Linfield suffer European penalty heartbreak after own goal forces shoot-out

Linfield were denied a piece of history in the cruellest fashion possible against Latvian outfit RFS in Europa Conference League qualifying.

David Healy’s side were on course to become the first Northern Irish team to qualify for the group stage of a European competition when Kyle McClean’s 104th-minute goal put them 3-2 up on aggregate.

But in time added on in the additional period Jimmy Callacher scored an own goal to send it to a penalty shoot-out.

And the evening ended in heartbreak for the home side as Matthew Clarke and Ethan Devine both missed from the spot to hand RFS a 4-2 shoot-out win.

Linfield had dominated throughout the initial 90 minutes, with Robbie McDaid and Sam Roscoe coming close in front of 4,742 fans at Windsor Park.