Dominant display sees Invermen maintain winning start

Sep 11, 2021 | Archive

Goals from Andy Mitchell, Lee Lynch and John Herron gave Larne a much deserved 3-0 win at home to Warrenpoint Town.

It also made it three wins from their opening three Danske Bank Premiership fixtures as Tiernan Lynch’s side maintained their fine start to the season.

The contest saw Conor Mitchell make his return to Inver Park after the summer move to Milltown and the goalkeeper was relieved early on.

A Larne corner was recycled to the back post as far as Ben Doherty and his header across the face of goal found Hale , but the striker got his feet in a muddle at the vital moment.

Mitchell was called into action for the first time on 12 minutes. Doherty was once again involved, this time laying off to Lee Lynch on the edge of the box who brought a smart save out of the Town goalkeeper.

The woodwork was next to deny Larne. With 25 minutes on the clock, Mark Randall’s corner from the right was met by Dean Jarvis making a near post run, but his header thundered off the post and away to safety.

The deadlock was broken on 33 minutes, albeit in unusual circumstances. Andy Mitchell picked up the ball in the centre of the park and shot low from 30 yards, with the swerving shot taking an awkward bounce and deceiving Conor Mitchell before ending up going in through the centre of goal.

Larne continued to dominate the ball after the break and almost added a second two minutes into the new half. Full-back Dean Jarvis unleashed a half volley from the edge of the area with it flying a yard wide of Mitchell’s right post.

The insurance goal did, however, arrive on the hour mark. The home side continued to keep the pressure on and this time Ronan Hale found Tomas Cosgrove at the back post. The defender did well to keep it in and present a simple finish for Lee Lynch inside the six yard box to make it 2-0.

Lynch, who has scored in each of Larne’s three league games so far this far, came within a whisker of adding to his tally on 73 minutes.

Hale was again in the thick of the action as his flick on inside the box was met by Lynch, but the midfielder couldn’t generate the power needed at full stretch and it came back off the base of the post, much to Mitchell’s relief.

The third goal arrived with five minutes left to play. Warrenpoint striker Greg Moorhouse was in danger of heading in an own goal from Ben Doherty’s corner, but substitute John Herron made sure, as he poked home from close range.

Larne: Ferguson, Balmer, Nasseri (’65 Scott), Randall (’65 Herron), Hale (’75 Lusty), Doherty (’87 Oluwa), Lynch, Mitchell, Bolger, Cosgrove, Jarvis (’87 Kelly)

Unused subs: Argyrides, Watson,

Warrenpoint Town: Mitchell, Ball, Dillon, McCaffrey, Gallagher (’87 McVeigh), Mullen, Dunne, Wade Slater (’30 Deasy), Moorhouse, Maguire (’72 O’Sullivan), Leddy

Unused subs: O’Connor, Masterson, Coleman, Byrne

Referee: Steven Gregg

 

Other News