Linfield’s 2012/13 European campaign ended tonight despite a creditable 0-0 draw at home to Cypriot champions AEL Limassol. It was The Blues started with a cautious 5-3-2 formation, with a return for William Murphy and a first competitive start for Ryan Henderson. The match started five minutes late due to a problem with marking the line around one corner of the pitch.

Despite their cagey formation the home side had a penalty appeal turned down in the 7th minute; Garrett’s cross into the box was knocked on by Thompson and seemed to come off the hand of Limassol centre half Dossa Junior, but the appeals were waved away by the Swedish referee. Another half chance came Linfield’s way three minutes later, but Douglas’ wild shot went high over the bar after Limassol feared to clear a corner.

This appeared to be the wakeup call that the Cypriots needed, and Lacerda flashed a shot narrowly wide before they spurned the best opportunity of the game in the 14th minute; Sergio Paulo glided through several Linfield defensive challenges before squaring to Roui who contrived to miss, placing his shot wide.

Linfield’s produced their best move of the match on 21 minutes, culminating in Douglas pinpoint cross to Henderson whose header was just tipped over by the Argentine goalkeeper Degra. The game, to Linfield’s credit, became dull as the battle was played out in the middle third of the park. The first booking of the tie came in the 36th minute when Portuguese centre half Dossa Junior was booked for a dangerous high foot on Mark McAllister.

Half Time: Linfield 0-0 AEL Limassol (0-3 on agg.)

The visitors looked to shake things up on the hour mark by bringing on former Charlton striker Chris Dickson for Edmar Lacerda. It had no effect on the game which had gone decidedly flat; Limassol’s central midfielder Luciano Bebe got booked in the 66th minute for a cynical foul on Mulgrew. The Irish League champions continued to work hard and Thompson’s scuffed shot on the edge of the area forced from former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Degra into a save. The visitors brought on Dede Carvalho and Cypriot record international goalscorer Michalis Konstantinou for Miguel Roui and captain Marios Nicholau; meanwhile Michael Carvill, Gary Browne and Daryl Fordyce replaced Henderson, Garrett and McAllister for Linfield.

Linfield pressed late on to snatch a dramatic victory on the night if not over two legs. A Carvill cross troubled Degra before a long-range effort from Fordyce was tipped away. It wasn’t enough however as the Blues crashed out and AEL march on to face Partizan Belgrade in the next round.

Full Time: Linfield 0-0 AEL Limassol (0-3 on agg.)