Joseph Anang the hero as St Pat's hold nerve in penalty shootout

Joseph Anang was the hero for St Patrick's Athletic as they withstood a big challenge from 10-man Mura to progress on penalties to the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.

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The on-loan West Ham United keeper made a string of top-class saves in normal time and in extra-time and saved one of the spot-kicks in the shootout to boot.

Both sides missed twice in the first five, Josip Majic, who was brought on specifically for penalties, and Mihael Klepac for Mura, Barry Cotter and Tom Grivosti for Pats.

Centre-half Joe Redmond slotted home in sudden death after Mura keeper Matko Obradovic’s kick just evaded Anang, but Tio Cipot skied his spot-kick to the visitors’ delight.

It caps a big day for the League of Ireland in Europe following Sligo Rovers’ 3-0 aggregate win over Motherwell of Scotland earlier in the day.

The game began in much the same pattern as seven days earlier in Inchicore, with Mura having the better of the opening stages and holding onto the ball well.

Dardan Shabanhaxhaj, the winger on loan from Austria’s Sturm Graz, had the first clear sight of goal as he cut inside from the left but he couldn’t find the top corner.

Saints were handed a big let-off midway through the first half as striker Mirlind Daku got his body between the ball and Harry Brockbank in the box, but no penalty was forthcoming.

Gradually, Saints began to assert control of the game, keeping the tempo low in the blistering Slovenian sun and making inroads of their own.

A strong run from Barry Cotter, making his second appearance at right wing-back after signing on loan from Shamrock Rovers, almost yielded an opener for Eoin Doyle.

The striker met Cotter’s pull-back from the endline but his first-time flick was