Cork City played in their 50th European game on Thursday night, when the club defeated BK Häcken 1-0 in Turners Cross.
Defender Alan Bennett, now in his second spell with his local club, has played in European nights on Leeside for well over a decade and has seen some good and bad times with the team. Speaking after the game Bennett told Oisin Langan that the win was "well up there" with some historic nights in the Cork venue.
The former Republic of Ireland defender was the rock in Cork's defence in both games against the Swedish Cup winners. He even prevented a certain Häcken goal with a goal-line clearance minutes before Kevin O'Connor scored the decisive goal.
"We had the away goal, so [Häcken] had to come out and play. They had really quality players, especially the three up top. We always felt that if we kept it solid we would have had chances".
That was tense!! Thanks for messages before and support during.. Incredible. Off we go again ✈ï¸âš½ï¸
— Alan Bennett (@ABenno15) July 21, 2016
"They wanted to try and exploit us on the counter... We just kept our shape. We spoke about it at half-time and ironed out our issues".
Cork's win guarantees the team another two games, after beating Linfield in the first round. The win also brings incrasing UEFA prize money. That's something that wasn't missed by the 34-year-old.
"It's strange. We've actually have only played four games. We're probably making more money now than we would after a whole league campaign... It's just a different level."
"The club has has 50 European appearances. It should be about 450 in my mind. I'm on 24 appearances. It should be on 124. That's the way the club should go."
Cork City travel to Belgium next week to meet Genk. John Caulfield's side are now just two rounds away from the Europa League group stages
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