'Irons' go through

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Hammers through via penalties Europa League

Ten-man West Ham needed a 5-3 penalty shoot-out success to see-off a spirited Birkirkara effort and progress into the Europa League third qualifying round after toiling in the heat of Malta.

A 1-0 defeat and disappointing display on the evening meant the Premier League side needed penalties to go through - although when it came down to the shoot-out, the Hammers scored all five of their kicks.

Substitute Diego Poyet stroked home the winning penalty for Slaven Bilic's side after Birkirkara had also been reduced to 10 men in extra-time.

Having scored a last-gasp winner in the first leg at Upton Park seven days ago, James Tomkins was sent off before half-time at the Ta' Qali National Stadium in Valletta.

With Diafra Sakho banned following his red card in the previous round West Ham, who ironically qualified for the competition through the Fair Play League, had very few options in attack and rarely threatened.


The Hammers now face a third qualifying round clash with Astra Giurgiu of Romania, conquerors of Scottish side Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Inverness' Europa League adventure came to an end after a frustrating 0-0 draw.

Opportunities on goal were rare for the Highland Capital club with Constantin Budescu's first-leg goal proving decisive for Astra.

The Caley Jags held their own and were certainly not overawed by the task at hand, but Astra took advantage of their profligacy to eke out a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Aberdeen booked an 8,000-mile round-trip to face Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty in the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, but they had to work hard to do it despite a healthy lead from the first leg of their tie against HNK Rijeka.

All the goals in what turned out to be an entertaining 2-2 draw - giving Aberdeen a 5-2 aggregate win - came after the interval at Pittodrie, with Niall McGinn and Jonny Hayes netting the goals that saw the Dons through after the visitors had gone 2-0 up thanks to Marin Tomasov and Zoran Kvrzic.

Northern Irish side Linfield looked as though they might cause an upset after taking the lead against Spartak Trnava, before eventually succumbing to a 3-1 loss on the night.

Stephen Lowry's first-half goal drew the sides level at 2-2 on aggregate, but Erik Sabo's brace made sure the visitors eventually ran out victors, despite being reduced to 10 men.

Newtown, who went down 2-0 in the first leg to FC Copenhagen, suffered a spirited 3-1 loss at home after two goals from Marvin Pourie sent the Danish side though to the next round. Tom Goodwin pulled one back for the Welsh club, but the damage was already done and Copenhagen cruised to a comfortable victory.

Shamrock Rovers and UCD also bowed out of the tournament after going down to Odd and Slovan Bratislava respectively.

Slovakian side Bratislava had Robert Vittek to thank after his hat-trick secured a comfortable 5-1 victory over the Irish side, although Ryan Swan had given the hosts some hope after pulling a goal back.

Odd recorded a 4-1 aggregate win after triumphing 2-1 over Shamrock, Gavin Brennan's late goal giving the travelling Hoops fans something to celebrate.