It took a stunning late strike from Michal Kucharczyk to separate these two sides as Cork City learned to rue a couple of great chances which, if taken, might have turned a night of supreme endeavour by the home side into a result which would have resounded across Europe.

Instead, there was disappointment at the end for the Irish champions as Legia Warsaw grabbed the away goal which means City face a mountainous task in the second leg in Poland next week.

With a packed Turner’s Cross, noisy and colourful and bathed in sunshine, the backdrop for City’s return to the Champions League after an absence of 12 years could hardly have been more alluring.

The game marked the official return, too, of Damien Delaney, a player well used to the big occasion, who was making his first competitive start since returning to his hometown club from the Premier League.

Nor was he the only change in the City line-up as, in a selection partly dictated by injury and partly by the manager’s design, top scorers Kieran Sadlier and Graham Cummins were on the bench at the start, with Karl Sheppard deployed as the spearhead of the attack. At the other end, meanwhile, Peter Cherrie was called on to don the gloves in place of the injured Mark McNulty.

Legia Warsaw might have been without their Polish World Cup players, among a number of other notable absentees, but the serial domestic champions were still able to field a side with five internationals in their starting line-up and four more held in reserve.

The essential pattern of the game appeared to have been established early on, the white shirts of Legia dominating possession, the green shirts of City presenting a massed barrier and most of the action taking place in the home half of the pitch as the Poles repeatedly tried to stretch the tight confines of Turner’s Cross with booming diagonal passes out to the flanks.

But with Sheppard, as always, willing to run his legs off for the cause and Barry McNamee and Jimmy Keohane impressing when getting forward in the wide positions, City were presenting a threat on the counter-attack. In the 13th minute, Inaki Astiz was forced into giving the ball away across his own penalty area and McNamee suddenly found himself with the goal opening up. But as the Shed End held its breath, he couldn’t get a clean strike away and a relieved Legia were able to clear the danger.

At the other end, a bending free kick from Sebastian Szymanski, Legia’s new golden boy, just cleared Cherrie’s crossbar before the same player spurned a good chance to hit the target when again firing over, this time on the half volley, after Sean McLoughlin’s header had fallen kindly for him

in the box

.

Another Szymanski set-piece effort which felled Sheppard in the City wall at least had the advantage of allowing players from both sides an opportunity to get some much needed liquid on board while the striker cleared his head. The small respite would have been especially welcomed by the Cork players who were doing trojan work

- and having considerable success -

in closing down space, forcing errors, and preventing Legia from playing out from the back.

The overall effectiveness of City’s approach meant the game was still scoreless going into half-time with Cherrie, for all Legia’s dominance of possession, barely troubled between his posts and City actually having had the best chance of the first 45 when McNamee failed to get that clean connection in front of goal.

Early in the second half, Gearoid Morrissey was forced out with what looked like a groin strain, Sheppard now going wide as Graham Cummins came in up top. Almost immediately, the striker was forcing Arkadiuz into a save with his feet after being cleverly put in by McNamee, another good chance which went begging for City.

On the hour mark, Conor McCarthy limped off, to be replaced by Steven Beattie, but as the game moved into its decisive phase, it was City who were bringing the crowd to their feet in tribute to their huge commitment and energy

they were putting into their performance

. Beattie ended a driving run in the 68th minute with a shot which was only narrowly wide of the far post. Legia, meanwhile, were largely reduced by disciplined City defending to hopeful shots from long range.

But in the 79th minute there was nothing hopeful at all about the stunning first-time strike from Michal Kucharczyk which simply flew past Cherrie into the top corner, after Krzysztof Maczynski had caught City cold by opting not to post a free-kick into the box and instead playing the ball square to the scorer who was stationed some 25 yards out from the home goal.

With Kieran Sadlier on for the final ten minutes, City mounted a late rally in a bid to get the draw that was the least they deserved for their night’s efforts, but when the winger’s cross narrowly missed the head of Garry Buckley in the 89th minute, it was as close as they would get to retrieving the game before the final whistle signalled it was advantage Legia going into next week’s return leg.

Cork City: Cherrie, McCarthy (Beattie 61), Delaney, McLoughlin, Griffin, Morrissey (Cummins 52), McCormack, Keohane, Buckley, McNamee (Sadlier 82), Sheppard

Legia: Malarz, Wieteska, Kucharcyzk, Remy, Vesocic, Cafu, Szymanski (Nagy 76), Maczynski, Astiz, Hamalainen (Kulenovic 82), Kante (Hlousek 76)

Referee: Radu Marian Petrescu (Romania).