Shamrock Rovers will take a 2-1 lead to Cyprus for the second leg of their Europa League second-round qualifier with Apollon Limassol.
Defenders Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes got the goals as Stephen Bradley's side came from behind at Tallaght Stadium.
Apollon captain Fotis Papoulis fired them in front in the fifth-minute before Grace leveled the game with a header from a Jack Byrne corner kick on the quarter-hour.
Lopes again proved the Hoops' goalscoring talisman, netting his third goal in this season's qualifiers to give Rovers a crucial lead into next week's return game.
The visitors ended the game with ten men after Esteban Sachetti was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Byrne.
That second leg will be played in Cyprus next Thursday evening and Rovers manager Stephen Bradley feels they're now in a good position to reach the third qualifying round.
“People probably thought I was mad before the game when I said they were a good side but that we could win the tie.
“But 100% I believe we can progress. I believe in this group and I think we can go anywhere and win games - it doesn’t matter who we play against.
“That’s been there since the AIK games last year and it’s been building and building and anyone watching us closely would have seen it coming".
Bradley added that Byrne, who again caught the eye, is comfortable at Tallaght Stadium.
"You can't have it both ways, you can't have a player of Jack's quality delivering and then hide him from everyone. He's there and he's signed with us long-term, we're comfortable and Jack's enjoying his football, his head is down and he wants to help this club achieve things".
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