An amazing season for Dundalk FC ended in defeat on Thursday night.
The League of Ireland team exceeded all expectations on the continent this season by not only qualifying for the Europa League, but also by becoming the first Irish club to win a game in the tournament in their second group match.
However, their dream of progressing to the knockout stages was essentially smashed after losing 2-1 away to Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night. The result didn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things though, as Zenit St Petersburg’s defeat to AZ Alkmaar meant it was impossible for Dundalk to qualify for the next stage even if they had won the game.
With the European dream over, Dundalk headed to the airport to return home. Unfortunately, that plan was delayed when the plane missed its take-off time by five minutes. This meant the team had to taxi back to the terminal and wait for the next available flight.
The plane bringing @DundalkFC home from Israel has missed departure slot at Ben Gurion airport and has been forced to return to Terminal.
— Tony O'Donoghue (@Corktod) December 9, 2016
According to a report from the Irish Mirror, goalkeeper Gary Rogers managed to get on board a flight to Dublin via Zurich at 5.20 am. in order to attend a medical appointment at the Mater Hospital to assess a hand injury, but the rest of the players were left waiting.
Overnight accommodation was eventually sorted for the team, but the massive annoyance proved to be just too much for some of the players who took to social media to voice their frustration.
Flight cancelled until tomorrow!! 😡✈️👊🏼 Anyone find my head anywhere give me a shout because it's gone 😫
— Paddy Barrett (@PaddyBarrett42) December 9, 2016
Looks like another night stuck in Israel🙈🙈 flight cancelled f**k sakes
— Alan Keane (@keano47) December 9, 2016
Actually, now i mean actually fuck my life! #flightcancelled
— Chris Shields (@Big_Shields6) December 9, 2016
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