Proud Bradley laments 'incredible' call against Towell

Stephen Bradley said the Shamrock Rovers fans should be proud after their team's "outstanding" performance in their 2-1 second leg win over Ludogorets, but castigated the referee's "unbelievable" decision to book Richie Towell when the visitors could have been reduced to nine men.

Trailing 3-0 from the first leg in Bulgaria, the hosts gave a rousing performance in Tallaght, Aaron Greene giving them an early lead to set in train an interesting evening.

The Bulgarians were reduced to 10 men early in the second half but the Hoops couldn't find the second goal until two minutes from time, Aidomo Emakhu scoring to tee up a potential grandstand finish. Alas, Cauly Souza shot back in the opening minute of injury-time, killing off the tie and sending the Irish champions to the Europa League.

"I thought the players were outstanding. Everything you wanted to bring tonight, they brought," Bradley told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the game.

"I think every supporter should be going home proud of their team and what they've produced tonight.

"You got to understand the level of player they've played against tonight, the level of opposition. The level of investment they have. And our team has been by far and away the better team tonight.

"We're frustrated and disappointed we haven't gone through.

"I think the big decision is when Richie is in on goal. It's a really poor decision when you see it back. It's a red card. You need them decisions to go your way in games like this. It's small margins and it didn't go our way."

On the 51st minute mark, excitement levels around Tallaght Stadium increased when Manuel Cafumanna was sent off following a second bookable offence. Bradley said the sending off allowed his team to attack with more abandon