and Stuart Byrne.

The second half was something of a procession for Shelbourne and the third goal of the evening arrived on 58 minutes when Glen Crowe volleyed home a cross which had taken a wicked deflection on its’ way into the penalty area. Twelve minutes later, leading goalscorer Jason Byrne added to his tally for the season when he headed home a cross from Heary.

With their passage to the next round all but guaranteed, Shelbourne poured forward and had several shots on goal where goalkeeper Elliott Morris, Glentoran’s star player in the first leg, was again in outstanding form.

Clearly, Shelbourne will face a much tougher test against the reputable Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest, but the confidence garnered from this conclusive victory coupled with their return to form in the Eircom League will stand them in good stead.