Larne move up to third in Premiership as Inver Reds complete second-half comeback against Cliftonville at Solitude

The opening 45 minutes were edged by the hosts who led at the break as Ruaidhri Donnelly’s header was adjudged to have crossed the line.

However, Larne were much improved after the interval and equalised when Tomas Cosgrove bagged against his former club on 52 minutes.

The reigning champions would go up the gears thereafter and took the lead as Andy Ryan netted from the spot in an incident that saw Jonny Addis get a red card, with Paul O’Neill adding the decisive third with 20 minutes remaining.

Cliftonville came into the contest licking their wounds after a 3-2 defeat to Ballymena United last weekend and threatened when Shea Kearney’s superb cross was headed clear by Ryan Nolan as Donnelly looked certain to pounce. From the resulting corner kick, Shaun Leppard’s header was hooked off the line by Ryan.

However, Larne failed to pay heed to Cliftonville’s threat from set-pieces yet again as the Reds took the lead on 17 minutes. Another corner kick was on the money this time for Donnelly and his header was ruled to have crossed the line.

On 34 minutes, Cliftonville defender Michael Newberry blew a sigh of relief after missing his clearance which allowed Lusty to burst into the box. The Northern Ireland U21 international picked out Dylan Sloan inside the area but the midfielder failed to get a meaningful connection on the ball as the Reds survived.

Just before the break, Larne went within a lick of paint of making it 1-1 as a loose pass was picked upon by Sloan. The former Newry City loanee was allowed to run forward and hit a fierce effort towards goal that clipped the top of the bar.

Larne flew out of the traps in the second-half and went close on 48 minutes as Sean Graham showed tenacity to run into the box but his low effort was saved by Odumosu.

However, there was little Odumosu could do as Larne drew level on 52 minutes. A fine team move resulted in Graham’s cross finding Cosgrove at the back post and the ex-Cliftonville ace slammed the ball home.

Cliftonville looked to recover from that setback and went close on two occasions but neither Taylor Steven nor Rory Hale could hit the target with half chances.

On 66 minutes, the game turned on its head as the visitors were awarded a penalty in an incident that saw Addis receive a straight red card. A long ball forward was chased down by Ryan and he was adjudged to have been pushed in the back by the Reds defender, with referee Christopher Morrison pointing to the spot and giving Addis his marching orders.

An ice-cool Ryan kept his composure to dispatch beyond Odumosu to give Larne the lead.

Three minutes later, Larne hit Cliftonville with another sucker-punch as the lively Graham kept the ball in play and crossed for substitute Paul O’Neill who headed home from close range.

Soon after, the crossbar denied Larne yet again as Ryan’s chipped effort clipped the woodwork, with O’Neill’s follow-up repeating the trick.