DAMIEN DUFF was glad he steered clear of a flare-up to escape a telling-off from his dad.
Shelbourne teed up a meeting with Zurich in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League after a draw in Gibraltar.
St Joseph’s levelled the tie through a shot from outside the box by Liam Walker and hit the post just before half-time.
But, in between, summer signing Sam Bone had equalised on the night when the hosts failed to clear a corner.
There were no further goals but Seán Gannon was sent off after a row which followed a challenge on Seán Boyd which saw the substitute needing to be replaced and requiring stitches.
St Joseph’s reserve keeper Gonzalo Paz was also dismissed but Duff was bemused how it was his side who ended the game without their full complement of players.
DUFF LUCK
Duff said: “It was a dramatic end. I spoke to the guys before the game and I said I don’t think I have ever seen a pretty game of football here because of the heat, the astro, the dryness of the pitch.
“We always try and paint a reasonably good picture for them and let them know what to expect and I told them it could be a war, it could be a battle at times and it ended up that.
“I have been reading up on Gibraltar history over the last few days and I believe there have been 14 wars, 14 battles, and I told the lads that this could be the 15th and it ended up being that. We came out on top.
“You can speak about game plans and you can big up the staff or whatever but it’s all about the players, they were brilliant, they found a way, they had to dig in at the end.
“As I always say to you guys and the players, it’s us against the rest of Ireland, maybe the world. I think it was true because that decision on the side of the pitch was mind-boggling.
“We’ve seen back the footage. Sean Boyd is in there getting stitches in his nose. They’ve finished the game with 11 men, we’ve finished with 10 and it showed the spirit of the guys to see it out.
“I thought there was a couple of reds for them but brilliant learning for them and hopefully it’s not another 18 years before we’re back in Europe, it’s year-in, year-out now.
“It’s the dark arts of European football, something we need to learn better, taking a contact but we’re still trying to stay on our feet and we might end up losing the ball.
“Sometimes nice guys finish second but I think we really dug in and at the end of the game maybe we had to bring in some dark arts. It’s us against the world as I’ve always said and it was very apt.”
Shels were cheered on by a large travelling support, a significant percentage of which were Duff’s nearest and dearest.
He said: “I’m glad I didn’t get too involved in the melee because my dad would be giving out to me later but here maybe I’m maturing and trying to bring a bit of calm to it.
“It shows the buy-in from my family.
“I probably don’t give them the time I should because of Shelbourne but having my wife, my kids, my dad, my two brothers, my in-laws, not many people like their in-laws but I do, I love my in-laws.
“I was greedy with my tickets, I got eight from the club because I wanted people here.
“It was brilliant for them but most importantly the guys, the ladies, the kids spending their hard-earned cash to get there, it’s for them.”