Inverness Caledonian Thistle were eliminated from the Europa League preliminaries following a goalless draw at Astra Giurgiu tonight.
The Scottish outfit travelled to Romania hoping to reverse the effects of last week's 1-0 first-leg defeat as a place in the third-qualifying round beckoned for the winner.
However, John Hughes's side, who could have potentially faced West Ham United in the third round, failed to score in Giurgiu as they exited the competition.
The visitors endured a frustrating opening 45 minutes in a half that saw both sides struggle to fashion many goalscoring chances.
Just before the break, Ryan Christie had Caledonian's first meaningful attempt at goal but it was tipped over by Silviu Lung Jr.
Visiting goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams had to be alert to palm away a number of hopeful efforts in the second half as the hosts looked to build on their first-leg lead.
In the final quarter, Inverness began to pile on the pressure and it almost yielded instant rewards but Aaron Doran failed to beat Lung Jr from a good position.
Constantin Bodescu - who scored the winner last week - had a chance to kill off the tie in the dying stages, but Fon Williams denied him in a one-on-one.
However, the miss did not prove costly and Astra held on to meet either West Ham or Birkirkara in round three.
Shane Callaghan
