Motherwell 0-1 Sligo Rovers: Aidan Keena gives visitors victory at Fir Park

Sligo Rovers take a 1-0 lead back to The Showgrounds for next week's second leg

Sligo Rovers stunned Motherwell in their Europa Conference League opener after Bevis Mugabi's defensive lapse.

The Irish side were good value for their second qualifying round first-leg win at at Fir Park.

Former Hearts and Falkirk forward Aidan Keena was gifted the only goal by Mugabi's poor headed pass-back.

Max Mata had two late opportunities to add to the lead, while a stinging shot from Motherwell's Callum Slattery was pushed away by Luke McNicholas.

The winners of this tie meet Sparta Prague or Viking next, with the Norwegian side earning a goalless first-leg draw in the Czech capital.

Sligo are 23 games into the League of Ireland Premier Division campaign and battled past Bala Town in the previous round. And the visitors looked sharper in the opening exchanges, as Motherwell made their first competitive outing of the season.

Liam Kelly needed to make a good reaction save to smother a close-range effort from Lewis Banks, with the home defence posted missing from a free-kick.

A moment of slackness in the Sligo rearguard then allowed Kevin van Veen to slalom forward, but his pass across goal just eluded Josh Morris, who had earlier found the side-netting with a deflected strike. Barry Maguire followed up with a thumping shot that was gathered by McNicholas.

The breakthrough came on 27 minutes when Mugabi, under no pressure at all, misjudged a header back towards Kelly and Keena intercepted to lob the stranded goalkeeper.

Motherwell enjoyed more possession for the remainder of the first half but seldom threatened as a stretching Connor Shields could only stab wide from inside the six-yard box.

Van Veen raced in behind the Sligo defence soon after the restart but McNicholas was off his line swiftly to block. Soon after, the goalkeeper dealt with a long-range Morris free kick and later made a good sprawling stop from a skidding Slattery strike.

Frustrated boos could be heard from home fans as William Fitzgerald's header looped wide after a slick move from the visitors on the lush surface.

Those jeers turned to sighs of relief when Sligo substitute Mata was one-on-one with Kelly only to get the ball stuck under his feet.

Mata had another great chance but his back-post header was kept out by the shoulder of Jake Carroll on the line.

'One of the biggest results in Sligo's history' - reaction

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander: "The goal we've given away has really hurt us. It allowed them to sit in and try to hit us on the counter but I thought we moved the ball better after the goal and got into some great positions.

"Second half was the same but we couldn't find that clinical touch in front of goal. It wasn't for a lack of effort or commitment. I thought it was a performance that should have won the game."

Sligo Rovers manager John Russell: "It's a huge result, one of the biggest in Sligo's history. It's only the club's fifth win in Europe, it was a deserving win too, it wasn't snatch and grab.

"They [Motherwell] probably did underestimate us a slight bit but we had to play to our potential and I thought we were really good in the transitions, causing them problems.

"It'll be extremely hard to get through. Motherwell are a top side and they'll analyse us now and pick holes in our game. We're only at half-time."