Hull City marched on in the Europa League after Sone Aluko's impressive volley secured a 2-1 win over AS Trencin at the KC Stadium.
Having come on as a 73rd-minute sub, Aluko left it until ten minutes before the end to settle the nerves of the 21,156 fans who had come to witness the Tigers' historic first home game in Europe.
It had looked like things were not going to go City's way when the away side fired themselves into a second-minute lead through Tomas Malec's low finish as Trencin started as the brighter of the two sides.
Although Ahmed Elmohamady's headed equaliser brought the Tigers back into the contest after 27 minutes, the Slovakians proved to be stubborn opponents and it was not until Aluko scored that the Tigers ever really looked comfortable.
Fortunately, it proved to be enough and the Tigers will now be in the hat for the play-off round of qualification when it is drawn in Switzerland tomorrow.
In the first half, City got off to the worst possible start when falling behind in only the second minute when Alex Bruce failed to deal with a ball across the penalty area and Malec's low finish gave the visitors a surprise early advantage, and crucial away goal.
Jakub Holubek could have made it 2-0 after ten minutes, but Tigers keeper Allan McGregor was equal to his shot from outside the area as City were caught cold by the Slovakians.
The Tigers did finally come to life when Long's shot was saved by Milos Volesak as the keeper stood up and prevented the striker's flicked effort from causing any trouble.
Having seen Long denied twice in quick succession after 25 minutes, Trencin goal-scorer Malec should have fired in his second goal but fired over the bar when well placed.
Elmohamady regained parity for the Tigers by heading home a great cross into the box from Robbie Brady, who had been largely quiet going forward beforehand.
Long saw a great chance to put City 2-1 ahead go begging when firing straight at the keeper from a few yards out after reacting first to a header from Yannick Sagbo.
In a bright start to the second half from the visitors, City again had to live dangerously when allowing Malec far too much room and when he laid off to Haris Hajradinovic his shot was blocked and turned around the post by Jake Livermore.
Liam Rosenior's early introduction as a 55th-minute substitute for Brady saw him instantly involved and his first touch would have been a goal if he had put more curl on a first-time shot.
As City started to gain more of a foothold in the game, Tom Huddlestone's drive from 25 yards brought the game to life even though it always looked to be rising over the bar.
However, it was Aluko's introduction which proved pivotal as he gave the Tigers more of a direct threat, resulting in his match-winning goal after Robert Snodgrass put him through on goal with a weighted header which the Nigerian international volleyed home from around six yards out.
