Blues shut out by Torshavn

Opponents B36 Torshavn and their small band of fans were jumping for joy at the end of the 90 minutes on Tuesday night having gained a scoreless draw in a game.

In truth, the tie should all be over, Linfield bombarded the visiting goal in the second half and only for bad luck, desperate defending and a super save the Blues would already be looking to the next stage with confidence.

There was even a goal ruled out when Mark McAllister powered home a great header as the seige continued, but at least the tie is still very much alive.

It was a great night for young Linfield goalkeeper Ross Glendinning, he was called into action to replace Alan Blayney and he stood up to the test.

It was his first competitive start and his nerve was tested early on with the visitors pushing forward from the whistle.

The 19-year-old, son of former Irish League star Mark Glendinning, made a good save to deny Suni Olsen on three minutes.

International striker Olsen was again involved on six minutes with a long range free kick just was just wide of the post.

Linfield were taking their time to settle and getting in behind the opposing defence was tough to say the least and any balls into the box were dealt with easily by the confident keeper.

Linfield had a shout for a penalty on 21 minutes. a Jamie Mulgrew shot from just outside the box appeared to catch a Torshavn defender on the arm but Belgian referee Wim Smet waved away their call.

Mulgrew worked his way through the Torshavn defence but was well tackled just as he was about to go for goal.

The tide was turning now and it was Linfield in command and a first half goal would have given them a huge boost to take into the break and that chance came on 40 minutes. Mulgrew was clipped as he darted into the box and this time the ref awarded the penalty. Peter Thompson connected well with his spot kick but it was down the middle and the keeper got his hand to it and the rebound was cleared.

Whatever manager David Jeffrey said to his team at the break certainly worked as the Blues surged forward from the whistle.

Mark McAllister was first to threaten with a good run and after he cut inside a goal looked certain as he connected but he was just inches wide.

McAllister was out of luck again when he tried to get on the end of Mulgew’s cross and then Jim Ervin’s dangerous cross on 55 minutes was scrambled away.

McAllister and the home fans thought they had grabbed a vital goal on 76 minutes when his header flew into the net, but the referee had spotted an infringement.

Failing to score was tough, but it could have been even worse when Torshavn almost hit the Blues with a sucker punch when Lukasz Cieslewicz wriggled his way past three markers and hit a low drive that clipped the base of the post.

Near the end there was another chance for McAllister but his powerful header was brilliantly pushed away by the Torshavn keeper, by far the man of the match.

Linfield: Glendinning, Ervin, Curran, Douglas, Watson (Armstrong 46), McCaul (Carvill 65), Garrett, Mulgrew, Fordyce, Thompson (Tipton 74), McAllister. Subs not used: BJ Burns, Hanley, Clarke, Quinn.

B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands): M.Joensen, S.Joensen, Rasmussen, Faero, S.Olsen, Danielsen, Borg (Sorensen 66), Jakobsen, Cieslewicz (Matras 90), B.Olsen (Skorini 83), EysturoySubs not used : Poulsen,