The New Saints were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League following a 2-0 home defeat to BK Häcken in the second leg of their first qualifying round tie.
Craig Harrison’s side trailed 3-1 from the first leg in Sweden and were hoping to mount a comeback at Park Hall, but goals from Ibrahim Sadiq and Momodou Sonko saw Häcken ease through.
TNS’ goalscorer from the first leg, Declan McManus, and fellow dangerman Danny Redmond were both absent from the starting XI due to injury issues.
As was the case in the first leg, Häcken started on the front foot and threatened when Kristoffer Lund’s shot hit the side netting in the opening 10 minutes.
Ibrahim Sadiq broke the deadlock in Sweden last week and he did so again at Park Hall, scoring in the 19thminute. After Chris Marriott headed away a dangerous cross, the Ghanaian winger struck a volley that deflected off Danny Davies past Roberts.
Sadiq continued to cause problems for the JD Cymru Premier champions as Roberts saved with his feet to deny him a second, while North Macedonian forward Filip Trpchevski was also causing problems.
TNS themselves provided little threat in the first half before Ben Clark sliced an effort wide shortly before the break.
To their credit, the hosts came out firing in the second half. Josh Pask and Ryan Brobbel both saw efforts go wide, while Häcken goalkeeper Peter Abrahamsson was called into action to deny Davies.
After Mikkel Rygaard, a scorer in the first leg for the Swedish side, fired over the bar, Ash Baker went close twice in the space of three minutes as TNS refused to give in.
But as the clock ticked into stoppage time, a second goal for Häcken completed a 5-1 aggregate scoreline. Tomas Totland cut the ball back for substitute Sonko, who kept his composure to finish well from eight yards out.
TNS now drop into the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round, where they will meet Swift Hesperange of Luxembourg, who were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.
