After a dream start to their European campaign, Shamrock Rovers were given something of a reality check against Chelsea on Thursday evening.
When the draw was made earlier this year, Rovers' trip to Stamford Bridge was the undoubted highlight of their Conference League fixture list.
Even the most optimistic of Rovers fans couldn't have imagined that they would go into the final day fixture still unbeaten and already guaranteed a place in the knockout playoffs.
Thursday night saw the Hoops fall to a 5-1 defeat in West London, with Marc Guiu's first-half hat trick having the home side cruising by half-time.
For Markus Poom, however, it had been a memorable first half, as he briefly gave the visiting Rovers fans hope by equalising shortly after Guiu's first goal.
Poom celebrated his deflected strike with a Bebeto-esque celebration, and explained after the game why it had been such a special week all round for him.
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Shamrock Rovers' Poom reflects on hectic week after Stamford Bridge goal
Though the game ended in defeat, the goal scored at Stamford Bridge may be the biggest yet of Markus Poom's time at Shamrock Rovers.
He explained the reason for his celebration at full-time, saying that he had rushed home to Estonia after last week's Conference League win over Borac for the birth of his child.
That, coupled with a goal on one of the biggest stages he may ever play on, made this a week like no other.
Speaking to RTÉ, Poom said:
It's been the best week of my life.
After the game against Borac last week, I got a call from my wife that her waters broke and she had gone into labour, so I booked my flight as quickly as I could back to Estonia and I became a dad early morning on Friday, so then I had three days to spend with them before coming back to Dublin.
It’s been a crazy week for me, but look, if you score at Stamford Bridge, I guess it’s worth it, and I’m really happy my wife let me do this.
Any other game and I would have stayed with the baby and my wife but she knew this was a once in a lifetime thing and to score and celebrate for my baby and my missus is an amazing feeling.
A hectic week indeed for Poom, who will now be able to enjoy the Christmas period as Rovers will not be back in Conference League action again until February.
Friday's draw will reveal their knockout playoff round opponents, with Rovers set to be seeded.
In spite of Thursday's hiding against Chelsea, it has been an historic European campaign thus far for Shamrock Rovers.
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