BEATEN BUT NOT DISGRACED

RHYL 2 (Connolly 37, 41)
BOHEMIAN 4 (O'Donnell 28, Byrne pen 31, McGuinness 33, Singh 42)
INTERTOTO CUP FIRST ROUND SECOND LEG
(Bohemian win 9-3 on aggregate)

ALL six goals in this afternoon's Intertoto clash at Belle Vue came in a 14-minute spell in the first half during which the Lilywhites showed great battling spirit to remain in the game, if not the tie.
Although the scoreline over the two legs reads an emphatic 9-3 to Bohemian, Rhyl can still take positives from their fifth successive venture into Europe.
Unlike at Dalymount Park last weekend, Allan Bickerstaff's side enjoyed plenty of possession in the second leg and more than matched the League of Ireland leaders for long periods.
Bohemian made a few changes from the side which beat the Lilies 5-1 a week ago but still had the look of a strong full-time outfit capable of progressing further in this competition.
The first 27 minutes of today's game were a virtual non-event as Rhyl comfortably dealt with anything Bohs could deliver, the closest call coming when George Horan could easily have sliced a Harpal Singh cross into his own net.
Mark Connolly, by far the home side's most effective player on the day, hit a 25-yarder just over the bar.
Then on 28 minutes the defensive frailties which let Rhyl down in Dublin resurfaced.
A ball from the left flank by Mark Rossiter found Stephen O'Donnell in far too much space and his chip over John Gann, replacing the unwell Lee Kendall, made it 1-0. Gann might have been better employed staying on his line.
Two minutes later the Irish repeated their penalty "con" from Dalymount when a poor back header by Carl Ruffer let in Glen Crowe who chose the perfect moment to go down under challenge in the box from Gann.
Referee Alexey Kulbakov of Belarus pointed to the spot and Jason Byrne drilled into the bottom left hand corner.
There was fears that Rhyl were in for a real hiding on 33 minutes when Gann's lack of decisiveness on high balls saw Jason McGuinness outclimb everyone to head in a Byrne free-kick.
But to their great credit the Lilies fought right back. A free-kick was won 35 yards out for a foul on Gary Powell and Connolly's swerving effort beat Bohs keeper Brian Murphy all ends up.
Then in the 41st minute a free-kick by Ruffer from deep in the Rhyl half saw Connolly get the better of a challenge with Murphy and put away the loose ball to make it 3-2.
It would be far fetched to say the hosts were back in the tie, but they at least had put themselves in a position to win the game only for disaster to strike within a minute.
O'Donnell created space in the box, rolled the ball towards Byrne who neatly stepped over and ex-Leeds United midfielder Singh sidefooted home.
The second half was much more tame by comparison with Rhyl more than holding their own.
Byrne almost made it 5-2 when he clipped the top of the bar after latching on to a Crowe through ball.
Rhyl should have scored on 57 minutes when Gareth Wilson's excellent cross from the right found George Horan all on his own, but slightly off balance he blazed over.
Jimmy Kelly came on for Chris Roberts on 63 minutes and although the ex-Chester City and Wrexham schemer understandably looked rusty he did add some life to the midfield.
In the 68th minute Kelly hit a cheeky effort with the outside of his left foot which could have deflected anywhere but sailed just wide.
Then Gann showed his prowess as a fine shot stopper, first smothering Crowe's close range attempt before producing the save of the match to deny Byrne from 20 yards.
Rhyl never stopped trying and it is a credit to their fitness after such a short warm-up campaign that they finished as strongly as their opponents.
Craig Garside's high diagonal ball found Craig Jones but his first time chip was off target. Then in added time, James Brewerton was thwarted from close range by Murphy after neat inter-play with Garside and Powell.
There was a feelgood factor around Belle Vue at the final whistle. At least the home side had not been disgraced and the good-natured exchanges between the two sets of fans were a joy to see.
RHYL: John Gann, Paul O'Neill, James Brewerton, Carl Ruffer, George Horan, Craig Jones, Gareth Wilson, Mark Connolly (Craig Garside 80), Chris Roberts (Jimmy Kelly 63), Marc Lloyd Williams, Gary Powell. Unused subs: Greg Stones, Tom Roberts, Matthew Holt.
BOHEMIAN: Brian Murphy, Owen Heary (Thomas Heary 63), Kevin Hunt, Ken Oman, Mark Rossiter, Harpal Singh, Jason McGuinness, Stephen O'Donnell, Glen Crowe (Darren Mansaram 76), John Paul Kelly (Michael McGinlay 42), Jason Byrne. Unused subs: Chris Konopka, Neale Fenn, Chris Turner.
ATTENDANCE: 1,453.