Shamrock Rovers crash out of Europe after freak Graham Burke own goal

Shamrock Rovers' UEFA Conference League campaign has ended in Finland

The League of Ireland champions lost 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate, having drawn the first leg 1-1 at Tallaght Stadium last week.

It means no league phase football for the Premier Division leaders for the first time since the format was adopted.

It marks a fourth straight European defeat this season after losses to Egnatia and Ararat-Armenia.

How Shamrock Rovers were undone in Kuopio

Stephen Bradley made two changes from Dublin, with John O'Sullivan in for Jack Byrne and Aaron Greene in for Burke.

KuPS started the brighter, drawing two reflex saves from Ed McGinty, but Rovers took control after the break.

Bradley turned to his bench on 63 minutes for Burke and Byrne.

Twelve minutes later came the decisive moment: a free-kick from the left headed back across by Akseli Pukko, grazing the top of Greene's head and then glancing off the forehead of an unsuspecting Burke and into the corner.

'A really poor goal'

"Disappointed with the goal, obviously," Bradley told RTÉ Sport.

"There's no danger whatsoever. And we give up a poor goal, to be fair. A really poor goal. It was heading for extra time until we gave away a poor goal."

He also rejected the suggestion that Rovers had been handed an easier route to the league phase this year.

"We'll review at the end of the season, but it's definitely not easier," he said.

It is a bruising few weeks for the Hoops, who were also dumped out of the FAI Cup when teenage substitute Sam Rooney sank them in a St Pat's comeback.

They are not the only ones nursing continental regrets either, after Celtic's collapse in Austria against LASK. Full match report and reaction via RTÉ Sport.