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Motherwell fell to a 1-0 Europa League defeat to Albanian side Flamurtari after John Sutton saw his penalty controversially disallowed by Austrian referee Fritz Stuchlik.

Sutton slotted home a spot-kick just before the hour mark but was ordered to re-take the penalty after a home player encroached into the 18-yard box.

The goal should have stood but Sutton's second attempt was saved and Flamurtari soon took the lead when Ermir Strati's half-volley from the edge of the area bounced in off the post.

Although the hosts had hit the woodwork twice, the penalty save appeared to lift them and they comfortably held on to their first-leg lead in the second qualifying round clash.

Ryan Flynn's debut goal gave Falkirk a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their tie against FC Vaduz.

New Bairns boss Eddie May's tenure began on a positive note as the home side celebrated the their first ever game in Europe with a win that just might be enough to see them through the second leg in Liechtenstein next Thursday.

After an unconvincing first half, winger Flynn, the former Falkirk academy player on a season-long loan from Liverpool, scored with a deflected drive five minutes after the interval.

Disappointingly, for such an historic occasion, there were only two stands open to house the crowd of 5,763 and the first half was rather subdued.

May gave debuts to summer signings Flynn, Brian McLean, Alex MacDonald and Marc Twaddle who was returning to the club for the second time.

However, it was quiet until the 29th minute when Vaduz midfielder Franz Burgmeier set up Kai Koitka with a clever reverse pass on the edge of the box, only to watch the German thrash the ball high over the bar.

Koitka was proving a handful down the Falkirk left but it was from a Michael Stegmayer corner moments later that he headed in to Robert Olejnik's arms from only six yards out after the Bairns keeper flapped.

Vaduz, managed by former Germany international Pierre Littbarski, had the edge but it was certainly no European classic.

Falkirk brought out a much-needed sense of purpose with them for the start of the second half, and in the 50th minute they took the lead when Vaduz failed to clear Scott Arfield's free-kick which was floated into the penalty area from 30 yards out.

The ball fell kindly to Flynn just inside the box and his quickly-dispatched drive took a deflection before it flew high past Vaduz keeper Peter Jehle.

Elsewhere, League of Ireland outfit Derry City earned an impressive 1-1 draw in Latvia against Skonto Riga with Tam McManus scoring for Stephen Kenny's side.

Dublin side St. Patrick's Athletic suffered a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Maltese side Valletta at Richmond Park though. Declan O'Brien gave the hosts the lead but Gilbert Agius equalised.

Welsh side Bangor have it all to do though as they went down 2-0 in Finland against Honka.

PA Sport