COLERAINE exited Europe after an aggregate defeat to HJK Helsinki...

The Bannsiders started the second-leg brightly and controlled all the early stages, with Joel Cooper firing over from Ben Doherty's pass.

However, it was the Finnish side who struck first on 12 minutes. After Alfie Cicale had a shot saved, Toivo Mero was in the right place to tap home the rebound.

Coleraine looked for an instant response as Cooper's driven effort was deflected wide, before the same player drilled an effort just over the bar after a clever dummy allowed him to drift into space.

Helsinki showed a ruthlessness in front of goal in the first leg and it would prove to be the same on 34 minutes as they went 2-0 ahead on the night. A loose pass was seized upon by the Finns and Cicale did the rest by steering a low shot into the bottom corner.

The half ended with both teams creating chances as Teemu Pukki drilled straight at Lewis Webb, whilst Will Patching's shot from distance at the other end failed to test Jesse Öst.

Helsinki stretched their lead barely ten minutes into the second half as Pukki laid the ball into the path of Mouhamed Gueye and he swept a low strike into the net via the post.

Coleraine, who also carved out a series of chances at the Bolt Arena in the first meeting, went mightily close to finally registering a goal in the tie when Öst tipped Ben Wylie's shot onto the post.

Soon after, a lovely weighted pass by Conor McMenamin sent Cooper through on goal but his attempt was comfortably gathered by Öst.

The final effort on goal saw Coleraine smash the crossbar as substitute Lewis McGregor let fly from distance but his well-driven attempt came back off the upright.

With European commitments now over, Ruaidhri Higgins' men can turn their sole focus on domestic matters.

COLERAINE: Webb, Kane, Jarvis (Ives ’46 mins), Boyle, Patching (McGregor ’65 mins), Shevlin (McMenamin ’56 mins), Cooper, Devine (Henderson ’65 mins), McDonald, Wylie, Doherty.

Subs Not Used: Robinson (GK), Lyons-Foster, Murray, Hunt.

HJK HELSINKI: Ost, Simojoki, Cissokho (Levealahti ’46 mins), Tikkanen, Ylitolva, Gueye (Haarala ’78 mins), Lingman (Kallinen ’46 mins), Kirilov (Ring ’78 mins), Cicale, Pukki, Mero (Moller ’78 mins)

Subs Not Used: Markovic (GK), Montano.

Referee: Seth Galia