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@bfcdublin Despite a strong display by Bohemians against Olimpija Ljubljana, a late own goal ended any hope they had of dumping out the Slovenians, Shane Quinn reports. The Gypsies’ work rate and belief at Dalymount Park was commendable, but in the end the 2-0 first leg deficit was simply too large a gap to bridge.
Olimpija’s confidence had been badly shaken for this second leg when they were hammered 3-0 at home by NK Celje in the Slovenian Premier Division. That was the Dragons’ opening league game of the season, and they looked nervous for large chunks of this game.
This Olimpija side are exceptionally young, with seven of the team that started here aged 25 or younger.
Tonight’s referee, Paolo Mazzoleni (below, with Olimpija keeper Elvis Dzafic), is a 37-year-old from the province of Bergamo in northern Italy. From 2010, Mazzoleni was promoted to referee solely in Italy’s top tier, Serie “A”. 
Last season he dismissed five players, among them Italian internationals Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) and Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina). Mazzoleni’s daytime occupation is that of an antiquarian, a person who deals in antiques and rare books. Bohs made exactly the start their manager would have wanted, producing a high tempo that forced the Slovenians on the back foot. However, no early chances were created to induce panic in the visitors. It was in fact Davor Skerjenc who had the game’s first effort at goal after his side had won a corner kick. The attacker’s ambitious 30-yard effort was thrashed wildly over the bar, however.
In the 14th minute, a bad mistake by Liam Burns in which he gave the ball straight to Anej Lovrecic, produced real concern. The former Lecce man subsequently saw his effort touched out by Barry Murphy for another Olimpija corner, the shot was going wide anyhow. 
After Olimpija seemed to have weathered the early storm, Killian Brennan (above) skipped brilliantly passed a couple of opponents before being taken down 25 yards from goal. It was ideal Brennan territory, but he made a hash of the free-kick as it flew high over the crossbar.
The twin towers in central defence for Olimpija, Sreten Sretenovic and Milan Andelkovic, both 6’4” inches in height, seemed to be coping with crosses into their area, until Christy Fagan sprung a surprise.
Following Brennan’s corner, Skerjanc headed off the line with the aid of the crossbar. But the ball bounced out nicely to Fagan (below, celebrating with Glenn Cronin) who nodded into the unguarded left-hand corner in the 34th minute.
That was exactly what Bohs needed to rattle the central Europeans, a first half goal to spark the tie and encourage the home support. Olimpija’s 20-year-old goalkeeper, Elvis Dzafic, was looking very shaky indeed. After early confusion in which he dropped the ball, he was later in the first half to lose his footing when attempting a clearance, but Fagan could not capitalise.
Murphy’s best moment of that opening period came near the end when he punched clear big Andelkovic’s glancing header.
The skipper Dalibor Radujko passed up a superb chance after a period of pressure early in the second half. Skerjanc was at the heart of things by locating Radujko free in the box only for the midfielder to shoot wastefully over.
 Bohs were continuing to play to their full potential as the game continued with Dusan Kosic’s men looking more and more concerned. Keith Buckley (left), in particular, was impressing with his passing and movement.
The momentum was unfortunately broken when a facial injury sustained by Burns saw him substituted for Ollie Cahill, with Owen Heary moving to centre-half and Rossiter switching to right-back.
But later disaster struck, as a breakdown in communication between Ger O’Brien and Murphy ended Bohs’ hopes of qualification. The keeper rushed from his goal to clear an attempted through ball, but O’Brien reached it first and hit a back pass that rolled into the empty net (80).
With the hosts needing three goals to win, it was now an impossible task. Still, a number positives can be taken from such a courageous performance by Bohs.
Bohemians: Murphy; Heary (C), Burns (Cahill, 62), Price, Rossiter (Downes, 80); O’Brien; Buckley, Cronin, Bayly (Forrester, 72), Brennan; Fagan
Olimpija Ljubljana: Dzafic; Jovic, Sretenovic (Kasnik, 87), Andelkovic, Salkic; Lovrecic, Radujko (C); Fink (Omladic, 45), Vrsic; Valencic (Cadikovski, 74) Skerjanc
Possession – Bohs: 46%; Olimpija: 54%.
Attempts on target – Bohs: 1; Olimpija: 6.
Attempts off target – Bohs: 4; Olimpija: 4.
Corners – Bohs: 7; Olimpija: 6.
Yellow cards – Bohs: Glenn Cronin; Olimpija: Anej Lovrecic, David Kasnik.
Referee – Paolo Mazzoleni (Italy)
Written by Shane Quinn
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