Declan Devine 'never given up a fight in my life' message after Glentoran title blow

The Oval outfit knew victory against the league leaders would have resulted in them entering the final weekend of a thrilling race in pole position, but Devine’s men couldn’t find a way past Larne’s resolute defence.

It now leaves the Inver Reds requiring only a point at home to Dungannon Swifts on Saturday to seal a third Gibson Cup crown across the past four seasons and Glentoran relying on favours in their pursuit to end a 17-year title wait.

After Coleraine defeated Linfield 3-0 at Windsor Park, Glentoran have now dropped down to third ahead of a weekend trip to The Showgrounds, leaving them in danger of missing out on an automatic European return.

While destiny is no longer in their own hands, Devine insists his players will continue fighting until the very end.

"I've never given up a fight in my life, and the players certainly won’t,” he said. "We'll go down there next week and give everything of ourselves, there's no doubt about it.

"It's a great game to be involved in. When there's a chance, you have to look forward. There's nobody looking back.

"We've got to make sure that we play with the intensity we've played at all year.

"We've played at a high level all year, our performances have been really positive.

"We really wanted three points (against Larne), we didn't get three, but we're going next week in pursuit of the three points, and hopefully we can get a positive result from Larne. It’s still all to play for.

"The players have emptied the tank over the course of the last 10 months and it shows you how far we've come that we're walking away here tonight disappointed, but at the same time, there's no white flag, there's no way I would let that happen.

"We've got to make sure that from our side of things we approach the game in the way that we've approached every game this year, go and try and win it."