Shamrock Rovers won 1-0 at 10-man Molde in the first leg of their Conference League play-off thanks to a debut goal from 16-year-old forward Michael Noonan.
The recent signing from St Patrick’s Athletic finished from close range just before the hour mark, becoming the competition’s youngest scorer, after the hosts lost possession in their own box.
Noonan had earlier been involved when Molde had a man sent off late in the first half, Valdemar Lund being shown a straight red card for a tackle on the teenager.
Rovers, the first League of Ireland club to reach the knockout stages of a major European competition, will now look to seal a place in the last 16 when the sides meet again in the return leg at Tallaght Stadium next Thursday.
The winners of the tie will face either Cercle Brugge or Legia Warsaw in the next round.
Following a cagey opening to the contest, Molde started to show some threat with Isak Amundsen sending an acrobatic attempt off-target and Kristian Eriksen’s shot bringing a save out of Edward McGinty.
Rovers then began to exert some pressure themselves, and after Danny Mandroiu saw a low, deflected strike gathered by Jacob Karlstrom, a further Hoops attack led to the Norwegians going down to 10 men in the 42nd minute.
Noonan was played through and Lund bringing the youngster down with a sliding challenge prompted Latvian referee Andris Treimanis to bring out the red card.
Moments later Rovers were presented with a chance as Dylan Watts knocked down a free-kick, but Roberto Lopes could only prod the ball wide.
As Stephen Bradley’s side continued to push early in the second half, Matt Healy drove wide from outside the box.
And soon after they had the lead as Mats Moller Daehli was dispossessed in the Molde area by Watts, and his cross was stabbed in by Noonan.
Little in the way of clear chances were carved out after that until Rovers substitute Aaron Greene hit a shot goalwards late on, with Karlstrom turning the ball around the post.
