Larne manager Tiernan Lynch refuses to blame recent poor Irish League form on European commitments

​The Sports Direct Premiership champions got back to winning ways against Glentoran at the BetMcLean Oval on Saturday, courtesy of goals from striker Andy Ryan and skipper Cian Bolger.

But the Inver men were let off the hook in many ways because for the third successive home match, Declan Devine’s Glentoran fluffed their lines from the penalty spot – this time it was Finley Thorndike who was the guilty culprit.

Both teams finished the game with only 10 men, with Glentoran’s James Singleton and Larne substitute Dylan Sloan red-carded by referee Evan Boyce following a mass brawl in the centre of the pitch.

With Larne due to face Swiss side St Gallen in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night – their third game in the group section – Lynch admits it’s a challenge transitioning from domestic to European action.

“I’m not going to tell lies, it’s tough,” he said. “I don’t want to use it as an excuse either (for some poor results), but we must get better at it.

“It all starts again this week. We have a European game on Thursday and then Coleraine next Sunday. It’s something we’ll work on.

“There have been questions asked of this team over the past few weeks, which I felt were unjustified because our performances were actually quite good.

“Anything that could have gone wrong, was going wrong for us – we were being punished for our own mistakes. We needed to get back to an Irish League performance (against Glentoran) and that’s what we did. It was more of a gritty performance, we had to dig in.

“You don’t get much from Decci Devine’s teams without rolling up your sleeves and grinding out a result,” he added. “I don’t think it was a great footballing performance, but it was a gritty performance, we had to dig in at times.

“We had to grind out the win, so the players must take the credit. I was delighted with the win; it was a professional performance, which had been coming.”

Glentoran boss Declan Devine admitted he was puzzled how his boys manage to lose the game.

“We dominated for long periods but found ourselves losing the game,” he said. “I can’t fault the playerstheir effort was fantastic; our creativity was really good.

“For all our domination, we didn’t work their goalkeeper hard enough. For me, it must be about drive and determination and putting teams to bed.

“To miss three successive penalty kicks at home in three weeks is unacceptable. We practice them every day in training, there is no excuse for missing from the spot. Being brutally honest, Larne didn’t deserve to win the game at all. But we didn’t do enough to win it either.”

On Singleton’s dismissal, he added: “Singy was sent off for nothing. Yes, he committed a bad tackle (on Sloan), which he took a yellow card for. His dismissal was totally unfair.

“He is one of the most honest players I’ve ever worked with. He’s got a busted face and a busted eye – all from the initial headbutt.

“What is he supposed to do? Is he supposed to take another slap? Is he supposed to put his hands behind his back and say, have another dab at me?”