second leg - sunday 22nd 2008 - tps turku 3 lisburn distillery 1
match report from colin hopkins
despite lisburn distillery scoring their first ever away goal in european competition it wasn't to be enough as the whites slipped out of the ıntertoto cup losing by three goals to one in finland at the hands of full-timers tps turku.
the whites had gone into the second leg 2-3 down from the home leg a week earlier but with them now being fully aware before kick off that the main strength of the tps team was to hit their opposition on the break the whites opted to play things safe for the first period of play by playing in a 4-5-1 formation. this meant that chances for both sides were very limited in the first half although pat mcshane had to be on hand to clear an armand one header off the goal line on 21 minutes.
ıt had been clear before kick-off that the first goal of this leg was going to be critical in deciding the outcome of the tie and sadly for lisburn distillery it was tps who made the breakthrough. midfielder mika aaritalo picked up the ball about 35 yards out and, despite attempts by the whites defence to regain possession, he was able to work his way into the penalty area before placing an accurate shot which left whites keeper alex spackman helpless to prevent the ball entering the net. things indeed could very quickly have gone from bad to worse for lisburn distillery only two minutes later when spackman showed superb reflexes in keeping out a deflected effort.
second half saw the whites come out knowing that they needed some goals to get anything out of the game and on 53 minutes it looked like they might just get back into the match when peter mccann made what appeared to be a great run into the tps penalty area before he was fouled - the referee blew his whistle and then proceeded to award a free-kick outside the box as opposed to the penalty. the whites' players and supporters looked on in disbelief but the referee was not for changing his mind and from the resulting kick curtis allen hammered the ball over the crossbar.
the full time fitness of tps was starting to kick in by now and it was clear from the reactions of some of the lisburn distillery players that the intense heat at pitch level was starting to take its toll. that said, the players continued to work hard but their efforts were further hampered when a cross ball arrived in their penalty area on 75 minutes, paul muir put out a leg to stop the ball coming through but it fell kindly to mikko paatelainen who made no mistake from 12 yards out to give the home side a two goal advantage. the music sounded, the home support cheered and the exit doors for the 2008 ıntertoto cup beckoned for the whites and yet they were not to go out without a fight when on 84 minutes they were awarded a penalty following a foul on muir in the tps penalty area. up stepped the returning gary browne to calmly slot the ball home and give us a chance of "game on".
ındeed the game was almost really on a one minute later hwen substitute chris kingsberry was sent clear for a one on one with the tps keeper. tthe keeper dived to smother the ball, kingsberry attempted to lift it over him but somehow it struck the keeper's leg and the danger was cleared. so close then to levelling the leg and making for an interesting finale but then only sixty seconds later tps did exactly what they are most dangerous at - scoring on the breakaway. following kingsberry's effort the ball had been moved with speed up field before eventually falling to the feet of the massive tps striker armand one and he used all his power, strength and agility to hold off distillery defender stuart thompson before swivelling and powering the ball home into the bottom corner.
the european dream then was over for distillery but losing 6-3 to a fully professional side over two legs was by no means embarrassing, well done lads!
