Larne Olympic ran out 4-1 winners against their Ballymena counterparts on Wednesday evening at Inver Park.
The Inver lads took the lead against the run of play, with Pablo Andrade latching onto a through ball to finish into the bottom corner.
Ballymena were soon level, and if it were not for two very good saves, would have been ahead.
However it was Larne who went into the interval in front, Owen Barrons scoring low into the far corner after a great solo run.
In the second half Larne went up a gear and extended their lead, through the excellent Matthew Heron, before Luke Harrison made it four, scoring from the spot after Oliver Carson was hauled down.
Head coach Darrin Crawford (pictured) said: “Our performance was very poor in the first half for our overall standards, but the lads picked up the pace after the break and finished the game really strongly.
“We were very fortunate to go into the break ahead – again even though we are a very young side and showed great character in what was an excellent team performance in the second half”.
Next up is a trip to Carrick next Wednesday evening (7:45pm).
The under-18’s meanwhile, had a break from league and cup action, but ran out 3-2 winners against Crusaders on Saturday.
