And, of course, the irony is the Blues lifted the JJB Sports Irish Cup just seven days ago by the exact same method but ultimately that experience did not stand them in good stead this time round.

If truth be told, though, Drogheda United really should have wrapped the game up long before the end of normal time never mind the extra 30 minutes.

Indeed, with just four minutes on the clock Alan Mannus was forced into a double save to first deny Stuart Byrne and then Shane Robinson in quick succession while ten minutes later Eamon Zayed escaped the Linfield offside trap but could only direct his shot onto the post in a one-on-one situation with Mannus with Robinson firing the rebound wide.

Mannus was called into action again moments later when he turned an Ollie Cahill ball around the left post.

Then, on 33 minutes, Byrne let fly with a stunning 30 yard drive which looked for all the world to be destined for the back of the net but it sailed a whisker past the post to ruffle the side netting much to the relief of the home crowd.

Drogheda's dominance continued after the break with Zayed and Robinson both coming close in the early exchanges and they might have taken the long anticipated lead on 57 minutes when Paul McAreavey conceded a penalty for a foul on Declan O'Brien only for Mannus to correctly dive to his right to save Damian Lynch's effort.

Was it to be Linfield's night after all? It certainly appeared that way 10 minutes later when the Blues amazingly took the lead with their first real effort of the game.

Aidan O'Kane drove a corner in from the left which Winkie Murphy nodded across goal for the aforementioned McAreavey to power home with his head from barely four yards.

However the sides were back on level terms ten minutes later when Paul Keegan found Tony Grant inside the area who promptly sent a first time effort past Mannus.

Grant might have snatched a late winner for the Drogs with just a minute remaining with a shot on the turn but Mannus proved equal to the challenge.

With fatigue taking its toll it was perhaps no surprise that extra-time was a somewhat lukewarm affair with no real clear cut chances emerging although of what was created the Blues perhaps came out on top with Murphy headed a Mark Dickson corner over and Glenn Ferguson losing his footing when about to shoot late on.

And so, for the second successive Saturday, Linfield were faced with a penalty shoot-out and unlike last week they actually got off to a perfect start with Jim Ervin, Tim Mouncey and Ferguson all converting to give David Jeffrey's side a 3-2 lead going into the final two kicks.

Unfortunately, though, Dickson saw his effort saved and with Robinson converting for United it left it all square with just one penalty apiece remaining.