Former Irish League star admits 'it’s good to be home' after playing for Crystal Palace against old club Larne in Jeff Hughes testimonial

Farquhar joined the Inver Reds from Ballymena United last summer and after making only 21 Premiership appearances for the reigning champions, the talented defender was on the move once again to London, linking up with the Premier League outfit.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed a tremendous start to life at Selhurst Park, helping their U21 side claim Premier League International Cup victory in May by beating PSV in the final and was a consistent presence throughout the league campaign.

He was back in familiar surroundings this weekend as Palace’s youngsters travelled to Northern Ireland to celebrate the career of Hughes, who made 10 Championship appearances for the Eagles before going on to play for the likes of Bristol Rovers, Notts County and Tranmere Rovers.

The ex-Northern Ireland international led Larne out and enjoyed two cameo appearances as Larne continued preparations for Thursday’s UEFA Conference League third qualifying round trip to Kosovo’s FC Ballkani by winning 3-2 thanks to goals from Cian Bolger, Andy Ryan and Joe Thomson.

While he had to fight instincts to walk into the home changing room, Farquhar was delighted to be back at Larne – a club which played a key role in his development.

“It’s good to be home and I’m always welcome back in Larne,” he told Palace’s website. “I enjoyed my time here and it’s good to be back, obviously it’s a good runout for the lads in pre-season.

“It feels weird [being here and not wearing the Larne shirt] and walking in the away dressing room, but it’s still so good to play here. It’s pre-season, you don’t really look too much into things - it’s 90 minutes into some boys legs and we move on.

“Pre-season itself has been good for me, I’ve just been working on my match fitness up. We’re playing a similar formation to the first-team and it’s the same formation we played at Larne so it didn’t take me long to get used to it.

On Larne legend Hughes, Farquhar added: “Jeff’s a good man - he’s well looked after and well known at Larne. It’s so good to get a good turnout for him today.”